What a 1-0 loss to England means for All Whites’ World Cup expectations
Monday, 8 June 2026
ANALYSIS: Is this really an All Whites side that can win at the World Cup for the first time?
Sunday’s (NZ time) 1-0 loss to England in Tampa, Florida, was never going to answer that question.
And only someone who’s watched a lot of top-flight football in Iran is truly qualified to give a fully-informed prediction of what may occur when New Zealand meet their first Group G rivals at the tournament on June 16.
The defeat to a crafty Harry Kane header may have given the players and coach Darren Bazeley more confidence that the 4-0 defeat by Haiti earlier in the week, despite one of the 2026 World Cup’s biggest underdogs still having to do plenty of desperate defending against one of the favourites to capture the crown.
There were often seven or eight men in white shirts packed in their own penalty box in the second spell as Thomas Tuchel’s team sought shape and form ahead of their Group L games versus Croatia, Ghana and Panama.
New Zealand will spend a ton of time without the ball in their group games - Egypt and Belgium are their other two opponents - and their dogged work off the ball frustrated an experimental attacking assortment that England fielded and Tuchel fiddled with.
But to do so much running without the ball, in potentially sapping heat, will notably limit NZ’s chances to gain a result - particularly a first victory in three attempts at the World Cup finals.
When England pressed goalkeeper Max Crocombe and his defenders with the ball at their feet, the All Whites found it difficult to make smooth progress upfield.
There were moments of comfort on the ball, and some creative touches, with Eli Just featuring, while Chris Wood will give them an exemplary target to hit up front.
Yet mistakes will be punished at the tournament - Marko Stamenic lost the ball in midfield when pushing forward in the first half, and a more in-tune, hungry opponent come tournament time would have taken sharper advantage.
The All Whites are also vulnerable to pace out wide - but that can apply to a number of teams in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Crocombe’s initial selection between the sticks and then playing the majority of the minutes seemingly showed he’ll get the nod over Alex Paulsen to face Iran in Los Angeles.
Midfielder Ryan Thomas has been kept in cotton wool, but if fit will be in the 1st XI, while Matt Garbett has done the most of those on the fringes of selection to push his cause in the two pre-tournament matches.
While ‘friendlies’ this close to the start of the World Cup have minimal value in representing strengths and weaknesses, Belgium’s 5-0 win over Tunisia on Sunday won’t have gone unnoticed, while Egypt’s 2-1 loss to Brazil was also a mark of what level of competition NZ will face.
Iran’s problematic build-up continued at the weekend with visa problems, and the All Whites won’t get a better chance to break their duck - and give them a shot at making the playoffs than when the two teams meet next week.