Willington - Saba:
The New Zealand national team qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after defeating New Caledonia 3-0 on Monday in the final match of the third round of the Oceania qualifiers.
Michael Boxall, Costa Barbarousses, and Elijah Just scored for New Zealand in the 61st, 66th, and 80th minutes.
The New Zealand national team became the fifth team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, following the three host countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as Japan, which secured the first Asian ticket last Thursday.
New Zealand defeated Fiji 7-0 in the semifinals, while New Caledonia defeated Tahiti 3-0.
New Zealand will participate in the World Cup for the third time in its history, having been eliminated in the first round in its previous two appearances, in Spain 1982 and South Africa 2010.
Despite its loss, New Caledonia has not lost hope of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in its history. Instead, it will enter the global play-off stage of the qualifiers, which will feature six teams.
The global play-offs will take place in March 2026 and will feature one team each from Africa, Asia, South America, and Oceania, in addition to two teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean.
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