The All Whites held in-form Norway to a 1-1 draw in front of 17,652 fans in Oslo's Ullevaal Stadium on October 14, as Darren Bazeley's charges continued their preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals via this latest friendly international against opponents who are among the top forty football-playing nations in FIFA's rankings. The Norwegians are just a win away from qualifying for next year's Finals, but with this match being a friendly, they opted to do without the services of a handful of their star turns, most notably prolific striker Erling Haaland, who has scored 51 goals in his 46 appearances for his country. His absence certainly made life a little less troublesome for New Zealand's rearguard, but they were nonetheless subjected to plenty of pressure from their opponents, for the most part dealing with it extremely well. But not before the Norwegians found themselves under the pump from the All Whites early doors, the seventh minute, to be precise, as a slick counter-attack unfolded down the left flank via Ben Old, Matt Garbett, Chris Wood and, across field, Sarpreet Singh, with the overlapping Tim Payne aiding his cause by committing defenders. Singh's cross parted the hair of Garbett, the ball finding its way to Francis de Vries, who promptly whipped another cross into the danger zone, Singh its intended target. Had he not fouled an opponent in his eagerness to reach the ball … Three minutes later, the All Whites threatened again, Singh making amends for his error with a delicious pass which scythed through Norway's rearguard, one which was superbly anticipated by Old, who was only thwarted by the alertness of Orjan Nyland, the goalkeeper racing out to the edge of his penalty area to spare his rearguard's collective blushes. It was the Video Assistant Referee who came to Norway's rescue in the thirteenth minute, ruling out a Marko Stamenic goal on offside grounds. The decision was greeted with dismay by "The Flying Kiwis", whose small section of support at the opposite end of the ground was responsible for most of the crowd's noise throughout the contest - they had themselves a great time cheering on their champions, despite being over 10,500 miles from home! "The Lions", as Norway are nicknamed, heeded the warning this let-off afforded them, and started taking matters seriously, with left raids increasingly prominent. For the most part, the All Whites' rearguard rebuffed them, but a couple of attacks gave more than the usual cause for concern, the first of them coming in the 22nd minute. Oscar Bobb drove through the middle of the park before combining with Aron Dunnum and the overlapping Marcus Pedersen down the right, from where the fullback picked out Bobb with his low cross. Michael Boxall's timely intervention snuffed out that opportunity, while the brilliance of Alex Paulsen served the All Whites' cause well fourteen minutes later, the goalkeeper producing a fine reflex save to tip Donnum's fast-rising twelve yard drive over the bar after a super move ignited by Jorgen Strand-Larsen's deft flick between two defenders, prompting Bobb, Patrick Berg, the baby-faced Andreas Schjelderup and the overlapping David Wolfe to link on the left. Norway's raids increased as the half drew to a close, but just before Rumanian referee Horatiu Fesnic brought a halt to proceedings, the All Whites stunned the natives by breaking the deadlock in first half stoppage time. De Vries delivered a free-kick beyond all-comers to Payne, whose angled diving header across goal found Finn Surman sliding in on the far post to steer the ball home, the defender's slide halting in abrupt fashion as a certain part of his anatomy collided with the base of the upright … tears of joy instantly sprang to his eyes as the defender was inundated with congratulations and concern in equal measure. The setback prompted a change of plan from Norway for the second spell, but before they had a chance to implement it, Wood, on the occasion of his record-equalling 88th cap for New Zealand - he joins Ivan Vicelich as the country's most capped international, twice went close to doubling his team's advantage. Rare is the chance to subtly weave this particular Beatles song title into any story, but in the 47th minute, the opportunity presented itself as De Vries, with Pedersen approaching, slipped a ball in

behind the Norwegian. Wood promptly dashed through the inside left channel before rattling the angle of near post and crossbar with a well-struck volley from deep inside the penalty area. The ball rebounded clear, but was swiftly retrieved by Singh, who evaded a challenge before delivering a cross which Wood met with a glancing header, only to direct the ball past the far post from six yards, with Nyland again reduced to the role of spectator - he was well beaten on both occasions. "The Lions" were eager to redress the balance, but their initial attempts to restore parity were well repelled by the All Whites, who were afforded a further chance to double their lead in the 56th minute. Stamenic spread play wide to de Vries, whose angled pass found Wood racing in behind the defence once more. Nyland denied him at the second attempt. Norway clearly needed to up their game to avoid their first defeat on home soil in nineteen months. Substitute Antonio Nusa was eager to answer the call, however, playing in Schjelderup in the 61st minute. Paulsen parried his first attempt superbly, but the striker was afforded a second chance, one he fired narrowly past the far post. There was no such let-off for the All Whites when the Norwegians next raided, two minutes later. Sander Berge and Strand-Larsen linked up with Schjelderup, who ran at the defence before slipping the ball into Nusa's stride. He curled a beauty into the top far corner - 1-1. Another Nusa curler, following a short corner five minutes later, was prevented from enjoying a similar fate by another fine Paulsen save, while the All Whites goalkeeper was pressed into action again in the 74th minute, smothering a Kristian Amstad drive seconds after Nyland had thwarted Garbett in similar fashion at the other end of the ground. That was a by now rare raid from the visitors, as the home team was very much in the ascendancy as they pursued their eighth win from as many matches in 2025. Surman and Boxall were immense in defence for the All Whites, however, and combined to thwart another Norwegian raid in the 78th minute. In doing so, they ignited an All Whites' counter-attack, Old, Callum McCowatt and Payne all contributing to it before the fullback's teasing cross arced just beyond Ben Waine. Old, flying in behind the striker on the far post, launched into a diving header which forced Nyland into a parried save, with Eivind Helland completing the clearance. Ten minutes from time, the interception of a pass from the otherwise well-performed Garbett saw Bobb leading the charge for Norway. He played in overlapping fullback Wolfe, whose shot sizzled across the face of goal and inches past the far post. Two minutes later, it was Norway's turn to give the ball away, debutant Sverre Nypan affording McCowatt the chance to bring Waine into play. His cross afforded Singh a great chance to restore their half-time lead, but he executed the perfect air-shot at just the wrong time. Another fine save by Paulsen bailed out the All Whites six minutes from time, this time denying Sebastian Sebulon as Norway pressed for a winner, which they came within six inches of securing seconds later, Berge firing a low drive past Paulsen, only to hit the far post. The All Whites cleared the danger, and held out their fast-finishing opponents to record a hard-earned 1-1 draw, in the process ending Norway's year-long nine-match winning streak, which includes a 3-0 thrashing of Italy. Darren Bazeley's charges conclude their year of activity in the USA next month, taking on South American opposition in the form of Colombia, in Fort Lauderdale, and Ecuador in New Jersey. These fixtures will mean they'll have faced opponents from all six FIFA confederations in a fifteen-month spell - ideal preparations for a FIFA World Cup Finals campaign which is now just eight months, or three international windows, away from becoming reality. Norway:     Nyland; Pedersen (Sebulon, 64), Hanche-Olsen, Helland (booked, 85), Wolfe; Bobb, Berg (Berge, 46), Aasgaard (Amstad, 64); Donnum (Nusa, 46), Strand-Larsen (Heggebo, 64), Schjelderup (Nypan, 81) All Whites:     Paulsen; Payne (Tuiloma, 87), Surman, Boxall, de Vries (Kelly-Heald, 87); Stamenic (booked, 76), Garbett (Bindon, 86), Thomas (McCowatt. 70); Singh, Wood (Waine, 62), Old (Parker-Price, 87) Referee:     Horatiu Fesnic (Rumania)