New Zealand has appeared in the FIFA World Cup three times, in 1982, 2010 and 2026. The men's national team, known as the All Whites, became the first Oceania Football Confederation member to reach the finals when it qualified for the 1982 tournament in Spain. At the 2010 finals in South Africa the team drew all three group matches and was the only nation to remain unbeaten, although it did not reach the knockout stage. The team returned at the 2026 finals in North America after taking the OFC's first direct qualifying place.
New Zealand's opening matches were during the 1970 AFC/OFC qualifiers losing away to Israel 4–0 and 2–0, and eliminated. For the 1974 AFC/OFC qualification they drew three matches and finished bottom of the group behind Australia, Iraq and Indonesia. In the 1978 AFC/OFC qualification matches, with an opening 6–0 win against Taiwan, they finished behind Australia. In the 1982 AFC/OFC qualification they topped the first round group, ahead of Australia, then finished behind Kuwait in the final round, before defeating China 2–1 to qualify for the 1982 World Cup final tournament. In the group stage New Zealand lost their opening match 5–2 to Scotland, then lost to the Soviet Union 3–0 and Brazil 4–0, exiting the tournament.
For both the 1986 and 1990 OFC qualifying groups, New Zealand finished third behind Australia and Israel. With an expanded OFC competition from 1994 onwards, New Zealand topped their group ahead of Fiji but in the second round they were defeated by Australia 4–0 in aggregate. In the 1998 qualification edition they finished ahead of Fiji, and then lost 5–0 in aggregate to Australia. With four out of four wins in the group stage for the 2002 OFC qualifiers, Australia defeated New Zealand 6–1 in aggregate in the second round. With losses to Australia and Vanuatu, New Zealand did not advance from the first round in the 2006 qualification edition.
New Zealand won their second round group in the 2010 OFC qualifiers and then went on to defeat Bahrain 1–0 in aggregate to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals. In the group stage, New Zealand opened against Slovakia with a 1–1 draw, then again drew 1–1 with holders Italy, followed by a 0–0 stalemate against Paraguay. Finishing third in the group, they failed to advance. Despite the early exit, New Zealand were the only team not to lose a match at the 2010 finals. The side had begun the tournament ranked 78th in the world. In the 2014 qualifiers, they topped their third round group, despite an earlier loss to New Caledonia, and then lost in the playoff 9–3 in aggregate to Mexico. They topped their group in the 2018 qualifiers, then defeated the Solomon Islands, before losing to Peru in the final play-off spot. In the 2022 qualifiers, five wins and a final 5–0 win against the Solomon Islands, followed by a 1–0 loss to Costa Rica resulted in non-qualification. For the 2026 World Cup the enlarged 48-team finals gave the OFC its first direct entry, which New Zealand claimed on 24 March 2025 with a 3–0 win over New Caledonia at Eden Park. New Zealand had won all five of its qualifying matches, scoring 29 goals and conceding one.
FIFA World Cup record
record record Year Host Round Squad 1930 to 1938Not member of FIFANot member of FIFA1950 to 1966Did not enterDid not enter1970Did not qualify2nd round20020619741st round603351219781st round42111441982Group stage23rd3003212SquadQualified1595144101986Did not qualify3rd631213719903rd631213819942nd round631215519983rd round63031362002640220720063rd53021752010Group stage22nd303022SquadQualified86111552014Did not qualifyPlay-off1391328182018Play-off138412462022Play-off65011822026Group stage 40th 3 0 1 2 4 10 SquadQualified55002912030To be determinedTo be determined2034 Total 9 0 4 5 8 24 — — 107 63 18 26 268 102
By match YearRoundOpponentScoreResultVenueNew Zealand scorers1982Group stage2–5LMálagaS. Sumner, S. Wooddin0–3LMálaga0–4LSeville2010Group stage1–1DRustenburgW. Reid1–1DNelspruitS. Smeltz0–0DPolokwane2026Group stage2–2D InglewoodE. Just (2)1–3LVancouverF. Surman1–5LVancouverE. Just
Head-to-head record OpponentWin %Total
1982 FIFA World Cup
New Zealand's run to the 1982 finals took 15 matches and included a 13–0 win over Fiji in which captain Steve Sumner scored six goals, at the time a record margin in World Cup qualifying. A 2–1 win over China in a Singapore play-off secured the final place at the tournament.
Group 6
2010 FIFA World Cup
Group F
2026 FIFA World Cup
New Zealand were drawn in Group G alongside Iran, Egypt and Belgium. A 2–2 draw with Iran in the opening match brought a brace for Elijah Just, who became the first New Zealand player to score twice in a World Cup match, but defeats by Egypt and Belgium left the team bottom of the group.
Group stage
Goalscorers
On 15 June 1982, Steve Sumner made history by scoring New Zealand's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal, coming in the 54th minute of their opening match against Scotland in Málaga.
Player Goals 1982 2010 2026 Elijah Just 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Finn Surman 1 1 Total 8 2 2 4
See also New Zealand men's national football team results New Zealand at the FIFA Confederations Cup New Zealand at the OFC Nations Cup Oceanian nations at the FIFA World Cup
References
Reports
External links New Zealand 1982 World Cup squad