Has the All Whites’ World Cup goalkeeper battle been won? Darren Bazeley gives his verdict

Sunday, 7 June 2026

The All Whites’ FIFA World Cup goalkeeper spot has been contested by Max Crocombe and Alex Paulsen.

Crocombe played 84 minutes in their 1-0 loss to England in Tampa, four days after he and Paulsen played a half each in their 4-0 los to Haiti in Fort Lauderdale.

Speaking after the match, coach Darren Bazeley did not commit to Crocombe being the goalkeeper to start against Iran in their World Cup opener.

It felt like a significant moment when Max Crocombe emerged for the second half of the All Whites’ 1-0 loss to England.

The longer he stayed on the field, that significance seemed to grow.

But when he left in the 84th minute, it looked like a signal the door was still slightly ajar.

Crocombe has been the All Whites’ leading goalkeeper for two-and-a-half years, starting 20 of their last 27 matches.

But he has had Alex Paulsen – who has started the other seven matches – hot on his heels for the past two years.

All Whites coach Darren Bazeley has made it clear over the past 15 months that they have been locked in a battle to start at the FIFA World Cup.

And with the England game done and dusted – and the 4-0 loss to Haiti earlier this week now looking more like an outlier – the World Cup is what’s next.

Crocombe playing 84 minutes against England after he and Paulsen played a half each against Haiti felt like a big clue he’s the man Bazeley and goalkeeping coach Paul Gothard have in mind to start against Iran in Los Angeles on June 15 (June 16 NZ time).

He certainly helped his cause by making a pair of strong first-half saves to deny England captain Harry Kane, first punching a shot from the top of the box away, then reacting sharply to palm a back-post header out for a corner.

He could do nothing to prevent Kane’s glancing header from a Djed Spence cross in first-half stoppage time from nestling in the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Paulsen coming on as one of five 84th-minute substitutes was little more than a hospital pass that he caught without any damage being done.

Bazeley was asked by Stuff in his post-match press conference if Crocombe playing 84 minutes – and therefore 129 to Paulsen’s 51 across the two matches – was confirmation he would start in goal against Iran.

While he said Crocombe “did well” and “was pretty strong today,” Bazeley stopped short of locking him in, explaining that coming out of the Haiti match, where pre-planned wholesale changes contributed to the All Whites’ coming unstuck in the second half, there had been a desire to go with the flow of this match as though it were a competitive one.

“The plan for Max was to play, to see how he goes, and for him to go as long as we decided today.

“Potentially, I would have liked to get Alex on a little bit earlier, but sometimes when you're in a game at 1-0, you don't want to make too many changes, because when do we get opportunities to draw or try to beat England? And at 60, 70 minutes, at 1-0, one chance can draw a game.”

Bazeley said he hadn’t wanted to give each goalkeeper a full warm-up match, as England, ranked fourth in the world, and Haiti, ranked 83rd in the world, are very different teams, though, as he noted: “Haiti obviously didn’t turn out the way we really wanted it to”.

“We wouldn’t be able to compare them. That was the plan – start AP that one, start Max this one.

“Like I said, when we’re in a game at 1-0 … we didn’t really want to make too many changes to too many positions, because it becomes disjointed, like we saw against Haiti.

“Max was in the flow of the game, as were [centre backs Michael] Boxall and Finn Surman, so we let them go. I potentially would have got AP on earlier.”

An acceptable explanation, but if there was a genuine question in Bazeley’s head, it’s hard not to think Paulsen would have been introduced at halftime, giving him and Crocombe an equal body of work in which to press their case.

The All Whites have another week of training in San Diego before facing Iran, but it feels like Crocombe’s name can be written down in pen, not pencil, but perhaps also not permanent marker just yet, given Bazeley’s unwillingness to commit.

The team flew from Tampa straight after Saturday’s match and are set to have the next two days to recover and freshen up before resuming training on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ time).