NZ call for fresh Soccer Ashes clash with Australia

Yahoo

26-03-2025

New Zealand want to re-light the Soccer Ashes rivalry with home-and-away fixtures against Australia in the lead up to next year's FIFA World Cup.
This week, the All Whites reached the 2026 tournament after dispatching Oceania opposition, and the Socceroos took a great stride towards joining them with two wins of their own.
Both New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell and All Whites coach Darren Bazeley say trans-Tasman clashes would be a perfect way to prepare for their first World Cup outing since 2010.
"That would be fantastic ... and if we're to do it, home and away is best," Pragnell told AAP.
"They need to be played for again soon, particularly because we want them back, but equally because the Socceroos are a great quality team and we're actually a pretty good match for each other at the moment."
Bazeley agreed it would be "awesome".
"If we could make that happen, it would definitely be something we'd be looking to do," he told AAP.
As opposed to cricket's Ashes, contested by England and Australia, the Soccer Ashes is fought between the two Anzac nations.
The trophy, a neat wooden box with two ferns and a kangaroo on the cover, holds the ashes of cigars smoked by opposing captains after their first meeting in 1923, in a razor case carried by an Australian soldier and football official who fought at Gallipoli.
EMBED:
The Australia v New Zealand rivalry has interesting history.
It was lost in the 1950s but discovered again in recent years, sparking fresh commitments from both football associations to regularly contest the trophy.
Following Australia's shift to Asia in 2005, the rivalry fell dormant with just two matches in 17 years.
The renewed rivalry has skewed the Socceroos way: home-and-away contests in September 2022 and a one-off match in London in October 2023 all ended in Australian victories.
Football Australia declined to comment on the possibility given the Socceroos are yet to qualify.
Whether the contest can be staged may hinge on Australia's results against Japan and Saudi Arabia in June, with just five international windows left before the 2026 World Cup.
Should Australia fall short of a top-two position to qualify, they will be required for another round of Asian qualifiers in the October window, and possibly a playoff in November and inter-confederation playoff next March.
New Zealand have booked friendlies against Cote d'Ivoire and Ukraine in Canada in June, and a date with Erling Haaland's Norway in October.
The September 2025 window is a possibility, as is a lead-in window next June, which will not be preferred by coaches looking to acclimatise in North America before the tournament starts just days later.
Bazeley said one of his biggest tasks now was booking the right matches ahead of the December draw.
"We'll fill those windows with good games with good teams," he said.
"We're trying to play as many matches against top-50 opposition as we can, against varied opposition as we don't know who's going to be in our group at the World Cup."
Qualifying for their first tournament since 2010 has also brought a financial windfall for NZ Football.
FIFA pay out game-changing sums to each team who qualify for a World Cup, which has not been confirmed yet, but was $US9 million ($A14.3 million) in 2022.
"A chunk of that will go to the players and then a chunk towards the organisation to enable us to continue to invest in the game and the teams," Pragnell said.
Under its deal with players, and should FIFA maintain the prizemoney next year, every member of New Zealand's squad is in line for over $NZ600,000 ($A545,000).