All Whites beat Ivory Coast 1-0 for most notable win in 15 years
Sunday, 8 June 2025
At BMO Field, Toronto: All Whites 1 (Elijah Just 41’) Ivory Coast 0. HT: 1-0.
The All Whites’ most notable win in 15 years was far from a work of art.
They didn’t create anything, really, outside of Elijah Just’s 41st-minute goal, as they beat Ivory Coast 1-0 at BMO Field in Toronto on Sunday (NZ time).
But an immense defensive effort led by young centre backs Finn Surman and Tyler Bindon delivered a result that should serve as a key building block on the road to next year’s FIFA World Cup in North America.
The win was only the 11th by the New Zealand men’s national football team outside the Oceania region – where they win almost always – since their last World Cup appearance in South Africa in 2010.
Coming against the 41st-ranked reigning African champions, it was the 86th-ranked All Whites’ most significant result in that regard since they beat 15th-ranked Serbia on the eve of the 2010 World Cup.
In the intervening 15 years – under five different full-time coaches – their best result before this was a 1-0 win over 50th-ranked Honduras in 2012. Their nine other wins outside Oceania were all against teams ranked 79th or lower at the time.
Current coach Darren Bazeley has now overseen three himself, though this was one was a step up from the 2-1 win over 80th-ranked China in Wellington in March 2023 and the 4-0 romp over 132nd-ranked Malaysia in Auckland last October.
“I think it's big,” was his reply when asked what this would do for his charges. “We've wanted to try and get results against good teams, because it brings belief.
“We know we're a good team, but we’ve had to get over getting draws against higher-ranked teams, so to get across the line and get the win, I think it's going to be really good for them, belief-wise.
“There are still things to improve, as always, but overall I’m really pleased with the performance and the attitude and the effort that the boys put in. It was a really good performance.”
Just’s goal came after Marko Stamenić won the ball off Mory Gbane on halfway and was able to run at the Ivory Coast defence in the middle of the pitch, with three team-mates ahead of him.
He picked out Just – a team-mate stretching back to when they were both teenagers in Wellington – in the right-hand channel and the midfielder finished with pinpoint accuracy into the bottom-left corner of Ali Badra’s goal.
Just now has seven goals in his last 12 international appearances and said he was “over the moon that (his shot) went in and gave us the advantage”.
“We defended pretty resolutely. (There were) a lot of things that we could have been better on. We'll take a lot from the game, but everyone's happy that we won.”
Bazeley paired Bindon and Surman together in the All Whites for the first time against non-Oceania opposition and the 20-year-old and 22-year-old delivered a performance that will make it hard for them to be dislodged.
Surman was in the thick of the action early, twice intervening after Evann Guessand showed himself to be Ivory Coast’s biggest threat. He had plenty of work to do covering for Bill Tuiloma, who started at right back despite barely having played club football for 18 months and was routinely exposed.
Goalkeeper Max Crocombe had to make a couple of first-half saves – first with his feet against Emmanuel Latte, who was teed up by Guessand, then tipping over a Nicolas Pepe curler from a short corner – but wasn’t tested anywhere near as much as he could have been.
The match lost its shape somewhat in the second half, as both coaches made a host of substitutions and the All Whites’ spent the last 15 minutes sitting in a low block with Michael Boxall on as a third centre back, trying to see out the win.
Ivory Coast’s last best chance came right at the start of stoppage time, when substitute Nicolas Adingra headed the ball into the back post.
“It was a good game,” Surman said afterwards, noting that while “it would be nice we kept the ball the whole time and scored a few more goals,” having to be involved so heavily as a centre back was “part of football”.
“It’s my job. It’s good.”
Making the win extra special was the fact that All Whites captain and English Premier League striker Chris Wood only played the final 15 minutes off the bench, with his workload being carefully managed at the end of a long season with Nottingham Forest.
“Everybody knows how much football he's played this year and some of the things that he's been battling with fitness-wise,” Bazeley said afterwards, referring to the hip injury Wood suffered in the All Whites’ Oceania World Cup qualifying final win over New Caledonia in March.
“I've had discussions with him and we've decided to make sure that we limit his loadings within training and games.”
The All Whites now play Ukraine at BMO Field on Wednesday (kickoff 9am NZ time) before most of their players head into the off-season.
These matches are part of the Canadian Shield friendly tournament, which began with the hosts beating Ukraine 4-2 earlier on Saturday (local time) – their first win over a European opponent since 2011.
All Whites – wins outside Oceania since 2010 World Cup
May 26, 2012: 1-0 v Honduras
September 9, 2013: 1-0 v Saudi Arabia
November 12, 2015: 1-0 v Oman
June 5, 2018: 1-0 v Taiwan
June 7, 2018: 2-1 v India
October 9, 2021: 2-1 v Curaçao
October 12, 2021: 1-0 v Bahrain
November 16, 2021: 2-0 v The Gambia
March 26, 2023: 2-1 v China
October 14, 2024: 4-0 v Malaysia
June 7, 2025: 1-0 v Ivory Coast