New Zealand Eliminated from 2026 FIFA World Cup Group Stage

KATHMANDU. New Zealand, representing the Oceania region in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, was eliminated from the group stage. However, this was not New Zealand's first participation from this region. Australia had already participated from this region in the 1974 FIFA World Cup held in West Germany. New Zealand then became the second nation from Oceania to play in the World Cup, that too in 1982. This World Cup is the first time FIFA has given the Oceania region a direct and permanent quota. In the FIFA Council meeting held in Bahrain on May 9, 2017, when the decision was made to increase the number of teams in the World Cup from 32 to 48 from 2026 onwards, it was ensured that Oceania would be given 1 direct quota, from which New Zealand successfully reached the FIFA World Cup 2026. Although the team was eliminated from the group stage of the World Cup, the team drew one match and lost two. In past World Cups, the winner from the Oceania region could not directly play in the World Cup. They always had to play a difficult play-off against a team from South America or Asia. But after FIFA changed the rules in 2026, a three-stage qualifying competition was organized in Oceania. In the first stage, a knockout competition was held among the four teams at the bottom of the FIFA rankings in Oceania (Samoa, Cook Islands, American Samoa, and Tonga), from which Samoa reached the second stage. In the second stage, the remaining top 7 teams and the winner of the first stage, a total of 8 teams, were divided into two groups. New Caledonia and Fiji from Group A, and New Zealand and Tahiti from Group B, finished in the top 2 and reached the semi-finals. In the third stage, New Zealand defeated Fiji in the semi-final. In the final confrontation of the Oceania qualifiers, New Zealand defeated New Caledonia to secure Oceania's only historic direct quota for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The runner-up New Caledonia reached the intercontinental play-off but could not qualify for the main stage of the World Cup. The 'All Whites' team, led by head coach Darren Bazeley, featured key players like Chris Wood (captain and Premier League star), Liberato Cacace, and Marko Stamenić, and competed in Group G. They faced Belgium, Egypt, and Iran. New Zealand did not perform particularly well against the world's strong teams in the group. In their first match, New Zealand drew an adventurous 2-2 with Iran. They suffered a bitter 3-1 defeat against Egypt in the second match, and then a wide 5-1 defeat against the strong football nation Belgium in the final match. With only one point in total, New Zealand finished last in the group and was eliminated from the group stage of the World Cup.