The 'different emotions' the All Whites dealt with before turning to their win-or-go-home FIFA World Cup clash with Belgium
Wednesday, 24 June 2026
The world No 84 All Whites face world No 10 Belgium in a win-or-go-home FIFA World Cup match in Vancouver on Friday night (3pm Saturday NZ time).
They were hurting after conceding three second-half goals to lose 3-1 to Egypt in their second match in the same city last Sunday.
A fortnight ago, midfielder Joe Bell said “going through difficult periods together” was when players “build the strongest relationships”.
The team made a point of to processing their emotions as they conducted their post-match review on Monday.
Joe Bell had this to say a fortnight ago, before he and his All Whites team-mates played some of the best football they have ever played – on the FIFA World Cup stage no less – but also before their worst moments allowed Iran to equalise twice in a 2-2 draw and Egypt to come from behind and win 3-1 – results that have left them at the bottom of group G with one match to play.
Asked about the shared experiences so many of the squad have been able to draw on – not only playing for New Zealand’s senior men’s national team, but for age-group teams at Olympics and at age-group World Cups, the 27-year-old said one thing stood out above all else.
“I think the most important things are going through difficult periods together. I think that's when you build the strongest relationships and I think there are so many players that have shared those difficult moments together.”
Conceding a 96th minute penalty to lose to hosts Brazil in the round of 16 at the 2015 U-17 World Cup.
Getting hammered 6-0 by the United States in the round of 16 at the 2017 U-20 World Cup in South Korea.
Losing to Colombia in a penalty shootout at the same stage of the same tournament in Poland two years later.
Losing to hosts Japan in the same fashion in the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics two years after that.
Bell was there for all of those.
And he was there on Sunday night at BC Place in Vancouver, where the All Whites led Egypt 1-0 as the clock ticked into the 58th minute, thanks to Finn Surman’s first-half header.
After they led Iran 1-0 and 2-1 before drawing their opener at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles last Monday, this was another golden chance for a historic first World Cup win that slipped from their grasp.
The All Whites’ squad for this tournament features 13 other players who were present for one of the four aforementioned painful results. The 12 beyond them have all had tough moments of their own along the way here.
At the same time, 20 of the 26 players have also been in New Zealand squads that have managed at least one win at an age-group World Cup or an Olympics – a list headed by Bell, who has played in a record six of them.
All Whites coach Darren Bazeley has overseen a record four wins as head coach – at U-20 and Olympic level – and was an assistant for two more – at U-17 and Olympic level.
Which brings us to this week in Vancouver, where the Egypt result – featuring a controversial referee call just before Mo Salah’s go-ahead 67th-minute goal – left emotions running high and has no doubt made for another “difficult period,” to borrow Bell’s phrase.
One the world No 84 All Whites must get over quickly, if they are to finally get that senior World Cup win by stunning world No 10 Belgium at BC Place at 8pm on Friday (1pm Saturday NZ time) in what is effectively a knockout match that has come ahead of schedule.
Speaking to Stuff on Monday evening local time, Bazeley said the All Whites took time to process their emotions as they went about reviewing the Egypt match earlier that day, in a meeting where the players showed plenty of accountability.
“We talked about it in the meeting – what emotions are people feeling?
“There were lots of different emotions – disappointment, frustration, a bit of anger, a bit of pride as well.
“Ultimately we came to play knockout football. It's a game earlier than we wanted. We now know we have to beat Belgium. If we don't beat Belgium, we're going home. It's still there in front of us.
“What we looked at today were a lot of good things. In every aspect, there's things we do well, but now and again, we don't do them well enough and get hurt.
“For long periods [on Sunday], we looked after Mo Salah really well and then he pops up with a goal – one moment and he punishes you.
“We defend set pieces really well – and then one moment we concede [Trézéguet’s goal in the 82nd minute]
“We defend crosses pretty well the whole game, and then one moment, there’s a lapse where we don't stop the cross, we don't defend in the box, and we concede a goal [Mostafa Zico’s equaliser in the 58th].”
“That's the level that we're at with these opponents, at a World Cup, where if you're not perfect, you can get punished.”
The All Whites were having a day off in Vancouver on Tuesday local time, ahead of two days of training before facing Belgium.