whatever-11456-1 wrote:
Is this really the best team that we can put out?
CJ Bott, Katie Bowen, Indiah-Paige Riley, Malia Steinmetz and Macey Fraser.
Pia Vlok also not there, and she's almost already a Ferns starter given her form
I presume Milly Clegg wasn't playing because she is out of season, ie not match fit?
But man that was poor tonight. The finishing almost comical in it's ineptness.
You'd get short odds on 3 pool game losses in Brazil next year, and maybe zero goals.
coochiee wrote:whatever-11456-1 wrote:It was an ALW heavy selection in this game. Missing quite a number of the better players.
Is this really the best team that we can put out?
CJ Bott, Katie Bowen, Indiah-Paige Riley, Malia Steinmetz and Macey Fraser.
Pia Vlok also not there, and she's almost already a Ferns starter given her form
I presume Milly Clegg wasn't playing because she is out of season, ie not match fit?
But man that was poor tonight. The finishing almost comical in it's ineptness.
You'd get short odds on 3 pool game losses in Brazil next year, and maybe zero goals.
32 team WC. 4 pools of 8 teams.
In theory you could have the top 24 ranked teams in the world filling pots 1, 2 & 3.
No doubt some UEFA teams ranked higher than the Ferns will miss out. But 9 teams ranked higher than the Ferns, missing out??
So far hosts Brazil, NZ plus AFC teams Australia, China, Japan, North Korea, Philippines and South Korea are all confirmed.
Of those sides only the Philippines (39th) have a lower ranking than the Ferns.
coochiee wrote:
Unless IO'm missing something, the Football Ferns (FIFA ranked 33rd) will be in Pot 4 most likely I'm guessing??
32 team WC. 4 pools of 8 teams.
In theory you could have the top 24 ranked teams in the world filling pots 1, 2 & 3.
No doubt some UEFA teams ranked higher than the Ferns will miss out. But 9 teams ranked higher than the Ferns, missing out??
So far hosts Brazil, NZ plus AFC teams Australia, China, Japan, North Korea, Philippines and South Korea are all confirmed.
Of those sides only the Philippines (39th) have a lower ranking than the Ferns.
Teams ranked below us/set to pot 4 will be:
Philippines from Asia
3-4 teams from Africa (only Nigeria could rise above us realistically)
3 intercontinental playoff winners (were all set to pot 4 last world cup)
1-2 teams from North America (4 qualify, 1 will be ranked below us, potentially 2 if Mexico bottle again)
All in all that comes to 8-10 teams ranked below us; i.e. we should be in Pot 3.
LT01 wrote:coochiee wrote:On my maths, no. You have to go by continent, a lot of the top 32 will be Euro teams that don't qualify.
Unless IO'm missing something, the Football Ferns (FIFA ranked 33rd) will be in Pot 4 most likely I'm guessing??
32 team WC. 4 pools of 8 teams.
In theory you could have the top 24 ranked teams in the world filling pots 1, 2 & 3.
No doubt some UEFA teams ranked higher than the Ferns will miss out. But 9 teams ranked higher than the Ferns, missing out??
So far hosts Brazil, NZ plus AFC teams Australia, China, Japan, North Korea, Philippines and South Korea are all confirmed.
Of those sides only the Philippines (39th) have a lower ranking than the Ferns.
Teams ranked below us/set to pot 4 will be:
Philippines from Asia
3-4 teams from Africa (only Nigeria could rise above us realistically)
3 intercontinental playoff winners (were all set to pot 4 last world cup)
1-2 teams from North America (4 qualify, 1 will be ranked below us, potentially 2 if Mexico bottle again)
All in all that comes to 8-10 teams ranked below us; i.e. we should be in Pot 3.
But it's gonna be touch & go isn't it. Only 7 teams ranked below us qualify, and into Pot 4 we go.
I'm surprised there are still no African teams ranked higher than the Ferns.
Nigeria (36th) the highest. Our U17 & U20 girls are now consisently getting flogged by CAF teams at their WCs from memory.
Nigeria comfortably beat the Ferns 3-0 in 2023, and in a pre Paris Olympics friendly in 2024 we only drew 1-1 with Zambia (current FIFA ranking 64).
Even if the Ferns do end up in Pot 3 they may find their Pot 4 pool opponent to be very tough to beat. Though luckily I see UEFA only get one team at the 10 team intercontinental playoffs.
https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/women
winning ugly is all that matters, getting to the WC is all that anyone will remember in a few years time.
maybe the women were nervous, under presure who knows, we won, we qualified. Coaching staff will analyse the hell out of it and fix whatever needs to be fixed.
lets enjoy the fact that both our women and men are going to the big dance.
Queenslander 3x a year.
coochiee wrote:Simon B wrote:3,984HattyCW wrote:And to their supporters, who really made themselves heard.
Credit to PNG though, and their keeper.
I didn’t quite catch the attendance, did they say 2984 or 3984?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360965064/football-ferns-flub-their-lines-beating-papua-new-guinea-book-fifa-womens-world-cup-spot
The Ferns will play as many as 15 matches between now and the World Cup, with international windows to come this year in June, October and November-December.
theprof wrote:
so a bit of a droll performance, still a 1-0.
winning ugly is all that matters, getting to the WC is all that anyone will remember in a few years time.
maybe the women were nervous, under presure who knows, we won, we qualified. Coaching staff will analyse the hell out of it and fix whatever needs to be fixed.
lets enjoy the fact that both our women and men are going to the big dance.
Founder
Feverish wrote:theprof wrote:Careful you might be asked to be the next ferns coach
so a bit of a droll performance, still a 1-0.
winning ugly is all that matters, getting to the WC is all that anyone will remember in a few years time.
maybe the women were nervous, under presure who knows, we won, we qualified. Coaching staff will analyse the hell out of it and fix whatever needs to be fixed.
lets enjoy the fact that both our women and men are going to the big dance.
Queenslander 3x a year.
Simon B wrote:coochiee wrote:Cheers - this bit of the article also caught my eye:Simon B wrote:3,984HattyCW wrote:And to their supporters, who really made themselves heard.
Credit to PNG though, and their keeper.
I didn’t quite catch the attendance, did they say 2984 or 3984?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360965064/football-ferns-flub-their-lines-beating-papua-new-guinea-book-fifa-womens-world-cup-spot
The Ferns will play as many as 15 matches between now and the World Cup, with international windows to come this year in June, October and November-December.
Home matches are understood to be on New Zealand Football’s radar for the last of those.
The Ferns play more in Southern Spain (beautiful part of the world) than they do in Aotearoa.
https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2052150865591763196
June Window locked in 🔒🇳🇿
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) May 6, 2026
The Ford Football Ferns will face and Morocco in Spain next month 🇭🇹🇲🇦
⏩ Read more: https://t.co/d0fPYipZoh pic.twitter.com/ziwQZAYTvh
coochiee wrote:
Haiti and Morocco in June.
The Ferns play more in Southern Spain (beautiful part of the world) than they do in Aotearoa.
https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2052150865591763196
June Window locked in 🔒🇳🇿
The Ford Football Ferns will face and Morocco in Spain next month 🇭🇹🇲🇦
⏩ Read more: https://t.co/d0fPYipZoh pic.twitter.com/ziwQZAYTvh
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) May 6, 2026
coochiee wrote:
Haiti and Morocco in June.
The Ferns play more in Southern Spain (beautiful part of the world) than they do in Aotearoa.
https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2052150865591763196
June Window locked in 🔒🇳🇿
The Ford Football Ferns will face and Morocco in Spain next month 🇭🇹🇲🇦
⏩ Read more: https://t.co/d0fPYipZoh pic.twitter.com/ziwQZAYTvh
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) May 6, 2026
I assume we'll get Christchurch and Wellington games before the World Cup anyway.
I imagine their better players move across the Med to play in Spain or France. But they have their own fully pro womens league.
Haiti from memory at the 2023 WWC had most of their team based in France.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/crmv2rnr9wzo
If the Ferns lost both games they could slip down the rankings enough to be seeded Pot D for the WWC 2027 draw.
andrewvoerman wrote:coochiee wrote:The Football Ferns matches are both 4am.
Within days of each other as well.
AWs v Haiti, Florida June 3rd, 12pm NZT
AWs v England, Florida June 7th, 8am NZT
Ferns v Haiti, Malaga June 6th, TBA NZT
Ferns v Morocco, Malaga June 10th, TBA NZT
Difference of opinion her and Mayne?
https://twitter.com/thenichecache/status/2057587795246596352
Ins: Elliott, Barry, Jenkins, Hunt, Neary, Steinmetz
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) May 21, 2026
Outs: Brown, Moore, Riley, Lancaster, Vlok
Mostly injury-related for the Outs
Neary included for experience ahead of the U20 WC, and great to see Steinmetz back post-ACL (probs on limited mins tho) https://t.co/0Udm81eUKX
https://twitter.com/thenichecache/status/2057587797775822974
Mae Hunt is the surprise package, an English-born midfielder formerly with Reading and now playing college ball in the USA
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) May 21, 2026
Maggie Jenkins finally recalled, having just signed with Essenden in the NPL, to bring a bit more finishing to the table after the messiness there last game
The Ford Football Ferns squad to face Haiti (FIFA rank 49) and Morocco (FIFA rank 62) next month has been named, with two new players brought into the side for the team’s first matches since qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.
University at Buffalo’s 20-year-old midfielder Mae Hunt has been named for the first time at any level for Aotearoa New Zealand.
Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Brooke Neary has also been named for the first time for the Ford Football Ferns after representing Aotearoa New Zealand at age-group level and previously joining the team as a training player for the Oceania Qualifiers last month.
The 24-player squad also sees the returns of Mackenzie Barry, Manaia Elliott, Maggie Jenkins, and Malia Steinmetz, who is named for the first time since recovering from a long-term ACL injury.
The full Ford Football Ferns squad is:
Liz Anton (28 caps/0 goals) Canberra United, Australia
Mackenzie Barry (24/1) Wellington Phoenix FC, New Zealand
Hannah Blake (12/4) Durham FC, England
Claudia Bunge (42/1) Melbourne Victory, Australia
Milly Clegg (23/4) Vittsjö GIK, Sweden
Manaia Elliott (9/2) Wellington Phoenix FC, New Zealand
Victoria Esson (33/0) Wellington Phoenix FC, New Zealand
Michaela Foster (35/2) Durham FC, England
Ally Green (20/2) FC Copenhagen, Denmark
Maya Hahn (12/1) FC Viktoria Berlin, Germany
Jacqui Hand (39/9) FC Basel, Switzerland
Mae Hunt (debut) University at Buffalo, USA
Deven Jackson (10/1) Melbourne City FC, Australia
Grace Jale (39/9) Wellington Phoenix FC, New Zealand
Maggie Jenkins (1/0) Essendon Royals, Australia
Katie Kitching (28/9) Sunderland AFC, England
Brooke Neary (debut) Wellington Phoenix FC, New Zealand
Emma Pijnenburg (11/0) Wellington Phoenix FC, New Zealand
Gabi Rennie (47/2) Eskilstuna United DFF, Sweden
Alina Santos (3/0) University of Denver, USA
Malia Steinmetz (35/0) FC Nordsjælland, Denmark
Rebekah Stott (112/4) Melbourne City FC, Australia
Kate Taylor (32/3) Dijon FCO, France
Grace Wisnewski (7/0) FC Nordsjælland, Denmark
Ford Football Ferns head coach Michael Mayne said:
“Since qualifying, the focus has shifted fully to Brazil, and I am now looking at the next phase of planning to make sure we have covered every possibility, ensuring we have plenty of competition and players who are not only committed to the ambition I have for this team, but who are also in form and prepared to do what we have never done before at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027.
“Firstly, I want to welcome Brooke and Mae to the Ferns for the first time.
“Mae is an exciting midfielder who we have been tracking for a while, and while she is new to our system, she is someone our technical team has followed closely, and we are looking forward to bringing her into the environment.
“Brooke has already been through our age-group system, is currently in camp with the U-20s in Australia, and has a U-20 World Cup selection opportunity coming up in the coming months, so the timing makes a lot of sense after an impressive April camp as a training player.
“It is also great to see Malia back after a long time out with injury, and Maggie return to the squad.
“Maggie is someone who hasn’t been involved for a while but has put in some really impressive performances recently, and we are keen to see her at this level as someone who is a genuine threat in front of goal when given the opportunity.
“These are two really good games for the team at this point in the cycle, so we are looking forward to getting over to Spain, continuing to push and progress what we do together, and challenging the group to put in two strong performances against the kinds of teams we will be looking to get results against at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
The Ford Football Ferns will face Haiti on Saturday 6 June, kicking off at 4am NZT (Friday 5 June at 6pm local time), before taking on Morocco four days later on Wednesday 10 June, again kicking off at 4am NZT (Tuesday 9 June at 6pm local time).
Both matches will be played at Nuevo Estadio El Maulí in Malaga, Spain.
Feverish wrote:
Terrible player stocks at the moment especially keepers
Is Leat currently injured? How did she go for Newcastle in the ALW season?
Her career seems to be stalling.
coochiee wrote:Feverish wrote:I thought young Santos looked good on debut 2nd game against the Matildas, that's after Leat had been bad in the first match of that series.
Terrible player stocks at the moment especially keepers
Is Leat currently injured? How did she go for Newcastle in the ALW season?
Her career seems to be stalling.
Then she got injured at training. No details about the nature of the injury but hasn't been sighted since.
I believe she has a history of concussion.....