All Whites two wins away from World Cup after stroll against Samoa

Monday, 18 November 2024

At Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland: All Whites 8 (Callum McCowatt 24’, Chris Wood 28’ 34’ 60’, Marko Stamenić 62’, Francis de Vries 76’, Elijah Just 87’, Ben Waine 90’+2) Samoa 0. HT: 3-0

Three days after registering their largest win in two decades, the All Whites went and did so again, beating Samoa 8-0 in a “weird” Oceania World Cup qualifier at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.

That description belonged to coach Darren Bazeley, used in reference to the fact that Samoa remained in a solid defensive block even as they fell further and further behind, a set of circumstances his team of professionals were rather unaccustomed to facing.

For large stretches, it felt like a training-ground exercise between a team of professionals and a team of plucky amateurs, but for the fact that 5,237 fans were in the stands watching and cheering on the two sides on Monday night.

The All Whites will now play Fiji, led by former Phoenix star Roy Krishna, in a qualifying semifinal at Sky Stadium in Wellington on March 21, eyeing a spot in the final against either New Caledonia or Tahiti at Eden Park in Auckland three days later.

The winner of that match will qualify for the expanded 48-team World Cup in North America in June and July 2026, while the loser will book their place in a two-stage intercontinental playoff earlier that year.

Monday’s result was meaningless, with the All Whites already through to March’s Oceania semifinals before kickoff, and set to finish first in group B ahead of Tahiti unless they suffered an eight-goal loss.

With Samoa ranked 186th in the world by FIFA – some 95 places below New Zealand – and winless in the 44 they’ve played against teams outside American Samoa, the Cook Islands and Tonga, that was never going to happen.

The All Whites celebrate Callum McCowatt’s opening goal against Samoa.

What was less certain was just how big the All Whites’ win would be. Would their existing record win, a 13-0 thumping of Fiji in World Cup qualifying in 1981, be knocked down a peg? Would their largest win this century – 10-0 over Tahiti at the Oceania Nations Cup in 2004 – be eclipsed?

As it turned out, neither was, and Samoa deserve their fair share of credit, for enacting coach Jess Ibrom’s defensive gameplan about as well as they could have expected to.

It took the All Whites 24 minutes to break through initially, with Samoa goalkeeper Eti Fatu – a carwasher back home in Apia – pulling off several strong early saves. Callum McCowatt got the first goal, following up smartly when Matt Garbett’s initial attempt was saved.

Chris Wood then took his international goal tally to 41 from 80 matches and his tally since the start of the 2024-25 season to 15 in 17 matches by scoring his third international hat-trick.

In the 28th minute, he swung a cross from McCowatt on the left into the back of the net, before receiving a pass from an unselfish Garbett in the 24th that he easily poked home.

His third didn’t come until the hour mark, when Ben Waine received a cross from left back Francis de Vries at the back post, which he headed back across goal to a waiting Wood.

All Whites captain Chris Wood and defender Liberato Cacace have become used to long-haul travel, but it never gets easy.

Marko Stamenić – from the top of the box, after a nice passing move, and against his mother’s native country – then made it 5-0, while De Vries’ first international goal – a well-hit volley – was the All Whites’ sixth.

Elijah Just scored his fourth goal in four All Whites appearances to make it 7-0, firing into the bottom-right corner after a run forward on the left, while Ben Waine rounded things out from the penalty spot after coming on as a halftime substitute.

“It was a challenging game, but an easy game, but a weird game,” was how Bazeley attempted to sum it up. “We obviously created a lot of chances and had a lot of possession.

“Samoa had a game plan and they defended bravely and deep and compact and they worked hard at it, at defending their goal, and they made it difficult.

“There was not a lot of space to try to play through and not a lot of space behind, but it felt like we could have done a lot better in trying to unlock that. We could have moved the ball a lot quicker and we have to adapt when teams play a certain way.

“When you win 8-0 in an international game… I can’t really be critical, but it was sort of win the game, move on.”

The All Whites last played Fiji in Qatar in the Oceania qualifying tournament for the 2022 World Cup, winning 4-0. Before that, they had a pair of 2-0 wins home and away in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.