00:03New Zealand are now the dominant football nation in the OFC.
00:07But it has a modest population and sees its finest athletes gravitate towards rugby.
00:13So its status is not assured indefinitely.
00:18On World Cup debut in 1982, the All Whites lost all three of their matches.
00:24Then in 2010, they drew all three of their matches.
00:28Only Honduras and Egypt have played more games at the finals without registering a victory.
00:37The major challenge for the leading side in the OFC has been their route to the World Cup, requiring an
00:44inter-confederation playoff.
00:50New Zealand have been denied by Costa Rica, Peru and Mexico in recent years.
00:56With Australia's quadrennial travails against Uruguay and Argentina contributing to their decision to relocate to the AFC.
01:09With the expansion of the finals to 48 teams from 2026, the OFC received one direct entry for the first
01:18time in its history.
01:21In the near term, that means New Zealand will become fixtures on the game's greatest stage.
01:28They cruise to the 2026 World Cup after winning five matches in a row, scoring 29 goals and conceding only
01:37one.
01:39New Zealand's captain and star player is Chris Wood, who has made a name for himself as a consistent goalscorer
01:46in the English Premier League.
01:51Other all-whites to make their names in Europe's top competitions include Liberato Kakache in Serie A,
01:58Matthew Garbet in the Eredivisie, and Sarpreet Singh in the Bundesliga.
02:07New Caledonia, with a smattering of players in the lower divisions of the French pyramid, are beginning to compete with
02:15the all-whites.
02:17Spurred on by their local rivalry with fellow French overseas collectivity, Tahiti.
02:26Fiji have excelled on the global stage in rugby sevens, and grown in stature on the football field,
02:32thanks to the exploits of star striker Roy Krishna, a two-time Indian Super League top scorer.
02:41While the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea are all competitive at the OFC Nations Cup.
02:53Below that, there is little positive to share about the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga or American Samoa.
03:02These sides with tiny populations have never been organised to prosper on the football field.
03:10American Samoa even hold the record for the heaviest defeat in international football history,
03:16when they were hammered 31-0 by Australia in 2001.
03:22A documentary of the match, and later a feature film, both titled Next Goal Wins, commemorate the lopsided clash.
03:32It is a fitting piece of history for the Oceania Football Confederation and its collection of underdog island paradises,
03:40a long way from becoming established football nations.
03:45And finally, let's let the show up.
03:45And please wait a few months.
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