All Whites, Ferns, and other international teams

All Whites vs Finland | Fri 27th March | 7:00pm (NZT) | Eden Park

146 replies · 343 views Pinned
3 days ago · edited 3 days ago · History
Last time the AWs beat a European opponent was Serbia in 2010?
I doubt the Finns will be easy at all.

Number of their squad in Big 5 leagues.
Their results against Poland last year, a 2-1 win in Helsinki and a 3-1 loss in Chorzów.
Remembering the AWs lost to a fairly 2nd string Poland 1-0 last October.

Robin Lod (now at Chicago Fire) an ex team mate of Boxy's at Minnesota, was a bit of a star at Minny. He would waltz into an AWs squad, yet he's not listed below. Not sure if he has retired (age 32) from international football or just not picked by the Finns.


Finland
Goalkeepers
Lukas Hradecky, AS Monaco, France
Jesse Joronen, Palermo FC, Italy
Viljami Sinisalo, Celtic FC, Scotland


Defenders
Juho Lähteenmäki, FC Nordsjaelland, Denmark
Tony Miettinen, Mjällby AIF, Sweden
Ville Koski, Deportivo Alavés, Spain
Miro Tenho, Djurgårdens IF, Sweden
Nikolai Alho, Asteras Tripolis, Greece
Samuli Miettinen, NK Istra 1961, Croatia
Ryan Mahuta, FK Pardubice, Czech Republic


Midfielders
Matti Peltola, D.C. United, United States
Leo Walta, Swansea City, Wales
Kaan Kairinen, AC Sparta Praha, Czech Republic
Adam Marhiev, 1. FC Nürnberg, Germany
Anssi Suhonen, Odense BK, Denmark
Daniel Håkans, Lech Poznań, Poland
Oliver Antman, Rangers FC, Scotland
Naatan Skyttä, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Germany
Onni Valakari, San Diego FC, United States


Forwards
Topi Keskinen, Aberdeen FC, Scotland
Joel Pohjanpalo, Palermo FC, Italy
Casper Terho, Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands
Benjamin Källman, Hannover 96, Germany
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3 days ago
Good players but not a strong team. Still thing AW takes them down. 


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3 days ago
Hope this rain and wind clears by tomorrow night 😬
football tragic for too long


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3 days ago · edited 3 days ago · History
coochiee wrote:

Finland
Goalkeepers
Lukas Hradecky, AS Monaco, France
Jesse Joronen, Palermo FC, Italy
Viljami Sinisalo, Celtic FC, Scotland


Defenders
Juho Lähteenmäki, FC Nordsjaelland, Denmark
Tony Miettinen, Mjällby AIF, Sweden
Ville Koski, Deportivo Alavés, Spain
Miro Tenho, Djurgårdens IF, Sweden
Nikolai Alho, Asteras Tripolis, Greece
Samuli Miettinen, NK Istra 1961, Croatia
Ryan Mahuta, FK Pardubice, Czech Republic


Midfielders
Matti Peltola, D.C. United, United States
Leo Walta, Swansea City, Wales
Kaan Kairinen, AC Sparta Praha, Czech Republic
Adam Marhiev, 1. FC Nürnberg, Germany
Anssi Suhonen, Odense BK, Denmark
Daniel Håkans, Lech Poznań, Poland
Oliver Antman, Rangers FC, Scotland
Naatan Skyttä, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Germany
Onni Valakari, San Diego FC, United States


Forwards
Topi Keskinen, Aberdeen FC, Scotland
Joel Pohjanpalo, Palermo FC, Italy
Casper Terho, Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands
Benjamin Källman, Hannover 96, Germany


Head coach
Jacob Friis
Some major withdrawals from the Finland squad due to club injuries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland_national_football_team#Players
Mainly affecting the striking options: 
Gone are:
 Casper Terho, Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands
Benjamin Källman, Hannover 96, Germany
Daniel Håkans, Lech Poznań, Poland
As well as midfielder:
Kaan Kairinen, AC Sparta Praha, Czech Republic
The newly announced striking lineup is:
7 | FW Oliver Antman |  (age 24) | 27 | 8 | Rangers
13 | FW Oiva Jukkola | (age 23) | 2 | 0 | Kairat
18 | FW Topi Keskinen | 7 March 2003 (age 23) | 9 | 0 |  Aberdeen
20 | FWJoel Pohjanpalo (vice-captain) | (age 31) | 85 | 18 |  Palermo

Strong goalkeeping stocks:
1 | GK Lukas Hradecky (captain) | (age 36) | 102 | 0 | Monaco
A decade in the Bundesliga & over 300 apps with Leverkusen and Frankfurt.
The backups are Jesse Joronen (Palermo's # 1) and Viljami Sinisalo (Celtic's # 2 )

Generally a selection inexperienced in international football. All except ten of the 23 players have no caps or single figure caps. Only six have more than twenty caps.

Big Pete 65, Christchurch

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3 days ago · edited 3 days ago · History
Hopefully Thommo, Marko and masked man Joe are all fit, and we see them start as a trio together at last.
 
Day ✌️ in NZ 🇳🇿

Two huge games coming up on home soil ⏳⬇️

🇳🇿⚔️🇫🇮 Friday 27, 7PM | Eden Park
🇳🇿⚔️🇨🇱 Monday 30, 7PM | Eden Park

🎟️ Get your tickets: https://t.co/ZwztXI4xFz

👕 Grab our new kit on https://t.co/96XJC7W0Cu pic.twitter.com/FvTTFSmKND
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) March 25, 2026 

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3 days ago
Antz wrote:
Hope this rain and wind clears by tomorrow night 😬

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2036942636301631990

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3 days ago
Logan Rogerson of course also had a few seasons in Finland. Oli Whyte is back there in the Finnish 2nd tier.
https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2026/03/26/new-zealands-opponents-finland-10-things-you-might-want-to-know/

6. Current players to watch
Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky is the captain and one of Finland’s most accomplished players.

He was part of Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten Bundesliga-winning side in 2023-24 and has been named Finland’s Footballer of the Year six times. He’s now with French club Monaco.
Finland captain and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
Other key players include striker Joel Pohjanpalo, midfielder Matti Peltola and winger Oliver Antman.

7. A proud history
Finland played their first international match in 1911 against Sweden.

They also competed at the 1912 Olympic Games and hosted the 1952 Olympics, where they were eliminated in the first round.

8. Nordic success
Finland won the final edition of the Nordic Football Championship in 2000-2001.

The tournament featured Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

9. Strong links across Europe — and New Zealand
Finland’s squad is almost entirely based in European leagues, with no players selected from the domestic competition.

Several New Zealand players have previously played in Finland’s Veikkausliiga, including All Whites Lee Jones, Chris James, Noah Hickey, Gerard Davis and Kris Bright.

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3 days ago · edited 3 days ago · History
Battle between Paulsen & Crocs. Everything points to them getting a game each this window, as they effectively audition for the starter's role in June.

Alex P coming off a big game for Gdansk on the weekend, a couple of top drawer saves in a vital win for them.
 
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360954382/most-consequential-fifa-world-cup-call-all-whites-coach-has-make

image.png 1.32 MB
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3 days ago
Despite his dodgy hammies, and the long travel, Thomas's commitment to the AWs this week partly explained. A Te Puke wedding to attend!
Niche Cache.

Ryan Thomas: “It could be better. I only trained a little this week and my energy ran out quickly. I felt my hamstring squeeze in the last minutes before halftime and in the second half. I couldn't go any more. It’s a shame because I want to play as much as possible.”

That was what Thomas said after being substituted an hour into a massive victory for PEC Zwolle, beating NAC Breda 2-1 to move ten points clear of relegation with six matches left. It was the third time in the past four fixtures that Thomas has been subbed early, having skipped the match before this streak entirely.

As has been said in previous weeks, it’s nothing serious but he is feeling the weight of having played a lot of minutes this season and those hamstrings are getting rather tight. There might be more space for him to rest up following this result... but not quite yet. Because despite everything he’s still travelled to join the All Whites back in Auckland. That’s a 24-hour travel shift each way with two games in between.

The reason for that is twofold: the first thing is that he’s desperate to play at the World Cup and wants to show his commitment, especially after being away from the international scene for so long... and the other reason is that his sister is getting married this weekend. They’d set that date 18 months ago, deliberately picking an international window when he’d be able to be there, not even knowing that he’d be back in the All Whites with home games conveniently planned for that spot on the calendar. The plan is that he’ll start on Friday against Finland, head to Te Puke on Saturday for the nuptials, then probably sit on the bench on Monday against Chile. The minutes will be subject to change depending on how he pulls up – Darren Bazeley’s always careful with these things. 
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Endorsed by kwlap

2 days ago
https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2037031172677750970

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2037020432210223318

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2 days ago
https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2037075505795785039

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2 days ago
coochiee wrote:
https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2037075505795785039
 
Last session before Finland 🇳🇿🇫🇮

This Friday the All Whites play their first match in NZ against European opposition in NZ for 30 years 🔥

7PM @ Eden Park. We’ll see you there 🤝

🎟️ https://t.co/ZwztXI4xFz pic.twitter.com/V3ceT7hWp2
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) March 26, 2026 


 
Great chance for NZ to get two important achievements in this window. First win against a European side in 16 years and first win against a Sth American side ever.
Looking at how inexperianced the Finland side is and the coach admitting most of them have never played outside Europe then we really should get a result.
Chile will be difficult. Out of our seven defenders five play in the A League. Chile will have attackers that are quick and skillfull. 
A win and a draw would be fantastic. I just hope we can find a way to score goals.
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Endorsed by YellowAndBlack

2 days ago
Pax right now;
13858
Really thought these games would attract more…
Auckland based forever phoenix fan
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2 days ago
theaucklandphoenixfan wrote:
Pax right now;
13858
Really thought these games would attract more…
Competing with a red hot Warriors was always going to be a tough ask. Wouldn't be surprised with a higher turnout for the Chile game. Historically more recognized footballing nation and increased interest from South American expat community.
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Endorsed by coochiee, Rock Hopper, Southernix

2 days ago
You'd think they would if they were in Wellington, gonna look empty at Eden park,
cost of living will have hurt ticket sales big time, plus the Wahs are on at 8pm in Auckland

Queenslander 3x a year.

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Endorsed by kwlap

2 days ago
Would be keen to see Ben old playing LB in one of these games. De vries for me you only need if chris wood is up top to deliver balls in.
Also gives a chance for Randall while he's in great form
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Endorsed by coochiee, Southernix, theprof

2 days ago
https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2037297121528094866

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2037271853350478254

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1 day ago · edited 1 day ago · History
That Old nutmeg of FDV in the wet is worth a watch.
Listening to Old speak about his season at St Etienne the other day, his confidence does yes seem sky high. His game gone to another level maybe. Lets hope so.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360950088/all-whites-v-finland-all-you-need-know-about-fifa-series-friendly

What they’ve said
Darren Bazeley (All Whites coach): “Any game in football, across club football or international football, the home team has an advantage – the conditions, the crowd – and it's been tough for us. We travel a lot and play away games a lot and deal with crowds in the opposition's environments. We've got used to doing that, which has been good. We had the Australia home and away [matches, last September], which was a little bit different. But this is the first time, really, we've been able to play competitively ranked teams here in New Zealand. With the rankings of Finland and Chile, they're good competitive games that are going to be a challenge for us“.

Jacob Friis (Finland coach): “[Our players are] very excited to participate here. We, of course, talked with the players before we took the decision of going all the way out here. We have players that have been in the national team for many, many years, and they have never played against opponents outside Europe, so of course, it's a big experience for everybody, but we are coping fine. I don't have to play on the pitch, but I woke up five o'clock this morning – I never do that. If I do, then I fall asleep again. But this morning I didn't. So of course, there is a small adjustment, but it's something that it seems the players are coping really well with”.

Players to watch
Ben Old (All Whites): After weeks of playing left back for his club side, AS Saint-Étienne, in the French second-tier, the former Wellington Phoenix player will be eager to take on a more attacking role down that flank for his country. It is understood his hunger impressed the coaching staff when the All Whites had their only training on grass this (wet) week on Wednesday, which could help propel him into a starting spot. His confident mood was reflected in the fact he shared a video of himself nutmegging de Vries from training on Thursday on Instagram, writing: “Sorry ... but I had to”.

Joel Pohjanpalo (Finland): With former Norwich City star Teemu Pukki now retired as of last November, after scoring 43 goals in 133 appearances, Pohjanpalo, who plays for Palermo in Italy’s second-tier Serie B, is the leading scorer in Finland’s squad, with 18 goals in 82 appearances. Rangers winger Oliver Antman, with eight in 27, is the only other play to have scored more than once in their squad.
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1 day ago · edited 1 day ago · History
Chile beat Cape Verde 4-2. CV down to 10 men from late first half.

After the AWs game it's China verus Curacao and Socceroos vs Cameroon.


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1 day ago · edited 1 day ago · History
 All Whites coach Darren Bazeley has named his starting 11 for tonight's game.

Max Crocombe gets the nod in goal; 
Tim Payne, Tyler Bindon, Finn Surman and Francis de Vries hold down the defence; 
captain Marko Stamenic anchors the midfield with Ryan Thomas; 
and attacking midfielders Ben Old, Elijah Just and Callum McCowatt will operate in behind 
striker Ben Waine. 
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Endorsed by kwlap, Turfmoore

1 day ago
Oddly excited by the game. Hope it's a good one!
I have an amazing ability to find my way out of mazes. I'm pathological. 
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Endorsed by Oi Oi Edgecumbe

1 day ago
coochiee wrote:
Chile beat Cape Verde 4-2. CV down to 10 men from late first half.

After the AWs game it's China verus Curacao and Socceroos vs Cameroon.


 
Solomon Islands vs Bulgaria as well.

On an unrelated note, who else has noticed there are two live streams of the AWs match on FIFA+? One with NZ commentary and one without. Never seen that before on FIFA+.
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1 day ago
coochiee wrote:
Chile beat Cape Verde 4-2. CV down to 10 men from late first half.

After the AWs game it's China verus Curacao and Socceroos vs Cameroon.


 
Is there anywhere like sky sports showing the Socceroos game? 
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1 day ago · edited 1 day ago · History
Walta plays with Stamenic at Swansea.
Miettinen, at Skipe Ukich's Croatian club NK Istra 1961.
https://twitter.com/Huuhkajat/status/2037382926258815383
Onko Suomi hereillä? ⏰ Tässä joukkueemme Uutta-Seelantia vastaan!

Samuli Miettinen tekee avauskokoonpanossa A-maajoukkuedebyyttinsä 💪

🇳🇿🆚🇫🇮 klo 8.15
📺 Yle Teema & Fem#Huuhkajat #MeOlemmeSuomi pic.twitter.com/Qz8hsZnymY
— Huuhkajat (@Huuhkajat) March 27, 2026 

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1 day ago
coochiee wrote:
Chile beat Cape Verde 4-2. CV down to 10 men from late first half.

After the AWs game it's China verus Curacao and Socceroos vs Cameroon.
Chile away support were in full voice all game, and there were a decent number of them too - we can expect them to really turn up the volume on Monday night.
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Endorsed by coochiee, Half a Pint, Oi Oi Edgecumbe

1 day ago
So good to have All Whites footy firing up again. Been waiting months for this! Here's hoping some or those fringe players make a case for a spot on the plane to the WC tongiht. 
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1 day ago
All a bit underwhelming so far. 

Old maybe our best creatively? 
No Boxall, Billy T, Sarpreet or Bell. Missing a bit of size, experience and leadership there. Bell and Singh usually our pace setters. 


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1 day ago · edited 1 day ago · History
Geez that’s naughty from Elijah. Don’t like this response from NZ. Bit surly.


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1 day ago
The AW's are at best NL level with this set up, personal and coach- can we not find a coach who selects players on form  (Bylass etc)  instead of staying with the non performance  players he knows - DB have had plenty of time but still no plan even without key players; just a youth coach with no idea- that's why other National coaches all have been professional HC before the National job
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1 day ago
Sheesh not Paynes best work these last couple  minutes!

That shot that bindon deflected over was his fault then he turned and gave someone a spray, then lost his man at the resulting corner 
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1 day ago
We are terrible. De Vries is pants, Payne is pants! Extremely average and there's not a chance we get out of group stage!
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1 day ago
Not looking good. I know there is a lot of players out but if were the fridge players wouldn't you want to put a shift in and impress.
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1 day ago · edited 1 day ago · History
Preety uninspiring 

Unfortunately the majority are first choice players and not fringe. 

The right hand side play is nonexistent with Payne and McCowatt.

McCowatt seems to do ok in the Danish league but I have never seen him play well for the All Whites.


Auckland will rise once more

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1 day ago
This has been mediocre. 6 months of not playing together and it shows. Barley any cohesion. Playing with only one up front doesn't work for the All Whites whether it's Wood or Waine. If the boys are this over-awed by playing Finalnd at home god help them come the big dance. 
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Endorsed by WanderingSheep

1 day ago
Making Finland look like Barcelona. If only there was a ball playing midfielder that can keep hold of the ball instead of kick it away......Hey! What about that player from Newcastle Jets?


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1 day ago
Jonty07 wrote:
We are terrible. De Vries is pants, Payne is pants! Extremely average and there's not a chance we get out of group stage!
We are being schooled in midfield and we have three of our best midfielders playing. Finland look excellent. Quick fluid passing and good movement. We look sluggish and slow. We are not pressing well or shutting them down. Old looks our best player but overall thats a very very poor first half from AWs
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1 day ago · edited 1 day ago · History
We always seem to play poorly at Eden Park. Flat atmosphere.
Was a couple of mins there late first half, where Finland just held the ball, playing their little triangles. They are dominating the midfield.

Pohjanpalo  is a big unit and does have 21 goals in Serie B for Palermo this season. A well taken header, but a worry no one picked him up.

Two fairly evened matched teams, but AWs need to play better.
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1 day ago
It looks like the players have never played together. No cohesion, all over the place. Time to bring on bell in midfield. Just and mccowatt have been disappointing.
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