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2026 All Whites International Fixtures

246 replies · 15,150 views
about 4 hours ago
Minny don’t look making the MLS playoffs. The November India games in NZ could make a nice Boxy AWs swansong retirement tour. Maybe even Smith as well

The only international carrot left for Boxy might be the 2028 LA Olympics as an overage player. US has been his home for many years. But only if for some reason Surman was unavailable 
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about 3 hours ago · edited about 3 hours ago · History
According to FIFA stats:

The ideal individual and team age bracket to win a FIFA World Cup is 26 to 28 years old, with the historical median average starting lineup age sitting at 27 years and 57 days. This window perfectly balances physical peak condition with accumulated elite match experience. 
Historical data shows that roughly 86.4% of all World Cup-winning starting XIs fit into the 26-to-28 age sweet spot

40 years old? 
Messi, is Messi for an out field player. For everybody else the national team coach should grow a pair and retire them.

It's not rude to make changes from the world cup. Many of the teams in this competition will also make changes. All I'm saying is that the All Whites coach should be making a few changes with an eye to the future. Besides, I'm sure some players coaches are going to have a few words about selecting certain AW players for the tournament. I can see certain AW players in the Premier League get a hard time from their coach about going to Japan in September/October. Not that they will listen to such talk. 




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Endorsed by
PK
about 3 hours ago
Should aim really to call up the best squad, particularly for the starting eleven, but looking to give more young players a chance off the bench.

Currently I think we should be looking something like:

Starting XI: A Paulsen, L Cacace, F Surman, T Bindon, C Elliott, J Bell, M Stamenic, E Just, R Thomas, C McCowatt, C Wood

Bench: M Crocombe, M Woud, F de Vries, M Boxall, N Pijnaker, T Payne, A Rufer, J Randall, L Brooke-Smith, L Bayliss, O Parker-Price, C Piper

Injured: M Garbett, B Old

Fringe: H Gray, J McGarry, S Sutton, D Wilkins, G Stanger, I Hughes, M Sheridan, S Singh, L Rogerson, B Waine, R Bidois, M Mata, S Ukich, (Lee H)

Both Old & Garbett might be back in time, but I think probably too close for picking them to be the best idea. Gray could go over Woud, Singh possibly over OPP (Baze might even start him over Thomas) and the Chris Wood back-up has plenty of options, none which clearly stand out but all a lot younger than Barbarouses.
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about 3 hours ago
Think it may be fair to exclude the 36 plus club however.



Auckland will rise once more

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Endorsed by
PK
about 1 hour ago
AucklandPhoenix wrote:
Think it may be fair to exclude the 36 plus club however.


 
Yes. Bring in Tyler Bindon and Luke Brooke Smith instead of them. 
I want to see Luke Brooke Smith eventually get more caps than Kosta and Marco combined. 
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about 1 hour ago · edited about 1 hour ago · History
Southernix wrote:
Should aim really to call up the best squad, particularly for the starting eleven, but looking to give more young players a chance off the bench.

Currently I think we should be looking something like:

Starting XI: A Paulsen, L Cacace, F Surman, T Bindon, C Elliott, J Bell, M Stamenic, E Just, R Thomas, C McCowatt, C Wood

Bench: M Crocombe, M Woud, F de Vries, M Boxall, N Pijnaker, T Payne, A Rufer, J Randall, L Brooke-Smith, L Bayliss, O Parker-Price, C Piper

Injured: M Garbett, B Old

Fringe: H Gray, J McGarry, S Sutton, D Wilkins, G Stanger, I Hughes, M Sheridan, S Singh, L Rogerson, B Waine, R Bidois, M Mata, S Ukich, (Lee H)

Both Old & Garbett might be back in time, but I think probably too close for picking them to be the best idea. Gray could go over Woud, Singh possibly over OPP (Baze might even start him over Thomas) and the Chris Wood back-up has plenty of options, none which clearly stand out but all a lot younger than Barbarouses.
I'm not sure that Thomas is good enough to start any more. He was bang average in LA and Vancouver. I wasn't overly impressed with Singh either.

We should be looking towards the future. My prefered XI if fully fit:

                A Paulsen, 
F Surman, T Bindon, M Boxall, 
         J Bell, M Stamenic,
               M Garbett, 
          E Just, L Cacace
C McCowatt/B Waine, C Wood

Bench: M Crocombe, H Gray/O Sail, F de Vries, N Pijnaker, B Tuiloma, T Payne, C Elliott, A Rufer, J Randall, L Bayliss, R Thomas, L Brooke-Smith, O Parker-Price, C McCowatt/B Waine, B Old

We're still weak at RB and up front. 

Maybe long term Just is better off as a striker but he played very well just in behind Wood as an AM at the WC. McCowatt/Waine the luckiest in my starting XI. Given our weakness at RB I'm happier to have 3 CBS and push Libby up to the wing knowing he can drop back into defence if were getting pumped. Hopefully this season Old can improve even more and really push Libby for either LB or LW.
Supporter of the world's best football teams: Waikato..., Kingz FC, NZ Knights, The Nix, The Argyle & of course the All Whites

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about 1 hour ago
Saffa wrote:
According to FIFA stats:

The ideal individual and team age bracket to win a FIFA World Cup is 26 to 28 years old, with the historical median average starting lineup age sitting at 27 years and 57 days. This window perfectly balances physical peak condition with accumulated elite match experience.
Historical data shows that roughly 86.4% of all World Cup-winning starting XIs fit into the 26-to-28 age sweet spot

40 years old? 
Messi, is Messi for an out field player. For everybody else the national team coach should grow a pair and retire them.

It's not rude to make changes from the world cup. Many of the teams in this competition will also make changes. All I'm saying is that the All Whites coach should be making a few changes with an eye to the future. Besides, I'm sure some players coaches are going to have a few words about selecting certain AW players for the tournament. I can see certain AW players in the Premier League get a hard time from their coach about going to Japan in September/October. Not that they will listen to such talk. 





Ronaldo, Dzeko the Cabo Verde keeper. Others near 40 I’m sure were there

Wood in 4 years could be our Dzeko. Good for 60 mins or off the pine

Barba and Smith their AWs careers are over. Boxy I’d let him play India if he wanted a fitting farewell in NZ. Winnie got one at Eden Park in 2022

We are going to already have a strong core aged 26-29 in 2030. But if 36 yr old Payne is still the best RB (hopefully not) you pick him
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