Chris Wood scores hat-trick to put All Whites on cusp of World Cup qualification
Friday, 21 March 2025
At Sky Stadium, Wellington: All Whites 7 (Chris Wood 6’, 56’, 60’ Sarpreet Singh 17’, own goal 23’, Tim Payne 33’, Kosta Barbarouses 73’) Fiji 0. HT: 4-0.
The All Whites are one win away from qualifying for next year’s FIFA World Cup.
New Zealand ruthlessly dispatched Fiji 7-0 in a mismatch at Sky Stadium in Wellington on Friday night to set up a winner take all clash against New Caledonia in the OFC World Cup qualifying final on Monday.
Captain Chris Wood scored a hat trick of headers inside an hour before leaving the field to a standing ovation from the 20,000-strong crowd as coach Darren Bazeley took the opportunity to rest his star striker with 30 to go.
It was one-way traffic as the pre-tournament favourites scored inside the first six minutes to ease any fears of an upset before racking up a huge score.
Only a missed Ben Waine penalty late in the game prevented the All Whites from matching their 8-0 win over minnows Samoa during their final group B match.
“Any day Chris Wood gets a hat-trick is a great day,” Bazeley said after an emphatic performance.
“We were expected to win the game, and we knew that. We asked the players to start the game strong and make it a fast game, and I thought they did that throughout and played some really good football.”
Wood got the ball rolling by getting his head on the end of an outswinging delivery from Sarpreet Singh to give the All Whites the lead after just six minutes.
Singh made it 2-0 11 minutes later but the second goal was all about the assist as Marko Stamenic spun away from one defender and glided between two others before laying the ball off for his teammate to score with an easy tap-in.
The second goal felt like a knockout blow but the punches kept coming.
Young centre back Tyler Bindon emerged from a free-kick claiming the final touch after Tim Payne’s set-piece delivery evaded multiple All Whites and ended up in the Fiji net but it was credited as an own goal.
Payne got in on the act himself before halftime, scoring with conviction at the back post after a penetrating pass from Stamenic sent Callum McCowatt racing down the wing.
Fiji’s best attacking chances came when they outmuscled Stamenic in midfield and burst through on the counter but they could not make any of them count, sorely missing the finishing prowess of former Wellington Phoenix legend Roy Krishna.
All Whites goalkeeper Max Crocombe - Bazeley’s trusted No 1 - only really had to make one save in the first half, which came straight at home from long range.
Fiji hit the post in the second half through Christopher Wasala after seizing on a heavy touch in midfield but the All Whites made them pay for the miss, scoring down the other end through Kosta Barbarouses straight after to complete the route.
The Fijians appeared to struggle with the Sky Stadium surface, with players slipping on numerous occasions throughout the game, played on a dry night.
Although Stamenic had his pocket picked more than once while receiving a pass, he made up for it with his guile on the ball.
The second goal, which he orchestrated, was the pick of the All Whites’ seven goals.
The All Whites could have put the foot off the gas but Wood showed his team’s intent by attacking immediately from the second-half kick off.
He brought up his hat-trick after scoring twice the space of four second-half minutes – both from Tim Payne crosses – and was immediately replaced.
Waine had an opportunity to add an eighth goal when he was brought down by Fiji goalkeeper Jerome Narayan late in the game but the replacement put his penalty wide.
After thrashing Fiji, All Whites will now be overwhelming favourites to win through to the World Cup, having dismantled New Caledonia 7-1 in their last meeting in qualifying in 2022.
New Caledonia stunned the All Whites 2-0 at the Nations Cup in 2012 but it will take something special to do it again with a place at the World Cup on the line at Eden Park in Auckland on Monday night.