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RNZ News
5 days ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Samoa, Oceania teams in tough World Cup pools
The winning Samoa under-16 women's soccer team that has qualified for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2025. Photo: OFC/Phototek Photo: Oceania football will feature in three junior World Cup football events being held this year. Draws held over the last week have also revealed the Oceania teams will not have easy runs at their respective events, with the best of the world in the different age-groups coming together to compete. In women's football, Samoa will compete for the first time in any FIFA World Cup, having qualified for the Under-17 Women's World Cup in Rabat, Morocco. The side finished second to New Zealand at the Oceania Under-16 qualifiers, and won the right to play amongst and against the world's best. The Samoans have been drawn in group D alongside Canada, France, and Nigeria. Oceania Football said it is an exciting and challenging assignment for the Pacific Island nation in their debut appearance on the world stage. Oceania winners New Zealand have been drawn in group F and will play Japan, Paraguay, and Zambia. The draw, held at the Mohammed VI Football Academy, revealed the group-stage matchups for the 24 qualified nations taking part in the tournament, which will run from 17 October to 8 November in the Moroccan capital. OFC said this year's edition of the tournament marks the first time the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will feature 24 teams, up from 16, and it is also the first-ever FIFA women's tournament to be held on African soil. FIFA chief women's football officer, Sarai Bareman, who has Samoan roots and once captained the Samoa national women's team, featured in the draw ceremony. The tournament now presents an unprecedented opportunity for the young Samoan squad to represent their country, region, and culture on the global stage. The Samoa team were in Dallas, USA in April and competed at the Dallas Cup event, becoming the first-ever Pacific Island team to reach the semi-finals at the tournament. Head coach Juan Chang Urrea told the Samoa Observer then that taking part at the Dallas Cup was part of their preparation for the Under-17 World Cup. "This level of preparation is unheard of in the Pacific Islands," Chang Urrea told the newspaper. "We are all working together in the federation to give our team the best preparation possible to make our country and the Oceania region proud at the World Cup." They are scheduled for another camp in the States this June, with more warm up matches planned, before they move to Morocco. New Caledonia and New Zealand will feature in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Chile. OFC champions New Zealand will face hosts Chile, Japan and Egypt in group A. New Caledonia, also making their tournament debut, is pitted against USA, France and South Africa in group E. The tournament will be staged from 27 September to 19 October, across four host cities: Santiago, Valparaíso, Rancagua and Talca. This year's FIFA Under-20 World Cup will be the 24th edition of the tournament and will feature 52 matches. Photo: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony Fiji, New Caledonia and New Zealand are all in the FIFA under-17 men's World Cup, to be played in Qatar in November. OFC champions New Zealand have been drawn in group L alongside Mali, Austria, and Saudi Arabia. Martin Bullock's side defeated Fiji in the final of the OFC under-16 Men's Championship in Tahiti last year. Fiji, coached by Sunil Kumar, has been handed a difficult draw, which see them pitted against South American powerhouse Argentina, European giants Belgium and north African side Tunisia in group D. New Caledonia, who finished third at the Oceania qualifiers, are in group B, alongside Asian giants Japan, Morocco and European starlets Portugal. OFC said the tournament has been expanded to 48 teams with 12 groups of four. The top two teams in each group, along with the eight best third-placed sides, will qualify for the round of 32. From the round of 32 onwards, the tournament will be played in a knockout format. The tournament runs from 3-27 November.
CTV News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
New Zealand returns to action in Toronto at Canadian Shield Tournament after punching 2026 World Cup ticket
Minnesota United defender Michael Boxall (15) runs during the second half of an MLS soccer match against CF Montreal in St. Paul, Minn., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) TORONTO — Michael Boxall has scored just one goal for New Zealand, but it was one of consequence. Rising high, the Minnesota United defender headed home a corner from substitute Francis de Vries in the 61st minute to open the scoring March 24 in 86th-ranked New Zealand's 3-0 win over No. 151 New Caledonia in the Oceania Football Confederation qualifying final at Auckland's Eden Park. 'It took a long time to get there,' a chuckling Boxall, who made his New Zealand debut in 2011, said of opening his scoring account in his 55th international appearance. The victory sent New Zealand to the 2026 World Cup, its third trip to the soccer showcase after 1982 and 2010. The All Whites' first games since their qualifying success come at the four-team Canadian Shield Tournament, against the 41st-ranked Ivory Coast on June 7 and No. 25 Ukraine on June 10 at Toronto's BMO Field. New Zealand won't play host Canada, ranked 30th in the world, at the tournament. 'To face two top 50 sides, in a tournament situation, in one of the FIFA World Cup 2026 host venues, is the perfect challenge for us,' said New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley. The 36-year-old Boxall, whose long throw-ins add to the attack options for both club and country, relishes the chance to represent New Zealand again. 'Obviously competition in Oceania isn't the stiffest but New Caledonia made it a tough test for us,' said Boxall. 'And yes, we definitely excited to get back (in action) now that we've punched our ticket for 2026.' And like Canada, he welcomes the chances to face elite opposition at the new Toronto tournament. 'The last few (FIFA international) windows, we've kind of only been up against teams from our confederation,' Boxall said in an interview. 'So we need to prepare ourselves to play against world-class opposition … It will be a huge step up and it will be a good marker to see where we're at and what we need to work on heading towards the World Cup.' New Zealand failed to get out of the group stage in its previous trips to the World Cup. In 1982, the All Whites lost all three games to Scotland (5-2), the Soviet Union (3-0) and Brazil (4-0). In 2010, they fared better, drawing Slovakia (1-1), Italy (1-1) and Paraguay (0-0) but still went home early. New Zealand is unbeaten in seven matches, having won six straight — including five in World Cup qualifying — since drawing the United States in an international friendly. Its last loss was 3-0 to Mexico in a friendly at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 7. The famous win over New Caledonia came some 33 months after New Zealand lost 1-0 to Costa Rica in an intercontinental playoff in Doha, Qatar, for the last berth at the 2022 World Cup. Boxall started his MLS career with the Vancouver Whitecaps, who selected him first overall in the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft out of University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) where he was the Big West Defender of the Year in 2010. In 2012, Boxall he returned home to join Wellington Phoenix in the Australian A-League. In 2105, he joined South Africa's SuperSport United, helping the team to back-to-back Nedbank Cup titles. He returned to MLS in 2017 with Minnesota United, also home to Canadian goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and forward Tani Oluwaseyi. Playing for the All Whites in Toronto comes with a bonus of reduced travel time. Boxall is a road warrior when it comes to playing for New Zealand. 'The last window I missed a flight on the way to New Zealand and had a flight cancelled on the way back,' he said. 'So I'm not seeing too many flight issues in the hour-and-half trip of whatever it is from here to Toronto (one hour 58 minutes in actuality). So that will be nice.' Bazeley's 23-man Toronto roster features five changes to the squad called up for the Oceania Qualifiers. Saint-Etienne attacker Ben Old returns from injury with Portland Timbers defender Finn Surman also back after missing the previous international window by agreement with his MLS club. There are recalls for goalkeeper Nik Tzanev (Northampton Town) and defenders Callan Elliot (Auckland FC) and Bill Tuiloma (Charlotte FC). New Zealand is slated to face Norway in October in Oslo in an international friendly that will likely feature two top scorers from England's Premier League in All Whites captain Chris Wood, who plays his club football for Nottingham Forest, and Norway star Erling Haaland (Manchester City). With New Zealand enjoying its highest world ranking since October 2013, Boxall believes his team is indeed on the rise. 'The talent's there. And it's just about us getting all on the same page against teams that are ranked higher than us and doing the job against them.' Boxall, wife Libby and their two kids split their off-season between Minnesota and their home in New Zealand. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025. Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
