Football Ferns

 The Football Ferns's two upcoming friendlies will be on TVNZ+ as well as FIFA+
TVNZ+ have been criticised recently for not showing Ferns matches.(including by Ferns players interviewed on the TV One news).
Football Ferns's match v. Haiti on Saturday at 4 am NZT (or on demand) and their match v Morocco on Wednes. 4 am:
TVNZ+ stream here:
 https://www.tvnz.co.nz/sport/football
FIFA+  stream here:
https://www.dazn.com/en-NZ/competition/Competition:50kvbmxi5r9amj2e39hznggqj?tab=schedule

Accessing FIFA+ through DAZN is pretty straight forward:
If you already have a paid sub to DAZN it's part of the lineup.
If not, to get the free version of DAZN and only access FIFA+, go here:
https://www.dazn.com/en-NZ/competition/Competition:50kvbmxi5r9amj2e39hznggqj
Click on the tab "Sign up for free" and then either enter your email address and they will send you a code OR use your existing FIFA ID from using FIFA+ in the past.

Doing better than a 4-0 loss would be good.

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2062078963384455386

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2062078963384455386

4am KO tomorrow from Spain.

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2062620605174702184

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2062620605174702184

Man, looks like a hot day in Málaga to be playing in black.

We lost 1-2.  Our goal scored by Claudia Bunge, assist by mickey Foster 

Ferns were clunky in that. Attack was bad other than 1 free kick assist. Soft goal conceded for the 1st, Ferns goalkeeper didn't even move to the free kick launched from quite a way from the box. Haiti's 2nd goal was better though. Really annoying when the Ferns put on these efforts straining to try get forward but without quality. 
Straining their all past a player just to roll the ball into the keeper's feet or the fence. 

Starting XI last night. Interesting to see Santos get a start in goal.

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2062911199160025445

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2062911199160025445

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2062945599469597183

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2062945599469597183

Highlights

Ferns v Morocco 4am tomorrow.

Curious to see if Santos starts in goal again. Feel she is putting some pressure now on Esson for the starters GK spot.


https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2063888899491946672

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2063888899491946672

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2063935077029916842

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2063935077029916842

Esson starting this morning, so Mayne is still keeping his options open.

Also how come we never get Taylor Swift songs before kickoff?

Finished 0-0, our best chances were in the second half with Kitching hitting the crossbar and Hand blazing over. Some good saves from both keepers.

So a loss to Haiti (World Ranking 47th) and a draw with Morocco (WR 64th).

Ferns (32nd) might drop out of the top 40 soon. Presumably they will be in the last pot for the 2027 WWC draw.

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2064406761617141842

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2064406761617141842

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2064366991348273518

https://twitter.com/NZ_Football/status/2064366991348273518

That's probably where we are at the moment - between 50 and 60

Match highlights. Kitching unlucky as her shot hit the cross bar and came down to fall on the goaline without going over.

The Moroccons also some good chances, and they were coached by Jorge Vilda, who led Spain to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup title.

Controversial figure that he was back then.

https://twitter.com/thenichecache/status/2065568553554821344

https://twitter.com/thenichecache/status/2065568553554821344

It's a real shame and not good that while the AWs have made some good progress under Bazeley (you can't deny it), the Ferns have remained pretty stagnant and for some time now. 

Off the top of my head, the only significant thing the Ferns have achieved in say the last five years (result wise) is the first ever win at a WWC in front of a packed Eden Park against Norway. In my opinion, the only good thing Klimkova did during her tenure. With Mayne now though, things feel better overall but we're still just stuck (if you get what I mean by that).

Something needs to happen or I fear next year's WWC could be a miserable one for our ladies.

Niche Cache. Primarily an article on the AWs, but finishes with some stuff on the Ferns.

Funny that folks used to complain that the Ferns was too much a closed shop, too many veterans being picked when they should have been replaced/dropped for younger talent.

Turns out that experienced core through the 2010s up to 2023, weren't that bad after all. The new wave coming through not any better (so far) and on average playing their club football at a lower level.
 
https://theniche-cache.com/football/2026/7/9/how-can-the-all-whites-build-upon-their-2026-world-cup-efforts-moving-towards-2030

By the way, how much of this applies to the Football Ferns? Almost all of it... albeit with way fewer pro opportunities out there for female footballers, where even the top leagues often don’t pay particularly well. But our weaknesses right now are the same: a young-ish squad with very few players in peak club situations, a lack of top notch athletes, and not enough competitive games outside of World Cups and Olympics. The Ferns have been stuck in this spot for years, maybe even decades, being unable to solve the conundrum of being too good for Oceania and not good enough for the world.

On the positive side, the success of the Wellington Phoenix last year (and hopefully next year too) counts for plenty.

The introduction of an Auckland FC women’s team can’t come soon enough, although note that AFC is already running its Talent Development Centre on the women’s side. Opportunities are growing. Kiwis are being included in the expanding professionalism of women’s footy – this year alone we’ve seen players in England, Italy, France, Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Vietnam, Austria, and Finland.

The Ferns have more players to choose from than ever before... what we need is more star players in those top leagues like we used to have. There was a solid run for about 15 years where we always had at least four or five players each season across the English WSL and American NWSL (usually with a few German Bundesliga options in there too)... until last year when we had zero WSL or NWSL players. The thing that the All Whites are searching for is the thing that the Football Ferns have lost.

The other hiccup here is that while the All Whites can plot a four-year plan... the Women’s World Cup is only twelve months away. New Zealand did win a game, as co-hosts, at the last World Cup with that legendary 1-0 victory against Norway. But they fell short of the knockouts and then didn’t do much with a tough draw at the subsequent Olympic Games. Have the Football Ferns spent the last three years seeking to learn the lessons of that 2023 World Cup to best prepare them for the next one? Hmm... not convinced. Twelve months out and the coach is still talking about building out squad depth while we continue to struggle to score goals and get decent results against top-40 ranked opponents. This will be a crucial transfer window with the likes of Kate Taylor, Katie Bowen, and Indi Riley looking for new clubs. Might have to be that, with a rebuilt and relatively inexperienced squad, we treat this as a five-year project for the Ferns which brings them back in alignment with the All Whites, given that the same three objectives apply: more competitive games, more top level pros, big emphasis on player development.