57-741: New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland , New Zealand , they played in the A-League , Australia 's premier football competition and have since been replaced by Wellington Phoenix . Football Kingz FC (promoted as "Auckland Kingz" within Australia) joined
114-608: A 1–1 draw in Wellington. In 1927, Canada became the second team to play in New Zealand as they played in four official matches with a win and a draw. New Zealand would become one of the founder members of the Oceania Football Confederation in 1966 which was founded between Charlie Dempsey and his Australian colleague Jim Bayutti in founding the federation. At the beginning of the 1980s
171-482: A 2–2 draw away to Wollongong Wolves on 2 November 2001 was his last, walking out after it. A number of Australian players soon following him. Shane Rufer stepped in to become the club's caretaker manager . This tenure only lasted for two games but he achieved a win and draw from these games. Kevin Fallon was announced as the new manager, but the damage to the club had already been done and it ended up finishing with
228-416: A black trim, while its away kits are usually reversed, featuring black with a white trim. This reversal of the colour scheme by New Zealand's football team is due to the fact that black was traditionally reserved for referees by FIFA . During the qualification for the 1982 FIFA World Cup , the team appeared for the first time in an all white uniform against Taiwan in 1981. This led a commentator to dub them
285-540: A deal with the Knights over the first three seasons in a six figure deal as a sleeve sponsor. New Zealand Knights was confirmed as one of the eight founding teams in the A-League . John Adshead , who took the New Zealand national side, the All Whites to their first ever World Cup finals appearance in 1982 was named their inaugural manager/coach. former New Zealand international, Danny Hay , who previously played in
342-549: A goal in the 3rd minute of the game to Joel Campbell , but New Zealand began to pressure the game a lot, and in the 39th minute of the game, Chris Wood scored a goal after a bad kick by Yeltsin Tejeda . However, his goal was disallowed when the video assistant referee (VAR) showed that Matthew Garbett had fouled Óscar Duarte before the goal. With the final whistle of the game, the New Zealanders failed to qualify for
399-581: A large 5-0 victory against the Saudis they had to compete in a play-off match against China. Due to the draw of points and on goal difference, and with decisive goals from Steve Wooddin and Wynton Rufer , they won 2–1, and achieved a historic classification for España '82 . Up until the 1980s the All Whites received criticism for having a high number of British players. Of the 22-man squad in their 1982 FIFA World Cup campaign, 11 members were born in
456-489: A player, and he immediately retired from playing. Mike Petersen was signed as the new manager and he brought with him a number of players including a young goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos to be part of the squad. His tenure lasted just five games. He started the season with a loss away to the Brisbane Strikers and three games later presided over an embarrassing 2–7 home loss to Perth Glory . The following game,
513-416: A player-coach role, with his brother Shane as assistant coach. They played their inaugural game on the evening of 1 October 1999 at North Harbour Stadium in front of then the largest crowd to watch a club game in New Zealand. The game was played against Carlton SC and even though it resulted in a 0–3 loss was an enthralling start to the professional era in New Zealand. This first season would end up being
570-542: A significant role in the development of New Zealand players. This influence began when former Scotland international Bobby Clark returned to the US after his 1994–96 stint as New Zealand head coach to take the head coaching job at Stanford University (he now holds the same position at Notre Dame ). Clark began recruiting in New Zealand, and former New Zealand national players Ryan Nelsen and Simon Elliott played for him at Stanford. The trend that Clark started has continued to
627-456: A strong reputation. The All Whites reputation was later improved when the team advanced to the final phase of the qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup . They had an almost perfect campaign with zero losses. The teams strength was highlighted by the 3–3 draw and the 1–0 victory against their team rival Australia, and a great 13-0 victory against Fiji. For the final phase the All Whites competed hard against China PR, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Thanks to
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#1732787784319684-489: A very positive cycle for the All Whites, the team competed for the 2012 OFC Nations Cup as big favourites to win the title, doing well in the group stage, winning the first two games by slim scores (1–0 and 2–1), and a 1–1 draw against the Mandates Salomonense , however in the next phase, they faced New Caledonia in the semi-final, where they suffered a shameful defeat by 0–2, with goals from Bertrand Kaï in
741-482: Is a six-time OFC Nations Cup champion. New Zealand was the only unbeaten country in the 2010 FIFA World Cup , drawing all three group stage games; nevertheless, they were eliminated in the group stage. New Zealand's first international football match was played in Dunedin at the old Caledonian Ground on 23 July 1904 against a team representing New South Wales. New Zealand lost by the game's only goal, but drew with
798-576: Is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), which is currently a member of FIFA and the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The team's official nickname is the All Whites ( Māori : Ōmā ). The team represented New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup tournaments in 1982 and 2010 , and the FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments in 1999 , 2003 , 2009 , and 2017 . New Zealand
855-662: The Australian National Soccer League in 1999 and proceeded to play in the last five seasons of the NSL, failing to qualify for the playoffs in every season. The club was originally to use the spelling of "Kings", however this was changed to the Kingz after receiving legal threats from the Sydney Kings basketball franchise. The Football Kingz brand was disestablished in 2004 and was restructured into
912-620: The English Premiership with Leeds United was named the inaugural captain of the team. Despite having a squad boasting several players with extensive experience in English football , many pundits did not rate the Knights as serious contenders for the A-League title, and they were considered favourites for the wooden spoon . These predictions turned out to be true, with New Zealand Knights proving to be well out of their depth in their debut A-League season. In April 2006, after
969-608: The Socceroos (Australia) and the All Whites (New Zealand) is part of a wider friendly rivalry between the geographical neighbours Australia and New Zealand, which applies not only to sport but to the culture of the two countries. The rivalry was intensified when Australia and New Zealand were both members of the OFC , regularly competing in OFC Nations Cup finals and in FIFA World Cup qualifications , where only one team from
1026-527: The "All Whites", a play on the traditional name " All Blacks " used for the national rugby team. The name stuck, and was popularised in the song "Marching off to Spain" with its chant refrain "Kiwis! All Whites!". More recently, the nickname has been scrutinised by New Zealand Football due to its unintended racial overtones. New Zealand's long time rivals are Trans-Tasman neighbours Australia . The two teams' history dates back to 1922, where they first met in both their international debuts. The rivalry between
1083-548: The "wooden spoon" in 13th place, this costing Fallon his job. After the previous season's poor form, the club's owners drastically slashed the club's budget. Ken Dugdale was signed as the new coach. He had just finished a very successful stint as the manager of the All Whites , having won the Oceania Nations Cup and managed the team through their first involvement in the Confederations Cup where
1140-524: The 60th minute, and Georges Gope-Fenepej in the 90+2 minute to seal the defeat which was called "Horror in Honiara" . Even beating the Solomon Islands in the play-off for third place, this did not prevent the dismissal of the coach at the time Ricki Herbert , where after this embarrassing defeat, they would also be eliminated in the intercontinental play-off for the 2014 World Cup for Mexico by
1197-475: The All Whites performed very well. As he had a reduced budget he recruited from around New Zealand introducing to the team Raf de Gregorio and Jeremy Christie . While the club had some very talented young players it struggled to compete but managed to achieve a better final position in the National Soccer League than the season before, finishing 11 out of 13. The National Soccer League
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#17327877843191254-479: The All Whites were on a run of consecutive victories until the 1980 Oceania Cup in New Caledonia. New Zealand ended up having a disastrous campaign, losing 1–3 and 0–4 for Tahiti and Fiji respectively. In the last round without a possible qualification for the final they beat the Solomon Islands by a large score of 6–1. Primarily due to the poor campaign in this year's Merdeka Tournament, the team did not have
1311-601: The Australian A-League . The main supporters group of the New Zealand national team are known as the 'White Noise'. White Noise was formed in November 2007 with the supporters group of the Wellington Phoenix , 'Yellow Fever' , rebranding themselves when the national sides play. New Zealand does not have a dedicated national stadium , instead the team plays at different venues throughout
1368-588: The Australian National Soccer League in 1999 and proceeded to play in the last five seasons of the NSL, failing to qualify for the play-offs in every season. The club was originally to use the spelling of "Kings", however this was changed to the Kingz after receiving legal threats from Australian basketball team the Sydney Kings . Their inaugural coach was OFC Player of the Century and former New Zealand international Wynton Rufer in
1425-539: The FFA was considering the revocation of the Knights' licence to compete in the A-League. It quickly became clear that, with five weeks remaining in the current season, the FFA fully intended to reclaim the licence from the Knights. The FFA had continued to express angst at low attendance numbers, poor on-field performance and the lack of domestically developed players. Late on 14 December, the FFA announced that it had revoked
1482-453: The FIFA world rankings. The All Whites went on to win the 2016 OFC Nations Cup , winning four matches with the final being won via a penalty shootout after a 0–0 draw against Papua New Guinea, conceding only 1 goal, from a penalty, in the process. New Zealand's victory saw them crowned Oceania champions making New Zealand the most successful national team in the competition's history, having won
1539-457: The Kiwis managed to win all the games, as well as breaking artillery records, when the forward Chris Wood , became the All Whites' top scorer, after scoring twice against Fiji , surpassing the previous record holder, Vaughan Coveny . With the continental victory, they qualified for the inter-confederation play-offs , where they disputed the vacancy against Costa Rica . They started by conceding
1596-481: The New Zealand Knights as a new franchise for Australia's new national football competition called the A-League . Market research carried out by the club, to determine the viability of a new identity for the team, indicated that 76% of respondents were in favour of a name change. When that research was focused on those aged 35 and under, the percentage in favour of a change rose to 90%. Further to that,
1653-400: The New Zealand Knights, with his company's (Total Football Ltd) 20% shareholding second only to majority owner Brian Katzen's Octagon Sport (later included Maurice Cox as partner) with 60%. The other shareholders were Sky Television (5%), Chris Turner (10%), and New Zealand Soccer (non-cash 5%). The only major sponsor the club had was retailer Zero's New Zealand (Sub Sandwiches). They agreed to
1710-885: The New Zealand squad for the World Cup. New Zealand formerly competed against Australia for top honours in the OFC . However, after Australia left to join the AFC in 2006, New Zealand were left as the only seeded team in the OFC. New Zealand qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup though exited the competition after the first round despite being the only team not to lose a game during the tournament because they drew 1–1 vs defending champions Italy , Slovakia and 0–0 vs Paraguay while eventual champions Spain lost to Switzerland . New Zealand notably finished above Italy in their group as Italy lost to Slovakia in their final group match and finished with two points compared to New Zealand's three. After
1767-462: The OFC progressed to the World Cup . Since Australia left the OFC to join the AFC in 2006, competition between the two teams has been less frequent. However, the rivalry between the two teams is still strong, with the occasional match receiving much media and public attention. The rivalry extends to club football, with New Zealand's only fully professional team, the Wellington Phoenix , playing in
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1824-587: The United Kingdom. This included the captain Steve Sumner and striker Steve Wooddin , who had both played club football in England before immigrating. They lost all three games conceding 12 goals and scoring just 2. Over the following decades the composition of the national squad changed and "the face of football became increasingly Kiwi". Since the 1990s, United States college soccer has played
1881-414: The club's most successful with 15 wins. The team finished eighth of sixteen teams. After an encouraging first season the club set out to improve its performance on and off the park. There were a number of foreign signings, mostly from Brazil , that seemed good on paper but flopped on the park. One of these imports though immediately became a fan favourite, Dennis Ibrahim . The German went on to become
1938-472: The club's top scorer during the season, managing two hat-tricks (in a 3–2 win over the Brisbane Strikers at home on 30 March 2001 and against Sydney United in a 4–2 away win on 29 April 2001). The team's best result proved to be a 5–1 home win over the Newcastle Breakers on 27 October 2000. The team again finished in eighth place, winning 12 games. Seasons One and Two showed the potential of
1995-454: The competition licence held by the Knights' owners. An arrangement with NZ Soccer would see the national body step in to manage the club for the remaining five weeks of the regular season, with former All Whites player Ricki Herbert to fill the role of head coach. Effectively, the Knights dissolved on 21 January, when the final match of the season was played against Perth Glory FC . On 19 March 2007 after several delays, Wellington Phoenix
2052-726: The country for exhibition or tournament purposes. In recent years, major international matches have usually been rotated around various large grounds, including Sky Stadium in Wellington and North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. International matches have also been played at the Mount Smart Stadium and Eden Park in Auckland. The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. Win Draw Loss Fixture For all past and present players who have appeared for
2109-521: The cup, which was their third consecutive elimination in the inter-confederation play-offs. They were eliminated by Mexico in 2014, by Peru in 2018, and by Costa Rica in this 2022 edition. After the qualifiers, the All Whites played a home and away series against their rivals Socceroos to mark the 100th anniversary of the first meeting between the two nations, which was first played in Dunedin in 1922. New Zealand's traditional home colours are white with
2166-529: The last team to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup . After the All Whites' stoppage for almost two years, they returned to play friendlies (in 2021), obtaining positive results in their three (four counting against Algeria A' ) games played in that year. With the complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic , the Qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup had to be held in the host country itself, Qatar, where
2223-513: The name of "Knights" were polled best of all names suggested in the survey, a clear 30% higher than any other option. The former Football Kingz FC General manager Guy Hedderwick was promoted to the role of New Zealand Knights chief executive officer. Alongside him Football Kingz and Waitakere City Chairman, Anthony Lee, became the New Zealand Knights Chairman in the restructuring. Initially Anthony Lee had invested into
2280-539: The national team fell 27 places to 122nd. In September 2017, New Zealand won the OFC Final against the Solomon Islands with an aggregate score of 8–3 to qualify for the inter-continental play-off qualifier against Peru, the fifth-ranked nation from the South America's qualifiers. After holding Peru off in the first leg, they would go to lose 2–0 in the second leg to be eliminated from competition as Peru became
2337-521: The national team, see New Zealand men's national team players . The following players have been selected in the squad for the 2026 FIFA World cup qualification match against Vanuatu and Samoa on 15 and 18 November 2024. Caps and goals updated as of 18 November 2024 after the match against the [REDACTED] Samoa . The following players have been called up within the last 12 months and remain eligible for selection. Withdrew due to injury Preliminary squad / standby Retired from
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2394-407: The poor season, manager John Adshead resigned from the club. Paul Nevin was confirmed as manager a month later, having worked as caretaker manager since the position was vacated by Adshead. In late October 2006, as a result of low crowd attendance at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland and continual poor on-field performances, rumours began to circulate that Football Federation Australia (FFA)
2451-568: The present; more than two dozen New Zealanders are now playing for NCAA Division I men's programmes in the US. A common next step in these players' career paths is a stint in Major League Soccer ; ESPN soccernet journalist Brent Latham speculated in a March 2010 story that New Zealand's 2010 FIFA World Cup squad could have more MLS players than the US squad . However, Latham's speculation did not prove true, as only one MLS player made
2508-495: The push for the addition of a second New Zealand team in the A-League . In 2024, Auckland Football Club were announced as the successors of the New Zealand Knights, granting an Auckland team a license for the first time since the Knights license was revoked. The team will begin competing from the 2024–25 A-League season. North Harbour Stadium is a rectangular stadium situated in Albany on Auckland's North Shore in New Zealand. It
2565-647: The same team 3–3 in a game at Athletic Park, Wellington seven days later. The following year the team played a Wellington representative side on 10 June before embarking on a tour of Australia, during which they played eleven representative sides, including three "test matches" against New South Wales. Of these three matches they won one, lost one, and drew one. A New Zealand national team did not play again until 1922, when New Zealand played three official full internationals against Australia , played at Carisbrook in Dunedin, Athletic Park in Wellington, and Auckland Domain . The results were two 3–1 wins to New Zealand and
2622-484: The score of 3–9 on aggregate. In August 2014, Anthony Hudson was appointed manager of the All Whites. Hudson's first game in charge of the national team was a 3–1 defeat away to Uzbekistan in September 2014. As a result of the All Whites playing "just three matches" in the previous year, which was "the least of any country in world football", and having "seven months without a match" the All Whites dropped to 161 in
2679-614: The season before the club was to be defunct. Football Kingz FC The Football Kingz were New Zealand's first professional football club. They played in the Australian National Soccer League from 1999 until their disestablishment in 2004, when they were replaced by the New Zealand Knights as an inaugural participant in the newly established Australian A-League . Football Kingz F.C. (promoted as Auckland Kingz within Australia) joined
2736-475: The team (they would turn out to be the most successful seasons from a professional New Zealand football team until the Wellington Phoenix FC made the play-offs in 2009) and so Sky Television New Zealand became involved in the club. Their first move was to remove Wynton Rufer as coach while still wanting him to remain a player. Rufer's desire, however, was to remain as coach and to retire slowly as
2793-679: The tournament five times, and also saw them qualify for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. The All Whites moved up 54 places in the world rankings in July and achieved 88th in the FIFA world rankings, the highest ranking in three years, on the back of the OFC Nations Cup victory that qualified them for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. After a disappointing tournament at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup where they finished bottom of their group which featured Russia, Mexico and Portugal,
2850-401: Was considering the possibility of revoking the Knights' A-League licence and granting it to a new team that would be set to enter the competition in the 2007–08 season . On 15 November, nearing the end of the transfer window, the board and management decided to relieve Paul Nevin of his coaching duties due to a string of poor performances. On 13 December 2006, strong rumours resurfaced that
2907-421: Was going to be the last NSL season very little was spent on improving the squad and rumours spread that the club was struggling financially. Ken Dugdale remained manager, but the season started the way the previous one had finished. The club struggled on the playing field. In mid-season an announcement was made that the club was being bought out and its debts cleared. This was to cost Ken Dugdale his job and he
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#17327877843192964-525: Was in a very bad financial state and fans were losing interest across the competition. This led the Australian Government to commission a report in to Soccer Australia and the NSL. Its recommendation was to abolish both Soccer Australia and the NSL and replace them with a new governing body and a new competition (Soccer Australia was broke and the NSL was unable to break away from its Euro Ethnic roots in parts of Australia). Knowing that this
3021-455: Was on Sunday 29 February 2004 winning 4–3 at home to the Brisbane Strikers . Caretaker manager during October 2001. Caretaker manager for two games. Resigned after eight games in 2003. New Zealand national soccer team The New Zealand men's national football team ( Māori : Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa ; recognised as Aotearoa New Zealand by FIFA ) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team
3078-399: Was opened in 1997 after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and construction. North Harbour Stadium has four main seating areas with an official capacity of 25,000. 19,000 (76%) of this capacity is seated, and the other 6,000 are on grass embankments. The stadium is lit with four 45 m tall light towers. The Knights played in all-black strips, with a silver left sleeve. The change strip
3135-444: Was replaced on a temporary basis by his assistant Tommy Mason . Mason was soon confirmed as the club's permanent manager, even though many felt that he was not up to the role. The new owners felt that the playing squad needed strengthening and brought Danny Hay in, making him the new captain at the same time. Even with this new impetus the club again finished bottom of the league having only won four games. The club's very last game
3192-470: Was selected as the successor to the New Zealand Knights. There has been recent speculation on a possible return for the New Zealand Knights, or another Auckland-based team, to re-join the A-League . Encouraging crowds of 20,078 in November 2011 when Wellington Phoenix played Adelaide United and 11,566 in January 2013 when Wellington Phoenix played Perth Glory , both held at Eden Park , have added to
3249-415: Was white, with black shorts and white socks. The badge was designed for the inaugural 2005–06 season and launched at the January 2005 press conference which highlighted the club name change. The New Zealand Knights supporter base was known as Bloc 5. see List of New Zealand Knights FC players Caretaker manager after Paul Nevin was removed of coaching duties. Caretaker manager for the remainder of
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