On Monday 24th March 2025, the All Whites (the name of the New Zealand National Football Team) played against New Caledonia in the FIFA World Cup – Oceania Qualifiers Final at Eden Park Stadium in Auckland, NZ.
The result went the All Whites’ way with New Zealand beating New Caledonia 3-0 and for only the third time in the country’s history, New Zealand will be at the FIFA World Cup (1982, 2010, 2026).
We were there with the 25,132 fans at Eden Park stadium to witness this historic occasion LIVE!
The first half was a battle ending in a 0-0 draw. New Zealand was close a number of times with special emphasis on the 20th minute, when New Caledonia player Joseph Athale saved two goals from the goal line by heading the ball away … TWICE!
At halftime, there was an Eden Park rooftop performance (with light show included) of one of New Zealand’s top saxophone players, Lewis McCallum (who is a part of Synthony).
And then back to business. The three New Zealand goals came in the second half.
Michael Boxall scored the opening goal, his first in 55 appearances for the All Whites, thanks to a Francis de Vries corner in the 60th minute. Yes, you know that when De Vries makes a corner kick, it is likely that something good is about to happen.
Our second goal was courtesy of Kosta Barbarouses after he had come on to replace an injured Chris Wood. His goal was quite impressive as he lobbed the ball over the oncoming goalkeeper to make it 2-0 in the 65th minute.
The final goal in the 79th minute was also initiated by De Vries who crossed the ball to Barbarouses in the centre who in turn with one touch, passed it onto Eli Just … and GOOAAALL!
These three goals gave us the golden ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and USA.
Of course, after 6 minutes of extra time, the ref blew his whistle and the crowd went wild.
Funny side note: Watch a replay of the champagne celebration, Barbarouses couldn’t get the cork out of the bottle. 🙂
At the end of the match, some of the NZ players stayed behind to take photos and sign photos with the fans. Yes, of course Alex Paulsen and Francis de Vries were amongst them.
Now we are looking forward to seeing the All Whites play in the World Cup next year … BRING IT ON!
