Chris Wood makes first Nottingham Forest appearance in 173 days in Europa League draw with Porto
Friday, 10 April 2026
Chris Wood didn’t have a lot to do in the first leg of Nottingham Forest’s Europa League quarterfinal against Porto on Friday (NZ time).
But the sheer fact that he was back on a football field at all – nine weeks out from the start of the FIFA World Cup – was what mattered most.
The All Whites captain played the first half as Forest secured a 1-1 draw on the road ahead of next week’s second leg at their City Ground home.
It was his first top-level outing in 173 days – since Forest’s 3-0 loss away to Chelsea on the eighth matchday of the English Premier League season.
His most notable involvement came when he stretched back to meet a cross from Dan Ndoye on the left, setting up James McAtee for a header that was Forest’s only shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.
Porto took the lead through William Gomes after 11 minutes at the Estádio do Dragão, but relinquished it just two minutes later when Martim Fernandes beat his own goalkeeper with a back pass from 30m out to score a comical own goal.
Forest thought they had scored a winner just after the hour mark, but Igor Jesus – Wood’s replacement at the break – was judged to have hand-balled before putting the ball in the back of the net.
While first resting to try let a bothersome right knee heal, then recovering from the surgery he opted to have just prior to Christmas, Wood missed a total of 38 top-level matches.
As well as 23 Premier League fixtures – in a campaign where Forest have been hovering around the relegation zone – he also missed 10 Europa League fixtures, an FA Cup tie and four All Whites internationals.
The 34-year-old’s return comes with Forest sitting 16th on the Premier League table, two points above Tottenham Hotspur and three above West Ham United, who occupy the one relegation spot that is yet to be decided.
Burnley, nine points behind West Ham, and Wolverhampton Wanderers, three points further back, have too much ground to make up with just seven matches left to be played.
Forest’s next Premier League match is against Aston Villa (kickoff 1am Monday NZ time), with the second leg against Porto to follow next week (7am Friday).
Wood’s return to action would have delighted All Whites coach Darren Bazeley, who has several other injury concerns to worry about with the World Cup fast approaching.
Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Matt Garbett and Sarpreet Singh all joined Wood in missing the All Whites’ loss to Finland and win over Chile at the end of last month and are yet to return to action with their clubs.
Nando Pijnaker also missed those matches, but played for Auckland FC last Friday, but Kosta Barbarouses, who played in them, was absent for Western Sydney Wanderers last Saturday, with what was said to be a minor issue.
Wood is the equal most-capped All White of all time, having joined Ivan Vicelich when he made his 88th appearance against Norway last October.
He has 45 goals in those matches – 16 more than any other All White.
Bazeley is set to name his 26-man World Cup squad in mid-May – likely in the week beginning May 11, if not the week beginning May 4.
The All Whites have been drawn in group G alongside Belgium, Egypt and Iran.
Their first match is set to be against Iran in Los Angeles on June 15 (June 16 NZ time).