Wait continues for famous All Whites win at World Cup – Editorial
So, the wait for a victory continues.
Yesterday’s final group match for the All Whites against Belgium at the World Cup was a sad way for New Zealand to leave the tournament.
We were completely dominated by one of the world’s elite teams, highlighting the gulf in class between teams expecting to win and those hoping to.
Yet New Zealand football will still be richer for having experienced a third men’s World Cup. Football is in a good place in this country after the instant sucess from Auckland FC in the A-League.
Many thousands of Kiwi fans travelled to North America for this year’s tournament and hundreds of thousands more watched from back home.
There was hope in the All Whites first match against Iran in Los Angeles that this might finally be the year we make history.
Elijah Just sent fans into state of extasy after giving the team a lead twice with his goals.
But alas the All Whites couldn’t hold on. Another draw, to add to the three stalemates New Zealand achieved during our last World Cup appearance in South Africa during 2010.
In the second match against a heavily favoured Egyptian team, we again took an early lead thanks to Finn Surman. But the Mo Salah-led side eventually hit their stride to dispatch New Zealand.
The final score against Belgium was 5-1 and could have been worse.
Miracles do happen. This year, Cape Verde, which has a population of less than half a million people, have reached the knockout stage in their first World Cup and will now face defending champions Argentina.
South Africa have also advanced for the first time in their World Cup history and will play co-hosts Canada, who have also progressed further than ever before.
The All Whites’ next challenge at this level will begin in the qualification process for the 2030 World Cup, to be held in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
With an expanded tournament, our chances are good.
It took our women’s team until their sixth World Cup to win their first match on the biggest stage, famously at a packed Eden Park thanks to a Hannah Wilkinson right foot in 2023.
The women also continue to wait to advance past the group stage but will get another chance in Brazil next year.
Maybe, along with a bit of luck, we need to think about co-hosting a future World Cup with Australia to help our men secure that elusive, famous victory.