Friday , March 29 2024

New Zealand squad named for 2022 FIFA World Cup – Oceania Qualifiers!

New Zealand Football has named a 30-person squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup – OFC preliminary competition, which kicks off later this month in Qatar.

Wellington Phoenix duo Ben Old and Ben Waine have been called up to the senior national side for the first time, while seasoned veterans Chris Wood, Kosta Barbarouses and Tommy Smith – who between them boast 150 caps for New Zealand – are also included in coach Danny Hay’s group.

“We knew this would be a challenging squad to put together but I’m confident in the team we’ve been able to assemble,” Hay said.

“I want to thank all the clubs for the flexibility they have shown when making their players available.

“Over the past year we have shown people what we are capable of as a team. Now is when we have to put everything we have been talking about into practice as we fight to return to the FIFA World Cup.”

A number of players will join the squad in Qatar at a later date than others, while some players will also leave during the tournament due to the squad size.

Michael Boxall (recovering from injury, on standby if required), Elliot Collier (injury), Sarpreet Singh (injury), Ryan Thomas (not currently available) and Michael Woud (not considered due to club commitments), were unavailable for the tournament.

The All Whites kick-off their campaign in Group B against Papua New Guinea, followed by further group games against Fiji and New Caledonia, with the top two sides progressing to the semi-finals against the top two Group A teams.

NEW ZEALAND

Goalkeepers
Matthew Gould (Altrincham FC, England), Stefan Marinovic (Hapoel Nof HaGalil, Israel)*,
Oli Sail (Wellington Phoenix)+, Jamie Searle (Swansea City, Wales)*

Defenders
Nikko Boxall (San Diego Loyal, USA), Liberato Cacace (FC Empoli, Italy)*, Francis de Vries (IFK Värnamo, Sweden), Dane Ingham (Newcastle Jets, Australia)+, Niko Kirwan (Calcio Padova, Italy), Tim Payne (Wellington Phoenix)*, Nando Pijnaker (Sligo Rovers, Ireland)*, Winston Reid (Unattached), Tommy Smith (Colchester United, England), Bill Tuiloma (Portland Timbers, USA)*, Dalton Wilkins (Kolding IF, Denmark)+

Midfielders
Joe Bell (Bröndby IF, Denmark)*, Matthew Garbett (Torino, Italy), Cam Howieson (Auckland City FC), Clayton Lewis (Wellington Phoenix)+, Ben Old (Wellington Phoenix)+, Marko Stamenic (HB Køge, Denmark)*, Kosta Barbarouses (47 caps) Sydney FC, Australia)+

Forwards
Joe Champness (Giresunspor, Turkey), Andre de Jong (AmaZulu FC, South Africa), Alex Greive (St Mirren, Scotland)*, Elijah Just (FC Helsingør, Denmark)*, Callum McCowatt (FC Helsingør, Denmark)*, Logan Rogerson (FC Haka, Finland), Ben Waine (Wellington Phoenix)+, Chris Wood (Newcastle United, England)*

Officials
Danny Hay (Head Coach)

* Joining from 19 March onwards
+ Leaving from 22 March onwards

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