The All Whites once more proved their superiority over all their rivals in the Oceania Football Confederation on March 30, trouncing the Solomon Islands 5-0 in the OFC World Cup qualifying series to book a play-off against Costa Rica in June, the winner of which will qualify for the World Cup Finals in Qatar in mid-November. Danny Hay's charges were swiftly into their stride at the Grand Hamad Stadium in Doha, engineering their first attack via left flank raid in just the third minute. Francis de Vries, Nando Pijnaker, Chris Wood and Logan Rogerson all contributed to a move which culminated in Alex Greive shooting straight at Solomons goalkeeper, Phillip Mango, from twenty yards. The islanders didn't let that upset them, and soon let it be known that they weren't here just to make up the numbers, Joses Nawo stinging the gloves of Stefan Marinovic with a volley from the edge of the penalty area following a free-kick in the ninth minute. The black-clad All Whites rode out this tropical storm, however, and by the twentieth minute were looking ominous. Tim Payne linked with Joe Bell, whose first-time pass played in Rogerson. His volley was well parried by Mango, who turned a shot from Wood round the post two minutes later after Bahrainian referee Nawaf Shukralla had allowed play to continue. For the third time in the match, Greive had been taken out by the Solomon Islanders, Haddis Aengari on this occasion, and he was fortunate to escape a booking. But the All Whites didn't have long to wait to extract maximum punishment for the incident, as Bell's corner to the far post was met by a thumping Bill Tuiloma header - 1-0 after 23 minutes. Pijnaker featured heavily in New Zealand's next three attacks of note, all of which occurred after the half-hour mark. 'Twas the defender's raking cross-field pass to Payne which sparked the first of them, the fullback picking out Wood with a cross which saw the striker's attempted volley deflect for a corner. Pijnaker then had a 34th minute goal disallowed for a foul by Rogerson in the build-up, while another ball forward by the defender three minutes later prompted another defensive stuff-up. Rogerson pounced on the opportunity before feeding Wood, whose range-finder fizzed past the post. When Wood next featured, six minutes before half-time, he doubled the All Whites' advantage, heading home Payne's precise cross from six yards after the fullback had been released by Tommy Smith. The Solomons had to score next to keep their World Cup hopes alive, but Raphael Lea'i headed Atkin Kaua's free-kick past the post in the 42nd minute, a threat New Zealand responded to via Wood, who was picked out by Pijnaker's ball forward, only to be crowded out by swarming Solomons defence on the stroke of half-time. Three minutes after play resumed, Bell sent Rogerson away down the right, and was on hand when the speedster required support. The midfielder then linked with Marko Stamenic, who slipped a pass into the stride of Payne. His super cross to the far post found Wood soaring skywards to meet it, only for Mango to produce a magnificent save to keep the score at 2-0. Sadly for the Solomons, their goalkeeper undid all his good work seconds later. Mango failed to deal with Bell's corner, and the ball arced into the net direct from the midfielder's boot, much to the delight of the All Whites, who could now relax a tad - there would be no way back from this for their island rivals.

In between Mango grabbing a Wood header from a de Vries cross, and New Zealand's most prolific marksman of all time being denied a goal by the Video Assistant Referee, which ruled that Rogerson had strayed offside in the build-up, the Solomons went close to clawing a goal back in the 53rd minute. Nawo led the charge before linking with Micah Lea'alafa, whose first-time pass brought the elusive Lea'i into play. The youngster evaded a challenge to leave himself one-on-one with Marinovic, who blocked at close quarters - a solid piece of goalkeeping to deny a player who looked lively during the first fifteen minutes of the half, and offered a genuine threat. Lea'i won't be based on home soil for very long, on the evidence of his displays in Doha. New Zealand's substitutes began to play their part in proceedings half-way through the second spell. Matt Garbett slipped a ball through for Wood, only for Leon Kofana to intervene in the act of shooting. It was only delaying the inevitable, however, as from the resulting corner, de Vries' delivery to the far post found Tuiloma soaring above all-comers to direct a downward header into the turf, the ball bouncing into the top far corner of the net six yards away - 4-0. It was damage limitation time for the Solomons now, and Aengari did his part with a goal-line clearance to deny the well-performed Elijah Just, before blocking a Wood drive for a corner, which Bell delivered into the goalmouth. Between them, Smith and Wood were unable to turn the sphere goalwards. A corner resulted, which Bell played short before delivering a cross which had the Solomons' defence all at sea, Mango particularly - he simply could not deal with anything above shoulder height! In the mayhem which ensued, Garbett saw a drive blocked to safety, while fellow substitute Callum McCowatt was narrowly astray with a twenty-five yarder thirteen minutes from time after Mango had dashed out of his penalty area to prevent Wood from latching onto a pass from Just. Three minutes later, the Solomons' bid for a consolation goal saw Don Keana's through ball for Lea'i lure Marinovic out of goal once more. The big man blocked well at the feet of the striker, then reacted swiftly to prevent Lea'alafa from latching onto the rebound. Mango tipped a McCowatt twenty yarder over the bar in the dying minutes, while the same player saw another shot blocked to safety after Nikko Kirwan had been denied penalty claims by the well-performed referee Shukralla. The inevitable materialised in stoppage time, New Zealand's fifth goal of the game wrapping up the tournament in style. Garbett, Just and McCowatt combined to invite de Vries to deliver a cross which Andre de Jong laid off into the stride of Garbett, whose unerring finish rounded off a 5-0 victory for the All Whites, who are now just ninety minutes away from a third appearance at the FIFA World Cup Finals. Solomons:     Mango; Kalu, Kofana (booked, 79), Aengari (Supa, 86), Hou (Mara, 34); Kaua (booked, 10) (Keana, 75), Gagame, Tahunipue; Lea'i, Nawo (Mekawir, 75), Lea'alafa All Whites:     Marinovic; Tuiloma, Smith, Pijnaker; Payne (Kirwan, 73), Bell, Stamenic (booked, 35) (Garbett, 54), de Vries; Rogerson (McCowatt, 73), Wood (de Jong, 83), Greive (Just, 54) Referee:     Nawaf Shukrallah (Bahrain)