Awesome news. I thought we woudknt hear much about fixtures for the All whites until after the WWC so as not to take attention away.
As far as a second fixture in the window goes I doubt they'd need it but if England need a proxy-socceroos side to warm up against we will be in the area and woukd be great to make up the previously pencilled in England vs All whites that covid scrapped a few years back.
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
Rock Hopper
Awesome news. I thought we woudknt hear much about fixtures for the All whites until after the WWC so as not to take attention away.
As far as a second fixture in the window goes I doubt they'd need it but if England need a proxy-socceroos side to warm up against we will be in the area and woukd be great to make up the previously pencilled in England vs All whites that covid scrapped a few years back.
Well obviously that can't happen. It's a 2 game FIFA window. Socceroos play England in the first game slot, then the AWs in the 2nd game slot.
Oh and yes even a 2nd string Socceroos will be favourites against the AWs. Is was basically a 2nd string Aussie side that won 2-0 last year at Eden Park. The worst AWs performance under Hay's reign. Though the 3-1 loss to Jordan (Woud with a mare) was also a poor effort.
Awesome news. I thought we woudknt hear much about fixtures for the All whites until after the WWC so as not to take attention away.
As far as a second fixture in the window goes I doubt they'd need it but if England need a proxy-socceroos side to warm up against we will be in the area and woukd be great to make up the previously pencilled in England vs All whites that covid scrapped a few years back.
Well obviously that can't happen. It's a 2 game FIFA window. Socceroos play England in the first game slot, then the AWs in the 2nd game slot.
Oh and yes even a 2nd string Socceroos will be favourites against the AWs. Is was basically a 2nd string Aussie side that won 2-0 last year at Eden Park. The worst AWs performance under Hay's reign. Though the 3-1 loss to Jordan (Woud with a mare) was also a poor effort.
Montenegro (FIFA ranking 71, 35th in UEFA) and North Macedonia (FIFA ranking 68, 34th in UEFA) are the only free UEFA sides at the moment, according to Wikipedia fixtures.
Whole bunch of CAF and AFC sides that have AFCON/Asian Cup in January could fancy a friendly, especially given some have qualifiers in November they won't be able to fiddle around with. AFCON finishes qualifying in September, so won't know exactly which teams are in it until late, but that might be beneficial if we need a short notice game. All in all, currently 31 African sides are yet to be eliminated, 24 will go to the tournament. Maybe only Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire have fixtures of those 31.
Free Asian Cup sides include: Tajikistan, UAE, Syria, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia
"Representative teams shall play the two matches (subject to the temporary exceptions set out in paragraph 4 of this article) within an international window on the territory of the same confederation, with the only exception of intercontinental play-off matches. If at least one of the two matches is a friendly, they can be played in two different confederations only if the distance between the venues does not exceed a total of five flight hours, according to the official schedule of the airline, and two time-zones"
Personally the best thing about this "soccer ashes" thing is that it should give our team a rare taste of competitive international football. Friendlies against Qatar/China/Sweden are great and not something I am complaining about - but a game with a trophy on the line against Australia in a place where both sides should get plenty of fans should bring that competitive atmosphere that this group haven't got enough of in recent years and the past.
I'd happily see us play either North Macedonia or Montenegro - both would probably give us the run around, and would be the kind of gritty match that can only help us. Might not be a "sexy" fixture for the non-football fans, but who cares, they're not the target audience.
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
North Macedonia famously knocked Italy out of WC qualifying, last year. So yes they are no mugs. But they play Ukraine (14th Oct) 1st game in that Oct window, so not available to play against the AWs.
However Montenegro (play 18th Oct, 2nd game in the window) are yes available, for a game a few days prior the Socceroos, who we play the 17th Oct.
Otherwise Syria or Uzbekistan could fancy a game at a neutral European venue. They have both drawn the Socceroos in their Asian Cup pool for early next year. Uzbeks are off to the USA for some friendlies in September (US & Bulgaria) - so they don't mind a bit of travel
Put your Phoenix on, its not ideal to have players traipsing off to Europe for fixtures on / around the start of the season. Is this one Surman/Payne/Old/Kosta/Sutton/Rufer/Paulsen sit out? (but Lewis/Sail/Ingham/Mcgarry/Roux you can play!)
Put your Phoenix on, its not ideal to have players traipsing off to Europe for fixtures on / around the start of the season. Is this one Surman/Payne/Old/Kosta/Sutton/Rufer/Paulsen sit out? (but Lewis/Sail/Ingham/Mcgarry/Roux you can play!)
For sure. None of the currentNix contingent are critical to the AWs.
Payne, Surman & Rufer were picked in June. But you can replace them easily enough with Kirwan & Thomas for starters. Might be tempted to still send Surman up north with the AWs. Need to develop our young CBs.
What do you think the average attendance of the non-NZ non-US group games in New Zealand going to be?. I have a bad feeling that it won't be impressive.
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
FB_IMG_1692944307632.jpg115.13 KB Not too far to travel for Pijnaker. Assumes this means we aren't looking at lining up a second fixture around the Socceroos game in October. Hopefully we fare a little better than our last hit out against Ireland. On the plus side looks like Darren Bazeley will be spending an extended run of time in Europe. Plenty of time to nip around the UK and have a chat with the likes of Dibley-Dias and Bindon and see where their allegiances lie.
FB_IMG_1692944307632.jpg115.13 KB Not too far to travel for Pijnaker at least. Assumes this means we aren't looking at lining up a second fixture around the Socceroos game in October. Hopefully we fare a little better than our last hit out against Ireland. On the plus side looks like Darren Bazeley will be spending an extended run of time in Europe. Plenty of time to nip over to the UK and have a chat with the likes of Dibley-Dias and Bindon and see where their allegiances lie.
No disrespect to any party, but you get the feeling those potential chats and the chance to survey a few of the lads during their club season, as well as seeing how they're travelling at club level are almost as important as the fixture itself.
But a fixture is a fixture, and a half decent European opponent at that! So well done NZF.
You are dead right about those conversations and observations. I think that paired with good results and showing those select young guys coming through that have a few options internationally on their plate, that we mean business and that a future with NZf is worth their time would go a long way.
I hope NZF really capitalise on this foundation and try and lock in a full 4 fixtures. Even if it means a sort of Faroe Islands/Liechtenstein type opposition for one of them. It's an amazing window where we could smash out four fixtures in the space of five weeks. And really build up a sense of team and unity with a wider training squad being readily available to meet during this time period without too much travel hindrance. And in between games the coaching staff making the rounds at the clubs and seeing how all the boys are getting on.
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
See that ALM is actually having a 2 week break for the Nov window. Nix play 10th & then 25th Nov. So Bazeley can call up any ALM guys (not that there will be many).
Nix's season starts 22nd Oct, 4 days after Socceroos game in London (18th Oct NZ time). So Chiefy may ask Baz to bypass his AWs guys for Oct window. Though Bazeley may not feel like doing the Nix any favours right now - referring to the U23s!
You are dead right about those conversations and observations. I think that paired with good results and showing those select young guys coming through that have a few options internationally on their plate, that we mean business and that a future with NZf is worth their time would go a long way.
I hope NZF really capitalise on this foundation and try and lock in a full 4 fixtures. Even if it means a sort of Faroe Islands/Liechtenstein type opposition for one of them. It's an amazing window where we could smash out four fixtures in the space of five weeks. And really build up a sense of team and unity with a wider training squad being readily available to meet during this time period without too much travel hindrance. And in between games the coaching staff making the rounds at the clubs and seeing how all the boys are getting on.
A fixture is a fixture to be fair, and as some have stated on here previously - Have we really earnt the right to be playing the bigger European nations on a regular basis?
Having a quick look we haven't beaten a European nation since we played Serbia in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup! Post those WC games against Slovakia (1-1) & Italy (1-1) we've gone on and lost seven on the bounce.
So even if we have to play teams like Latvia, Northern Ireland, Belarus or Estonia for example, I'd 100% be absolutely ok with that scenario as well.
You are dead right about those conversations and observations. I think that paired with good results and showing those select young guys coming through that have a few options internationally on their plate, that we mean business and that a future with NZf is worth their time would go a long way.
I hope NZF really capitalise on this foundation and try and lock in a full 4 fixtures. Even if it means a sort of Faroe Islands/Liechtenstein type opposition for one of them. It's an amazing window where we could smash out four fixtures in the space of five weeks. And really build up a sense of team and unity with a wider training squad being readily available to meet during this time period without too much travel hindrance. And in between games the coaching staff making the rounds at the clubs and seeing how all the boys are getting on.
A fixture is a fixture to be fair, and as some have stated on here previously - Have we really earnt the right to be playing the bigger European nations on a regular basis?
Having a quick look we haven't beaten a European nation since we played Serbia in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup! Post those WC games against Slovakia (1-1) & Italy (1-1) we've gone on and lost seven on the bounce.
So even if we have to play teams like Latvia, Northern Ireland, Belarus or Estonia for example, I'd 100% be absolutely ok with that scenario as well.
In November only Greece, Ukraine and Turkey are free in that slot from UEFA.
Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and the USA are unavailable with CONCACAF Nations' League qualifying (which they receive byes to). Eight teams from 'League A' (teams 5-16 in CONCACAF) will be available (those that don't make the top two in either group). All the sixteen teams in 'League B' have games. Some in 'League C' are free but we aren't playing Cayman or Turks and Caicos Islands are we.
None of the 54 teams in CAF are free due to their World Cup qualifying beginning that window.
The ten losers of the AFC First Round qualifying ties will be available (but unlikely - Guam, Pakistan, Timor-Leste, Bhutan etc aren't traveling to Europe just to play New Zealand). The rest will all be unavailable.
None of CONMEBOL's members are available due to their World Cup qualifying.
So I guess they will have to target those three European sides or maybe book last minute with a CONCACAF side, though they won't know their availability until the October window.
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
Well certainly wouldn't stick our nose up at any of those three opponents. Surely get Themi to lace up again come November for a cameo in the final few minutes if it was Greece.
Anyone got any educated guesses at who might still be kicking around as hypothetical opposition for the October window or is everybody pretty much booked out at this point?
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
From CONCACAF if the dice fell nicely, Trinidad & Tobago or Jamaica could be good pick ups for a November London friendly, as many of their players would be UK based.
Costa Rica are playing Saudi Arabia at Newcastle's St James Park in September! Sports washing at it's best. Neither team as yet are committed for October.
In fact alot of AFC teams are yet to lock in October friendlies. Even our good mates Qatar are currently available. Socceroos have England & then us.
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
FYI - Ireland lost both their Euros qualifiers in this September window. 2-0 away to the French, and then 1-2 at home to the Dutch.
Irish (3 pts) sit 4th in their group, and will now need a bit of a miracle to automatically qualify (top 2 teams in each pool), with only 3 games left. Greece & Netherlands (both 9 pts - Dutch game in hand) in a battle for 2nd spot. French (1st) 5 wins from 5.
3 teams can also qualify via playoffs for Euros, so is still some hope for the Irish, if finish out of the top 2 in their pool.
Probably not alot of relevance to our November friendly as we will likely face an Irish B team. The play in Amsterdam a few days before the AWs, in their last Euros qualifier.
Hope NZF can secure a game more in each of the Oct & Nov windows. Greece, Ukraine & Turkey all still seem avalable for Nov. Any CONCACAF teams as above we won't know until end of the Oct window.
Holy heck we actually got the Greece fixture. It wasn't just wishful thinking/deduction. Really stoked to see Pragnell and co sticking to their word on fixtures whenever possible. Awesome effort NZF. Hope we get the performance on the field to match.
This is going to be a great run of games for the boys to really gel and form a culture. All good things leading into the next WC cycle.
Cannot wait! And hope we can pip one over Greece in revenge for what they did to the Tall Blacks in the basketball world cup recently.
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
Yipe fair play to NZF. Australia, Congo, Ireland & Greece. Earlier China x2, Sweden & Qatar.
That's a feast compared to prior WC cycles. Well done Pragnell & Co. Could easily be 4 losses, but hey you only improve by playing higher ranked teams.
No Ryan Thomas update. Iredale, Bindon & Dibley-Dias all a chance?
As well as the likely return of Singh and star striker Chris Wood, Bazeley said he planned to include some other fresh faces in his next squad.
After narrowly missing out in June, A-League Men winner James McGarry has strengthened his case for a recall by securing a transfer to Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen, while Francis de Vries has remained playing in New Zealand.
“I look at my board and there’s 50 to 60 players playing in good environments around the world now, so to pick a squad for each window is starting to become a little more difficult.
All Whites fixtures (NZT) Saturday, October 14, 5am: vDemocratic Republic of the Congo;Estadio Nueva Condomina, Murcia, Spain
Wednesday, October 18, 7.45am: v Australia; Gtech Community Stadium, London, England
Saturday, November 18, 6am: v Greece; OPAP Arena, Athens, Greece
Wednesday, November 22, 8:45am: v Republic of Ireland; Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
I think we've all been clamouring for a decent cluster of international fixtures for the AW's for a while now, so this excellent news to wake up to after night shift.
I think we've all been clamouring for a decent cluster of international fixtures for the AW's for a while now, so this excellent news to wake up to after night shift.
Well done NZ Football, looking forward to it. 👏
Agreed, great to see Pragnell actually achieve what he said he would. Next on the list is regular home games.
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
theprof
YoungHeartHM
I think we've all been clamouring for a decent cluster of international fixtures for the AW's for a while now, so this excellent news to wake up to after night shift.
Well done NZ Football, looking forward to it. 👏
Agreed, great to see Pragnell actually achieve what he said he would. Next on the list is regular home games.
That will be very difficult from now on this cycle.
Most Confederations will be well into their WC qualifying in 2024. If someone like Greece or Ireland has a bye they ain't flying 25-30 hours downunder for one game. We were lucky to have China earlier this year, and the Socceroos last year (Aussies had very few options when looking for tough Qatar WC warmups).
OFC WC qualifiers are likely to be the AWs next home games.
Note that the ALM kicks off 20th-22nd Oct, and AWs play 14th-18th Oct.
So wouldn't surprise if the October AWs are completely sans ALM players. That will keep the ALM coaches (incl Chiefy) happy, as they build up to the new season kicking off a matter of days after the FIFA window ends. Is enough players in North America & Europe to form a good squad.
Well fact is they've got to do it - and hopefully home fans will not be too fussy about who it's against. An Australian selection from A-League, a team from Asia or worst case scenario one of the Pacific Islands seems most likely.
So that just leaves next year's March & June windows to fill. You'd expect like now they will be overseas friendlies in Europe. Or maybe CONCACAF or AFC.
All Whites v Greece at the home of AEK Athens will be cool. Busy end to 2023 with four fixtures to come in the next two windows. https://t.co/bIJ9U050rt
So that just leaves next year's March & June windows to fill. You'd expect like now they will be overseas friendlies in Europe. Or maybe CONCACAF or AFC.
If they run the OFC Nations' Cup that should fall in that June window. New Zealand were penciled in to host in 2020, so you'd assume that hosting rights would roll over into 2024. That being said, take nothing with OFC for granted, and nothing has been confirmed by OFC, so I'd assume that tournament won't happen unfortunately.
I note that that says the second round will be played in October and November, so we will have maximum four matches possible inside the window. September is just for the first round, with the bottom four sides, or - realistically - however many decide to bother turning up. Either that means it won't be home and away but home or away, or they will have three games in each window and play outside the release period.
First scenario is more likely, but that will mean we possibly only get one home qualifier (for the whole campaign). Round three in March 2025 will have the one-off semis/final in a centralised location, so get ready for a must-win one-off in Honiara and Lawson Tama.
Assuming no Nations' Cup, we could qualify having only played five games. In 2018 we played thirteen, for comparison. Cynically, the fewer games means less chance of freak results being levelled out; one away loss after a bad refereeing decision on a poor field under 35C mid-afternoon sun could be the end. Even placing that to the side, five qualifiers is pitiful, especially given there might only be one in NZ.
There's no UEFA qualifiers/Nations League scheduled for March, so getting in early should allow for a wide choice (provided they want their last pre-Euros friendlies to be against NZ). CONCACAF is similarly free in March, so you could get a combination of the two if they play neutral in Europe. The top 36 teams in AFC will all play qualifiers in March/June (without any uneven groups like UEFA has); just as before, you get left with the sides that could well be worse than OFC. Chances are low for home games, but there should be plenty options to play away.
Olympics are in July, so they could use the June window to play a couple games with the U23s as opposed to full senior internationals.
So, possible that we get just the one home game in 2024. Hopefully NZF/OFC can be a bit kinder though.
IMHO the OFC Nations Cup with the Confederations Cup no longer existing, would be a waste of time for NZF & the All Whites. Lets be brutally honest there is no prestige in being the champions of OFC
Better to use that window to have some more high quality friendlies even if they are overseas, in an unfriendly NZ viewer time zone.
But I'd be disappointed, even angered if OFC WC qualifying wasn't a proper H&A qualifying program, including H&A semis & final post the pool stages. FIFA can't allow WC qualifying to hinge on one off playoffs. Doesn't happen in any other Confed. The two intercontinental playoffs in Qatar last June, were a one off as a hangover of Covid travel restrictions etc.
IMHO the OFC Nations Cup with the Confederations Cup no longer existing, would be a waste of time for NZF & the All Whites. Lets be brutally honest there is no prestige in being the champions of OFC
Better to use that window to have some more high quality friendlies even if they are overseas, in an unfriendly NZ viewer time zone.
But I'd be disappointed, even angered if OFC WC qualifying wasn't a proper H&A qualifying program, including H&A semis & final post the pool stages. FIFA can't allow WC qualifying to hinge on one off playoffs. Doesn't happen in any other Confed. The two intercontinental playoffs in Qatar last June, were a one off as a hangover of Covid travel restrictions etc.
'The preliminary competition will be played in three stages. Stage one will take place at a centralised venue in September 2024 and will comprise a one leg play off series among the four lowest ranked OFC teams in the FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking. The winner of each series will advance to a final match, the winner of which will progress to stage two.
Stage two, which will see eight teams divided into two groups of four, will be played in a league format in October and November 2024, with the first and second placed teams in each group advancing to stage three.
Stage three will take place in the March 2025 International Match Calendar window at a centralised venue, with four teams contesting two single match semi finals. The two winners will meet in one single match final to determine the team that qualifies directly for the FIFA World Cup 2026, whereas the runners up will play in the FIFA intercontinental play offs.'
League format does imply home and away, but it specifically mentions Oct/Nov (ie four game slots) with the next window, March 2025, having the centralised finals. Maybe they will be in Sydney? Destination NSW? Or perhaps Destination Solomon Islands already got in first?
But, yeah, looks like (if they stick to the timeline they told FIFA) they'll either play six games in Oct/Nov, which will mean NZ players will miss two games like in March last year, or they will be home or away. In that case, three games, two away and one home (or vice versa), so genuine possibility we do only get the one home qualifier for the whole campaign.
I don't get why they need to finish qualifying in March 2025, they only need it done before the intercontinental playoff, which is in March 2026. They could easily do home and away groups (Oct/Nov 2024 and March 2025 gives six games) and then home and away semi/final (June and Sep 2025). That still gives two windows before March 2026. If they wanted to do full home and away they would have, which makes it seem like a conscious decision.
Qualification like this does have precedent in OFC, as on the women's side it is one-off. It's possibly a bit disingenuous to act like they are the same, but it's how it is - the Ferns played five games to get to France in 2019, just as they did to get to Canada four years earlier.
OFC Nations' Cup has little prestige, and, yeah, no team in Europe will care if we win it, but considering it's all we might have, I'd rather have it than not. You possibly can test your depth, if the bigger stars want to have their European summers in Mallorca, and bring in more fringe guys who might appreciate playing for the country. Was the window in June this year more productive than five/six games at an OFC Nations Cup? 4-1 loss to Sverige and the Qatar debacle (though Sverige won't make the Euros, so maybe they will ask if we can play them again to help justify keeping Janne Andersson in his job).
OFC is also more than just New Zealand, all the other countries are crying out for games just as we are. Over a quarter of the confederation is literally unranked due to inactivity - they haven't played a single match in over four years. Pacific Games might partially fill that desire to become the region's best, but you'd assume they'd want a standalone, confederation-organised tournament.
You can have an OFC Nations Cup without NZ. The female version held last year was without the Football Ferns. Gives a non NZ OFC team a chance of winning a trophy. Maybe NZF could send an Olywhites U23 team if it is held June next year, just prior the Olympics.
But you are right there are plenty of windows through 2024 & 2025 prior March 2026, to have a proper H&A WC qualifying campaign. That would mean the AWs playing 5 WC qualifiers in NZ (3 pool games, semi & final) if AWs got to the OFC final.
If OFC plan to have semis & the final as one off games held at a 'neutral' venue (anywhere in the Islands) then that just reeks of them, trying their best to deny OFC's strongest team that automatic WC spot.
OFC needs to be disbanded and soon. Three fudgeing years to do a qualifying programme with only 11 teams and they STILL make it depend on single leg semis and final. NZ needs to complain to FIFA and if they don't do anything blow it up in the international media.
over 2 years ago· edited over 2 years ago· History
lthomas20
OFC needs to be disbanded and soon. Three fudgeing years to do a qualifying programme with only 11 teams and they STILL make it depend on single leg semis and final. NZ needs to complain to FIFA and if they don't do anything blow it up in the international media.
I think that proposed qualifying plan is just off Wiki. That maybe not at all what happens. Lets just wait awhile to see what is officially aaounced. Plus in all honesty a full strength AWs even in sweaty Honiara should be too good for any Island nation.
But certainly there is a theme now here & there of the other OFC nations, tiring of NZ winning every OFC tourney and totally monopolising the spots OFC has at various WCs. Them doing what they can to make it more difficult for NZ sides.
