As All Whites striker Chris Wood prepares for his fifth FIFA World Cup campaign, he’s reflected on key moments and near misses from New Zealand’s past efforts.
In 2010, he came within a few centimetres of changing his side’s World Cup history.
It was about 4.40pm local time in the Mbombela day.
New Zealand, having picked a seemingly impenetrable Azzuri lock in the first half to lead, were now at a stalemate with the reigning champions at the FIFA World Cup.
With little more than seven minutes to go, goalscorer Shane Smeltz picked up the ball midway inside Italian territory.
He laid it into Jeremy Christie who rifled a first-time pass into the feet of a lanky 18-year-old Wood.
The teenager instinctively flicked the ball up, inviting Fabio Cannavaro — a man twice his age — to bite into a challenge, only to knock it past him and leave the former FIFA World Player of the Year in knots.
Wood fired a shot which flew past Federico Marchetti, but also just past the post.
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With only 25 professional players available to New Zealand then — some 3,500 fewer than their Italian opponents — New Zealand would go on to claim a famous draw.
But more than 14 years later, that near-miss is still fresh in Wood’s memory.
“Those are the moments which always stick out, the ‘What if?’ moments,” Wood said in an exclusive interview with FIFA.
“What if it nestled in the bottom corner? Or if I’d had it back, what I would have done? But it was all instinct stuff. It would’ve been nice if it nestled in.”
That game followed a draw with Slovakia in New Zealand’s first finals tournament game in 28 years, and preceded another stalemate with Paraguay.
Head coach Ricki Herbert’s men had finished the campaign undefeated — the only team to manage that at the 2010 South Africa tournament — but fell short of progressing by a single point.
“We did extremely well as a side to finish unbeaten and go into the last game knowing if we won, we would go through,” Wood said.
“It was fantastic — I loved every minute of being involved in the campaign. It was quality. I was very young, 18 at the time, and I thought, ‘Oh wow, every four years I’m going to be playing at a World Cup.’
“Little did I know how hard it is actually to get there. What is it now? 15 years later I’m still waiting to go again.”
While their South African adventure was made possible thanks to a famous victory over Bahrain in the AFC-OFC play-off, New Zealand’s three attempts since have been underpinned by final-game heartbreak.
A 9-3 Mexico mauling over two legs put paid to Brazil 2014 dreams, while a 2-0 loss to Peru and 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica did the same for 2018 and 2022 respectively.
“We’ve come ever so close in some campaigns,” Wood said.
“The Mexico one maybe not so much, but the Peru game I think we should’ve done a lot better at home, and I believe we were the better team against Costa Rica, but we just couldn’t score and that’s football.
“I’ve been desperate to get back there [the World Cup]. I want to tick it off my list of being able to play a lot more than I did [in 2010].
“There’s a lot I want to achieve on the World Cup stage that I feel like I’m ready to do now. Hopefully, this can be the moment I can do it. We’ve just got to make sure we deliver.”
Wood and Co’s chances of making the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup are better than they’ve ever been.
The newly-expanded format means some 48 nations will head to the finals, with OFC handed a guaranteed berth for the first time – music to the ears of a nation that has topped the Oceanian standings in each of the last four qualifying campaigns.
“It’s fantastic — it’s going to be a massive help for our goal to be at the World Cup,” Wood said.
“It’s not going to be easy, we’ll still have to compete.
“But we’re under no illusion we’ve got a great chance because of the team we are and the region we are [in]. It’s going to be a great opportunity for us to get to a World Cup, but we have to do the business in qualifying.”
Main photo: All Whites striker Chris Wood meets fans and supporters after the match between New Zealand and Australia at Auckland’s Eden Park in 2022. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.
Read more from the FIFA.com interview with Chris Wood …
Chris, you start your OFC qualifying campaign against Tahiti next month. How are you feeling?
I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully, everyone is fit and firing come that international break. It’s important to get off to a good start, so when we get back for Vanuatu we need to make sure we’ve hit the ground running against Tahiti. We need to make sure we keep improving and keep doing better.
You became the nation’s all-time top scorer in 2022, and now sit just 12 caps off Ivan Vicelich’s record of 88. Is that now in your sights?
That is definitely one I want to achieve. That’s down to staying fit and staying healthy and producing on the pitch to be able to achieve that. If all goes well, I should achieve that if we make the World Cup. There’s so much more I want to achieve – I’d prefer to make a World Cup than have that caps status. But if they go hand-in-hand, it’s even more fantastic.
Off the back of a 15-goal season last year, you’ve started this campaign in terrific form for Nottingham Forest.
Yeah, I’m feeling good. It’s all about just continuing to improve. I’m a player that scores goals with supply from my team – and my team-mates are very good at supplying. We’ve got a great squad, we’re a great unit, a great club, and a good manager who is working us hard to make sure we’re ready for the campaign ahead. It’s a long campaign, we’ve started well, but we want to achieve so much and take this club to another level, so we’ve got to keep focused and keep producing.
You’ll be 34 come World Cup 26. Do you think you’ll have the same desire to continue playing for club and country come then?
Oh, 100 per cent. I’m 32 coming on 33 and still scoring goals in the Premier League and I’ll continue to do that – I have no question about that. I’ll be perfect and ready and firing to produce on the top stage.
How exciting is the prospect of a tournament in North America?
It would be great to be a part of a World Cup that’s going to be spread across three nations. I’ve always liked America in terms of the country, I’ve always wanted to play out in the MLS one day if the opportunity arises. But I’ve got a lot to do in England first before that. It’s going to be a fantastic World Cup with massive stadiums. It’s going to be one to cherish if you’re a part of but we’ve got to get there first.
And finally, what is your favourite World Cup memory?
Other than going to the World Cup, being a part of it and playing in it … I think the Ronaldo step-over goal that he did when he went round the keeper [against Ghana at Germany 2006] is something that sticks well and truly in my mind.
Acknowledgement
We thank FIFA for providing this story.
New Zealand fixtures
Game to be played on Friday October 11, 2024
FIFA World Cup 2026 – OFC Qualifier
New Zealand v Tahiti
VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu, 3pm (NZT)
Game to be played on Monday October 14, 2024
International friendly
New Zealand v Malaysia
North Harbour Stadium, Albany, 7pm
November
Game to be played on Friday November 15, 2024
FIFA World Cup 2026 – OFC Qualifier
New Zealand v Vanuatu
FMG Stadium Waikato, Kirikiriroa Hamilton, 7.30pm
Game to be played on Monday November 18, 2024
New Zealand v OFC Qualifier Round One Winner (Samoa)
Go Media Stadium, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, 7.30pm
This story was first published on October 9, 2024.
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