All White Elijah Just celebrates his goal with Liam Gillion and Joe Bell. © Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
The All Whites have ticked the first box in their quest to play at the 2026 FIFA World Cup by beating Samoa 8-nil in Auckland.
In the process New Zealand secured top spot in Group B of the Oceania group qualifiers before the next stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.
Samoa's gutsy defence frustrated the All Whites with Samoan goalkeeper Pele Fatu making a number of valiant saves before the home side finally broke through in the 24th minute.
Callum McCowatt was able to find the back of the net and from there goals were easier to come by.
All Whites captain Chris Wood was named player of the match after scoring a hat-trick.
Wood scored New Zealand's second and third goals, which gave the home side a 3-nil lead at half-time. He then opened the scoring in the second half, when Ben Wain set him up beautifully in the 60th minute.
A minute later Marko Stamenić stretched New Zealand's lead to 5-nil, before Francis de Vries and Eli Just added more goals.
Waine scored New Zealand's final goal via a penalty.
The OFC World Cup Qualifying semi-finals are set with New Zealand to face Fiji and New Caledonia to take on Tahiti.
Young fans and supporters take a selfie with New Zealand captain Chris Wood. New Zealand All Whites v Samoa. © Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Both matches will be played in March 2025 with the final to follow in Auckland for a spot in the World Cup up for grabs.
All Whites coach Darren Beazley said they needed to be more effective with the possession they had.
"We had so much ball but they made it very difficult ...they were very brave Samoa, they defended with a lot of heart," Beazley said.
"At times we didn't move the ball quick and at times we weren't quite good enough with our final ball but ultimately it's a game we won and we move on."
With an 8-1 win over Vanuatu on Friday in Hamilton the All Whites have scored 16 goals, and conceded just one over the two fixtures but Beazley said there was more to give.
"We've learnt a little bit around how to play against some of these teams, you know teams are going to come and try to kill the game, we've got to create our own tempo.
"We need to work our how to be more effective [with possession] at times ... I still think there's a lot left out there."
