All Whites set to finish 2025 playing five teams ranked in world’s top 40 by FIFA

Tuesday, 22 July 2025

Darren Bazeley believes the All Whites will be better from the experience of playing Ivory Coast and Ukraine, with a year to go until the World Cup.

The All Whites are set to finish 2025 with six matches against five teams ranked inside the world’s top 40.

Australia and Norway are set to be joined by Poland, Colombia and Ecuador on New Zealand’s fixture list in October and November.

All five opponents are ranked more than 40 places above the world No 82 All Whites by FIFA.

The All Whites are set to finish the year with six consecutive matches against five teams ranked inside the world's top 40 by FIFA as NZ Football puts together a strong fixture list in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup.

Matches for the world’s 82nd-ranked team against Australia's world No 24 Socceroos for the Soccer Ashes in Canberra and Auckland on September 5 and 9 were announced in late June, while a clash with world No 33 Norway in Oslo on October 15 (NZ time) was confirmed back in February.

A match against world No 37 Poland is still to be officially announced, but will be played in that country on October 10, 11 or 12 (NZ time), while details of the two matches they will play in November have emerged in foreign media reports in recent weeks.

Stuff has previously reported that the All Whites were likely to face South American opposition in North America in the final international window of the year, but wouldn't be coming up against Brazil or Argentina, the continent's two most iconic teams.

The All Whites qualified for next year’s FIFA World Cup with a win over New Caledonia in the Oceania final in March.

A report from Argentine news website Infobae suggests the first will be against world No 14 Colombia in Miami on November 16 (NZ time) while a report in Argentine sports newspaper Olé suggests the second will be against world No 25 Ecuador in New Jersey on November 19 (NZ time).

It is understood from a local source that those are indeed the fixtures on the cards, though it was stressed they are still in the process of being finalised.

Colombia would be the All Whites’ highest-ranked opponents since they played then -world No 10 Peru in a home-and-away intercontinental playoff in November 2017 for a place at the following year’s World Cup.

Many of the current New Zealand playing squad, including regular starters Liberato Cacace, Joe Bell, Elijah Just, Sarpreet Singh and Callum McCowatt, will have painful memories of losing to Colombia in a penalty shootout

South American qualifying for next year’s World Cup is set to conclude in September. Ecuador have already booked their spot in North America next year, while Colombia are on track to do so, occupying the final automatic qualifying position and playing the two teams below them – Venezuela and Bolivia – in their final two matches.

Australia secured their place in the 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico in June, while Norway and Poland both began their qualifying campaigns in March and will play the All Whites when they have byes in October.

Norway have a perfect four-from-four record as they seek a first World Cup appearance in 28 years while Poland, who have played at the last two World Cups, are third in their group, behind Finland and the Netherlands.

Ecuador played at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after missing out in 2018 in Russia, while Colombia are hoping to return after missing out on taking part for the third event in a row three years ago. Australia have played at every World Cup since 2006.

A run of six matches in a row against such high-profile opponents is unprecedented in All Whites history and will mean they have played teams from every other confederation between September last year and November this year.

Against Australia, the team will be hoping to build on their 1-0 win in June over Ivory Coast, who fell from No 41 in the FIFA rankings to No 45 as a result. New Zealand meanwhile rose from 86th to 82nd – their highest position in a dozen years.

Darren Bazeley was full of praise for his two young centre backs after the All Whites claimed a memorable win over a higher ranked opponent.

That result – the All Whites’ most notable win in 15 years in terms of FIFA rankings – joined a 2-1 win over current world No 94 China in Wellington in March 2023 and a 4-0 win over world No 125 Malaysia last October as the side’s third win outside Oceania under coach Darren Bazeley.

In the second of two matches in Toronto, as part of the Canadian Shield tournament, the All Whites then lost 2-1 to Ukraine, who fell from 25th to 26th after losing to the hosts in their first match.

The draw for the World Cup is set to be made in early December and the All Whites will finalise their plans for friendlies next March and June once it is complete, with NZ Football hoping to be able to host a send-off fixture.

The All Whites squad for the two matches against Australia for the Soccer Ashes – a historic trophy that was rediscovered ahead of their last meeting, in London in October 2023 – will be named in mid-August.

All Whites – 2025 fixtures (NZ time)

September 5, 9.45pm: v Australia; GIO Stadium, Canberra

September 9, 7pm: v Australia; Go Media Stadium, Auckland

October 10, 11 or 12: v Poland in Poland (to be announced)

October 15, 5am: v Norway; Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo

November 16: v Colombia in Miami (to be confirmed)

November 19: v Ecuador in New Jersey (to be confirmed)