An 18-player men’s squad has been named to represent New Zealand at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
All Whites Joe Bell, Michael Boxall, and Sarpreet Singh have been selected as the overage players, with 11 of the 15 U-23 players also having been capped at the senior level.
The squad includes 10 who were part of the squad for the OFC Men’s Nations Cup win in June.
New Zealand Olympics squad
Goalkeepers
Alex Paulsen* (AFC Bournemouth, England)
Kees Sims (GAIS Göteborg, Sweden)
Defenders
Tyler Bindon* (Reading, England)
Michael Boxall* (Minnesota United, United States)
Lukas Kelly-Heald* (Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Matthew Sheridan (Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Finn Surman* (Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Sam Sutton* (Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Midfielders
Joe Bell* (Viking FK, Norway)
Fin Conchie* (Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Matt Garbett* (NAC Breda, Netherlands)
Ben Old* (AS Saint-Etienne, France)
Sarpreet Singh*(Unattached)
Forwards
Riley Bidois (Loudoun United, United States)
Jay Herdman (Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada)
Jesse Randall* (Auckland FC, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Oskar van Hattum* (Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Ben Waine* (Plymouth Argyle, England)
Alternate players
Lachlan Bayliss (Newcastle Jets, Australia)
Liam Gillion (Auckland FC, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Henry Gray (Ipswich Town, England)
Isaac Hughes (Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand)
*Capped for the All Whites
Alby Kelly-Heald, Scott Morris, Luis Toomey, Finn Linder, Aaryan Raj, Ronan Wynne, Zac Zoricich and Nathan Lobo have been named as non-travelling reserves.
Head coach Darren Bazeley said: “The Olympics is a special tournament, so it is great to name the side that will be heading over to Paris 2024 as part of the wider New Zealand team.
“With the competition happening outside of a FIFA window, there have been some challenges with clubs releasing players, who are all really keen to be part of the tournament, but that is an issue that numerous countries have faced.
“In many ways, it shows the level that our players are operating at that top clubs want to hold on to people like Chris Wood, but luckily we have been building real depth, so we have talented options to come in instead.
“Over half of this group were part of the All Whites squad that won the OFC Men’s Nations Cup last month, so we are looking to continue that momentum when we get to France.
“This is a rare opportunity for us to test ourselves against some top teams, especially the hosts France in our final group game, and I know all of the players are massively excited and proud to be representing Aotearoa New Zealand.”
NZ Olympic Committee chief executive Nicki Nicol said: “We’re really pleased to have the men’s football team named to the New Zealand Team for Paris 2024,” said Nicol.
“We remember their Tokyo Olympic campaign fondly and we look forward to them creating more New Zealand sporting history shortly.”
The men’s team has been drawn in Group A at the tournament alongside hosts France, Guinea, and the United States.
Olympic fixtures
Games to be played on Thursday July 25, 2024 (NZT)
France v United States
Stade de Marseille, Marseille, 7am (NZT)
Guinea v New Zealand
Stade de Nice, Nice, 3am (NZT)
Games to be played on Sunday July 28, 2024 (NZT)
New Zealand v United States
Stade de Marseille, Marseille, 5am (NZT)
France v Guinea
Stade de Nice, Nice, 7am (NZT)
Games to be played on Wednesday July 31, 2024 (NZT)
New Zealand v France
Stade de Marseille, Marseille, 5am (NZT)
United States v Guinea
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne, 5am (NZT)
The men’s football tournament at the Olympics
Men’s football at the Olympics is restricted to under-23 players (born on or after January 1, 2000), though each team can select up to three overage players.
Match venues for the tournament are Paris, Bordeaux, Décines-Charpieu (near Lyon), Marseille, Nantes, Nice and Saint-Étienne.
This story was first published on July 10, 2024.
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