Chris Wood pregnancy ‘well-planned’ around crucial World Cup games

Sunday, 23 March 2025

Football superstar is the subject of internet smash hit song about his striking exploits.

Chris Wood has admitted going to every conceivable length to ensure his availability for New Zealand’s crunch World Cup playoffs.

Wood bagged a hat-trick as the All Whites thrashed Fiji 7-0 in their Oceania playoffs semifinal in Wellington on Friday, earning a winner-takes-all final against New Caledonia in Auckland.

The victor will be one of 48 teams at the newly expanded 2026 FIFA men’s world cup being played in the USA, Canada and Mexico. It would be only New Zealand’s third appearance on the Beautiful Game’s biggest stage, and the first since 2010.

Whatever the outcome tomorrow, Wood will fly straight back to the UK, where his club side, Nottingham Forest are aiming to cement third place in the EPL - and secure a spot in next season’s Champions League.

Wood will have something else to look forward to - the birth of his first child, with lawyer wife Emma.

Chris Wood announced that he and his wife were expecting a baby after scoring a winner for Forest.

“[She is] due in four weeks, five weeks - so getting close now,” he told me when we sat down in Wellington last week ahead of the Fiji game.

Wood, 33, announced the baby girl in high-profile fashion. After scoring the winning goal for Forest in a Premier League game with Crystal Palace, he tucked the ball into his shirt and sucked this thumb.

Wood says the baby was “well-planned” to ensure his availability for the crucial qualifiers.

Asked about “getting the timing wrong” and missing the qualifiers, Wood replied: “That was very much talked about. And, yeah, we've planned it very well, let's put it that way.”

Chris Wood talks striking the best form of his career, playing in the Champions League and finishing his career at home in New Zealand.

All being well, Wood junior will be born in the year her dad plays in the EPL, the Champions League and the World Cup. Not a bad welcome to the world!

Watch or listen to Paddy’s full interview with Chris Wood here:

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