New Zealand's All Whites made world footballing history at Eden Park on March 25, becoming the first team in the nigh on six-decade existence of the Oceania Football Confederation to earn direct qualification from the region to the FIFA World Cup Finals. The expansion of the tournament allowed FIFA to finally grant Oceania their long-sought-after aim of their leading representatives being able to compete at the world governing body's flagship event without having to take on opponents from outside their Confederation as part of the qualifying process, a path which has seen OFC's finest miss out more often than not. Not this time, however, and there remains the prospect of two teams from Oceania taking to the field during the 2026 Finals, with New Caledonia, whom the All Whites overcame 3-0 in this Oceania Qualifying Final, to contest the FIFA Play-Off Tournament along with contenders from Asia, Africa, South America and two teams from CONCACAF, with two of these six teams taking up the final qualifying berths. On their showing in this match, "Les Cagous" will be highly competitive contenders in that series. They certainly made the All Whites work for their win on this occasion, holding the host nation scoreless for an hour before two goals in five minutes ended New Caledonian hopes of taking the direct route to North America 2026. Darren Bazeley's charges dominated proceedings, but penetrating the defensive strategy of New Caledonian coach Johann Sidaner, which was very well executed by his players, proved to be decidedly challenging. They set out with a plan to prevent All Whites captain Chris Wood from scoring - box ticked, big time! Alas for the All Whites, no one else was able to step up to the plate while their talismanic striker was being so well contained. Liberato Cacace's was the first attempt, a looping header in the fifth minute, on receipt of Sarpreet Singh's deep angled cross, which landed on the roof of the net. Five minutes later, during which a string of New Caledonian fouls had punctuated proceedings, Tim Payne fired a free-kick into the zone which resulted in a goalmouth scramble, in the middle of which Matt Garbett saw a shot blocked by a defender. Two minutes later, Payne was powering down the right, picked out by Michael Boxall's raking ball forward. The fullback tore past Jekob Jeno and Fonzy Ranchain en route to the by-line, from where he pulled the ball back to Wood. He instantly set up Callum McCowatt for a shot, but he directed his ten-yarder straight at Rocky Nyikeine, who, despite his lack of inches, had a terrific game twixt the sticks for "Les Cagous". Set-pieces appeared to pave the route to goal for the All Whites, with Payne delivering three of them - all corners - in the next ten minutes. His first saw Tyler Bindon execute a downward header which bounced up and just over the bar, while the second, after twenty minutes, prompted an almighty goalmouth scramble as the New Caledonians defended for their lives. In the thick of it all, Marko Stamenic twice saw headers headed off the line by Joseph Athale, who was something of a human wall in the thick of these scrambles - nothing got past him! Another corner was the result of this latest close call, and this time Payne picked out the head of Wood, whose header was bound for the top corner before Nyikeine produced a terrific save to maintain the scoreless scoreline. The goalkeeper was to the fore again in the 28th minute, hurtling out of goal to deny Cacace in the penalty area, after the overlapping fullback had been released by Garbett. The longer the game remained scoreless, you could see the New Caledonians growing in confidence, and seeing their number one performing as he was only further strengthened their resolve. Indeed, just three minutes after Nyikeine's latest heroics, "Les Cagous" offered their first real attacking threat, one which was snuffed out on the edge of the penalty area by Bindon, New Caledonian captain Cesar Zeoula the player thwarted after Jeno had made in-roads down the left. New Zealand counter-attacked instantly, Singh's probing pass picking out Wood surging through the inside right channel into the penalty area, from where he unleashed a shot which Nyikeine thwarted at the second attempt. Five minutes later, Wood went close again, this time with a header from a Cacace corner which he directed narrowly over the bar. Payne then picked out his captain with an angled curling cross from the right which Wood controlled in acrobatic fashion, but could do nothing about directing it on target in

the 39th minute. Back came the island nation, Joris Kenon getting the better of Joe Bell before slipping on shooting waywardly from twenty yards, while Germain Haewegene saw a shot deflected to safety after working a one-two with Georges Gope-Fenepej, whose two marvellous goals in their semi-final win over Tahiti paved the way for their presence in this match. The All Whites retorted on the stroke of half-time, an attack sparked by Max Crocombe's aerial prowess and swift throw-out to Wood, who stormed downfield from inside his own half to well inside New Caledonia's half of the pitch. Singh was racing up in support on his right, and Wood provided a pass which invited the playmaker to deliver a cross which was volleyed narrowly over his own crossbar by the retreating Pierre Bako. The second half began with the All Whites on attack, Wood being adjudged offside as he executed an acrobatic volley which Nyikeine saved. But the striker landed heavily on his right hip, and was unable to run it off, prompting his premature withdrawal from the fray just nine minutes after the resumption of play. The All Whites had already made two substitutions at half-time in a bid to break down the stubborn resistance New Caledonia were providing, with Elijah Just and Francis de Vries having entered the fray. Wood's departure, however, was a game-changer. New Caledonia's entire game plan revolved around denying the All Whites' talisman opportunities to influence the contest. His early exit hadn't been anticipated, and it caught the island nation off guard, for now they were faced with a much different type of striker in Costa Barbarouses, whose short, stocky, mobile frame prompted a change of approach by the All Whites, one which paid near-instant dividends. In the 61st minute, they opened the scoring, de Vries' pinpoint delivery of a corner to the far post picking out the head of Boxall, who headed home his maiden international goal on the occasion of his 55th appearance for New Zealand. Five minutes later, it was 2-0, Payne's probing pass through the inside right channel the sort of ball which Barbarouses thrives on. He stole in behind the defence and deftly lobbed the ball over the approaching figure of Nyikeine, then wheeled away in delight as it bounced into the far corner of the net to all but clinch victory for Darren Bazeley's charges. Because with the 25,132-strong crowd - a decent turnout for a Monday night fixture at the national stadium - roaring them on, there was no way on earth the All Whites were going to throw away a two-goal lead and, with it, direct qualification to the FIFA World Cup Finals. Alex Rufer was introduced to the game to shore things up in midfield, but almost instantly contributed to an attack via a cross which was dummied by Boxall for Stamenic, steaming in behind him. His 71st minute volley was blocked by Bernard Iwa. Successive corners from Payne soon followed, each somehow kept out by the New Caledonian defence, with Nyikeine spilling one delivery then blocking Stamenic's bid to volley home the rebound before a wild clearance from Iwa ensured there wouldn't be a third goal just yet. It was coming, though, and after Nyikeine had raced out of his penalty area to head the ball to safety as Barbarouses pursued Cacace's ball over the top, the coup de grace was delivered ten minutes from time. De Vries dashed down the left onto a Cacace pass, then pulled the ball back for Barbarouses, who set up Just for an eight-yard finish which wrapped up the scoring. There were opportunities to add to their tally before full-time, Boxall seeing a header - from a Payne corner - blocked then cleared by Lues Waya, while a de Vries cross was punched off the head of Stamenic by Nyikeine. Payne then saw a header - from a Barbarouses cross - blocked by Jeno, while with the last kick of the game, the fullback skimmed the roof of the net with a long-range free-kick. The final whistle sounded instantly, and New Zealand's World Cup qualification celebrations kicked off … All Whites:     Crocombe; Payne, Boxall, Bindon, Cacace (Rogerson, 86); Singh (Rufer, 70), Bell, Stamenic; McCowatt (Just, 46), Wood (Barbarouses, 54), Garbett (de Vries, 46) New Caledonia:     Nyikeine; Iwa (Welepane, 76), Athale, Simane (Bearune, 66), Ranchain; Kenon, Bako, Jeno; Haewegene (Waya, 51), Gope-Fenepej (Partodikromo, 76), Zeoula (Waia, 51) Referee:     Ben Aukwai (Solomon Islands)