00:06New Zealand are now the dominant football nation in the OFC.
00:10But it has a modest population and sees its finest athletes gravitate towards rugby,
00:16so its status is not assured indefinitely.
00:21On World Cup debut in 1982, the All-Whites lost all three of their matches.
00:27Then in 2010, they drew all three of their matches.
00:32Only Honduras and Egypt have played more games at the finals without registering a victory.
00:41The major challenge for the leading side in the OFC has been their route to the World Cup,
00:46requiring an inter-confederation playoff.
00:53New Zealand have been denied by Costa Rica, Peru and Mexico in recent years,
01:00with Australia's quadrennial travails against Uruguay and Argentina contributing to their decision to relocate to the AFC.
01:12With the expansion of the finals to 48 teams from 2026, the OFC received one direct entry for the first
01:21time in its history.
01:24In the near term, that means New Zealand will become fixtures on the game's greatest stage.
01:31They cruise to the 2026 World Cup after winning five matches in a row, scoring 29 goals and conceding only
01:40one.
01:42New Zealand's captain and star player is Chris Wood, who has made a name for himself as a consistent goalscorer
01:49in the English Premier League.
01:53Other all-whites to make their names in Europe's top competitions include Liberato Kakache in Serie A,
02:02Matthew Garbutt in the Eredivisie and Sarpreet Singh in the Bundesliga.
02:11New Caledonia, with a smattering of players in the lower divisions of the French pyramid, are beginning to compete with
02:18the all-whites.
02:20Spurred on by their local rivalry with fellow French overseas collectivity, Tahiti.
02:28Fiji have excelled on the global stage in rugby sevens and grown in stature on the football field,
02:35thanks to the exploits of star striker Roy Krishna, a two-time Indian Super League top scorer.
02:44While the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea are all competitive at the OFC Nations Cup.
02:55Below that, there is little positive to share about the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga or American Samoa.
03:05These sides with tiny populations have never been organised to prosper on the football field.
03:13American Samoa even hold the record for the heaviest defeat in international football history.
03:19When they were hammered 31-0 by Australia in 2001.
03:25A documentary of the match, and later a feature film, both titled Next Goal Wins, commemorate the lopsided clash.
03:35It is a fitting piece of history for the Oceania Football Confederation,
03:39and its collection of underdog island paradises.
03:43A long way from becoming established football nations.
03:48All the women will make us again, If you guess,
03:48for your people.
03:48A long way from being the first one,
03:48to theraj voters.
03:48Fum, your moderators.
03:48It's very much.
03:48Thank you so much.
03:48Thank you, movies.
03:48Thank you, so much.
03:48You're very much.
03:49Thanks.
Comments