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This article summarises the results and overall performances of New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup.

New Zealand's opening matches were during the 1970 AFC/OFC qualifiers losing away to Israel 4-0 and 2-0, and eliminated. For the 1974 AFC/OFC qualification they drew three matches and finished bottom of the group behind Australia, Iraq and Indonesia. With an opening 6-0 win against Taiwan, they finished behind Australia in the 1978 AFC/OFC qualification matches. In the 1982 AFC/OFC qualification they topped the first round group, ahead of Australia, then finished behind Kuiwait in the final round, before defeating China 2-1 to qualify for the 1982 World Cup final tournament. In the group stage New Zealand lost their opening match 5-2 to Scotland, then lost to the Soviet Union 3-0 and Brazil 4-0, exiting the tournament.

For both the 1986 and 1990 OFC qualifying groups they finished third - behind Australia and Israel.^[1] With an expanded OFC competition from 1994 onwards, New Zealand topped their group ahead of Fiji but in the second round they were defeated by Australia 4-0 in aggregate. In the 1998 qualification edition they finished ahead of Fiji, and then lost 5-0 in aggregate to Australia. With four out of four wins in the group stage for the 2002 OFC qualifiers, Australia defeated New Zealand 6-0 in aggregate in the second round. With losses to Australia and Vanuatu, New Zealand did not advance from the first round in the 2006 qualification edition.

New Zealand won their second round group in the 2010 OFC qualifiers and then went on to defeat Bahrain 1-0 in aggregate to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals. In the group stage, New Zealand opened against Slovakia with 1-1, then world cup holders Italy 1-1 followed by 0-0 with Paraguay. Finishing third in the group, they failed to advance. In the 2014 qualifiers, they topped their third round group, despite an earlier loss to New Caledonia, and then lost in the playoff 9-3 in aggregate to Mexico. They topped their group in the 2018 qualifiers, then defeated the Solomon Islands, before losing to Peru in the final play-off spot. In the 2022 qualifiers, five wins and a final 5-0 win against the Solomon Islands, followed by a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica resulted in non-qualification.

FIFA World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Not member of FIFA
1934
1938
1950	Did not enter
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970	Did not qualify
1974
1978
1982	Group stage	23rd	3	0	0	3	2	12
1986	Did not qualify
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010	Group stage	22nd	3	0	3	0	2	2
2014	Did not qualify
2018
2022
2026	To be determined
2030
2034
Total	Group stage	2/26	6	0	3	3	4	14

By match

Year	Round	Opponent	Score	Result	Venue	New Zealand scorers
1982	Group stage	Scotland	2–5	L	Málaga	S. Sumner, S. Wooddin
		Soviet Union	0–3	L	Málaga	—
		Brazil	0–4	L	Seville	—
2010	Group stage	Slovakia	1–1	D	Rustenburg	W. Reid
		Italy	1–1	D	Nelspruit	Smeltz
		Paraguay	0–0	D	Polokwane	—

Head-to-head record

Opponent	Pld	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Brazil	1	0	1	0	4	−4
Italy	1	1	0	1	1	+0
Paraguay	1	1	0	0	0	+0
Scotland	1	0	1	2	5	−3
Slovakia	1	1	0	1	1	+0
Soviet Union	1	0	1	0	3	−3
Total	6	3	3	4	14	−10

1982 FIFA World Cup

Group 6

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	3	3	0	0	10	2	+8	6	Advance to second round
2	Soviet Union	3	1	1	1	6	4	+2	3	Advance to second round
3	Scotland	3	1	1	1	8	8	0	3
4	New Zealand	3	0	0	3	2	12	−10	0

Source: FIFA

15 June 1982

21:00 CEST

Scotland	5–2	New Zealand
Dalglish 18' Wark 29', 32' Robertson 73' Archibald 79'	Report	Sumner 54' Wooddin 64'

La Rosaleda Stadium, Málaga

Attendance: 36,000

Referee: David Socha (United States)

Scotland

New Zealand


GK	1	Alan Rough
DF	2	Danny McGrain (c)
DF	5	Alan Hansen
DF	17	Allan Evans
DF	3	Frank Gray
MF	7	Gordon Strachan	83'
MF	4	Graeme Souness
MF	10	John Wark
FW	9	Alan Brazil	53'
FW	8	Kenny Dalglish
FW	11	John Robertson
Substitutes:
DF	6	Willie Miller
GK	12	George Wood
DF	14	David Narey	83'
FW	15	Joe Jordan
FW	18	Steve Archibald	53'
Manager:
Jock Stein


GK	22	Frank van Hattum
DF	15	John Hill
DF	6	Bobby Almond	66'
DF	14	Adrian Elrick
DF	11	Sam Malcolmson	77'
MF	12	Keith Mackay
MF	17	Allan Boath
MF	13	Kenny Cresswell
MF	10	Steve Sumner (c)
FW	7	Wynton Rufer
FW	9	Steve Wooddin
Substitutes:
GK	1	Richard Wilson
DF	2	Glenn Dods
DF	3	Ricki Herbert	66'
MF	4	Brian Turner
MF	8	Duncan Cole	77'
Manager:
John Adshead

Assistant referees:
Thomson Chan (Hong Kong)
Yousef Alghoul (Libya)

19 June 1982

21:00 CEST

Soviet Union	3–0	New Zealand
Gavrilov 24' Blokhin 48' Baltacha 68'	Report

La Rosaleda Stadium, Málaga

Attendance: 19,000

Referee: Yousef Alghoul (Libya)

Soviet Union

New Zealand


GK	1	Rinat Dasayev
DF	6	Anatoliy Demyanenko
DF	3	Aleksandre Chivadze (c)
DF	5	Sergei Baltacha
DF	2	Tengiz Sulakvelidze
MF	8	Volodymyr Bezsonov
MF	13	Vitaly Daraselia	46'
MF	12	Andriy Bal
MF	9	Yuri Gavrilov	79'
FW	7	Ramaz Shengelia
FW	11	Oleh Blokhin
Substitutes:
MF	10	Khoren Oganesian	46'
DF	14	Sergei Borovsky
FW	15	Sergey Andreyev
DF	16	Sergey Rodionov	79'
GK	22	Vyacheslav Chanov
Manager:
Konstantin Beskov


GK	22	Frank van Hattum
DF	2	Glenn Dods
DF	17	Allan Boath
DF	3	Ricki Herbert
DF	14	Adrian Elrick
MF	12	Keith Mackay
MF	10	Steve Sumner (c)
MF	8	Duncan Cole
MF	13	Kenny Cresswell
FW	7	Wynton Rufer
FW	9	Steve Wooddin
Substitutes:
GK	1	Richard Wilson
MF	4	Brian Turner
DF	11	Sam Malcolmson
DF	15	John Hill
MF	19	Billy McClure
Manager:
John Adshead

Assistant referees:
Emilio Soriano Aladrén (Spain)
Clive White (England)

23 June 1982

21:00 CEST

Brazil	4–0	New Zealand
Zico 28', 31' Falcão 64' Serginho 70'	Report

Estadio Benito Villamarín, Seville

Attendance: 43,000

Referee: Damir Matovinović (Yugoslavia)

Brazil

New Zealand


GK	1	Waldir Peres
DF	2	Leandro
DF	3	Oscar	75'
DF	4	Luizinho
DF	6	Júnior
MF	15	Falcão
MF	8	Sócrates (c)
MF	5	Toninho Cerezo
MF	10	Zico
FW	9	Serginho	75'
FW	11	Éder
Substitutes:
FW	7	Paulo Isidoro	75'
GK	12	Paulo Sérgio
DF	13	Edevaldo
DF	16	Edinho	75'
MF	19	Renato
Manager:
Telê Santana


GK	22	Frank van Hattum
DF	2	Glenn Dods
DF	3	Ricki Herbert
DF	6	Bobby Almond
DF	14	Adrian Elrick
MF	17	Allan Boath
MF	12	Keith Mackay
MF	13	Kenny Cresswell	78'
MF	10	Steve Sumner (c)
FW	9	Steve Wooddin
FW	7	Wynton Rufer	78'
Substitutes:
GK	1	Richard Wilson
MF	4	Brian Turner	78'
MF	8	Duncan Cole	78'
DF	15	John Hill
DF	16	Glen Adam
Manager:
John Adshead

Assistant referees:
Abraham Klein (Israel)
Charles Corver (Netherlands)

2010 FIFA World Cup

Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Paraguay	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Slovakia	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1	4	Advance to knockout stage
3	New Zealand	3	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
4	Italy	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria

15 June 2010

13:30

New Zealand	1–1	Slovakia
Reid 90+3'	Report	Vittek 50'

Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg

Attendance: 23,871

Referee: Jerome Damon (South Africa)^{[citation needed]}

New Zealand^[2]

Slovakia^[2]


GK	1	Mark Paston
RB	4	Winston Reid	90+3'
CB	6	Ryan Nelsen (c)
CB	5	Ivan Vicelich		78'
LB	19	Tommy Smith
RM	11	Leo Bertos
CM	7	Simon Elliott
LM	3	Tony Lochhead	42'
RW	14	Rory Fallon
LW	10	Chris Killen		72'
CF	9	Shane Smeltz
Substitutions:
FW	20	Chris Wood		72'
MF	21	Jeremy Christie		78'
Manager:
Ricki Herbert


GK	1	Ján Mucha
RB	5	Radoslav Zabavník
CB	16	Ján Ďurica
CB	3	Martin Škrtel
LB	4	Marek Čech
DM	6	Zdeno Štrba	55'
RM	7	Vladimír Weiss		90+1'
CM	9	Stanislav Šesták		81'
LM	17	Marek Hamšík (c)
CF	11	Róbert Vittek		84'
CF	18	Erik Jendrišek
Substitutions:
FW	13	Filip Hološko		81'
MF	15	Miroslav Stoch		84'
MF	19	Juraj Kucka		90+1'
Manager:
Vladimír Weiss

Man of the Match:
Róbert Vittek (Slovakia)

Assistant referees:
Celestin Ntagungira (Rwanda)^{[citation needed]}
Enock Molefe (South Africa)^{[citation needed]}
Fourth official:
Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)^{[citation needed]}
Fifth official:
Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan)^{[citation needed]}

20 June 2010

16:00

Italy	1–1	New Zealand
Iaquinta 29' (pen.)	Report	Smeltz 7'

Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit

Attendance: 38,229

Referee: Carlos Batres (Guatemala)^{[citation needed]}

Italy^[3]

New Zealand^[3]


GK	12	Federico Marchetti
RB	19	Gianluca Zambrotta
CB	5	Fabio Cannavaro (c)
CB	4	Giorgio Chiellini
LB	3	Domenico Criscito
RM	7	Simone Pepe	46'
CM	6	Daniele De Rossi
CM	22	Riccardo Montolivo
LM	15	Claudio Marchisio	61'
SS	9	Vincenzo Iaquinta
CF	11	Alberto Gilardino	46'
Substitutions:
MF	16	Mauro Camoranesi	46'
FW	10	Antonio Di Natale	46'
FW	20	Giampaolo Pazzini	61'
Manager:
Marcello Lippi


GK	1	Mark Paston
RB	4	Winston Reid
CB	6	Ryan Nelsen (c)	87'
CB	5	Ivan Vicelich		81'
LB	19	Tommy Smith	28'
RM	11	Leo Bertos
CM	7	Simon Elliott
LM	3	Tony Lochhead
RW	14	Rory Fallon	14'	63'
LW	10	Chris Killen		90+3'
CF	9	Shane Smeltz
Substitutions:
FW	20	Chris Wood		63'
MF	21	Jeremy Christie		81'
MF	13	Andrew Barron		90+3'
Manager:
Ricki Herbert

Man of the Match:
Daniele De Rossi (Italy)

Assistant referees:
Leonel Leal (Costa Rica)^{[citation needed]}
Carlos Pastrana (Honduras)^{[citation needed]}
Fourth official:
Koman Coulibaly (Mali)^{[citation needed]}
Fifth official:
Redouane Achik (Morocco)^{[citation needed]}

24 June 2010

16:00

Paraguay	0–0	New Zealand
	Report

Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane

Attendance: 34,850

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)^{[citation needed]}

Paraguay^[4]

New Zealand^[4]


GK	1	Justo Villar
RB	4	Denis Caniza (c)
CB	5	Julio Cáceres
CB	14	Paulo da Silva
LB	3	Claudio Morel
DM	15	Víctor Cáceres	10'
RM	16	Cristian Riveros
LM	13	Enrique Vera
AM	9	Roque Santa Cruz	41'
AM	18	Nelson Valdez		67'
CF	7	Óscar Cardozo		66'
Substitutions:
FW	19	Lucas Barrios		66'
FW	10	Édgar Benítez		67'
Manager:
Gerardo Martino


GK	1	Mark Paston
RB	4	Winston Reid
CB	6	Ryan Nelsen (c)	56'
LB	19	Tommy Smith
CM	7	Simon Elliott
CM	5	Ivan Vicelich
RM	11	Leo Bertos
LM	3	Tony Lochhead
AM	10	Chris Killen		79'
AM	9	Shane Smeltz
CF	14	Rory Fallon		69'
Substitutions:
FW	20	Chris Wood		69'
MF	22	Jeremy Brockie		79'
Manager:
Ricki Herbert

Man of the Match:
Roque Santa Cruz (Paraguay)

Assistant referees:
Toru Sagara (Japan)^{[citation needed]}
Jeong Hae-sang (South Korea)^{[citation needed]}
Fourth official:
Koman Coulibaly (Mali)^{[citation needed]}
Fifth official:
Inácio Manuel Cândido (Angola)^{[citation needed]}

Statistics

Goalscorers

Player	Goals	1982	2010
Winston Reid	1		1
Shane Smeltz	1		1
Steve Sumner	1	1
Steve Wooddin	1	1
Total	4	2	2

Discipline

Date	Player	Opposition	World Cup
15 June 2010	Tony Lochhead	Slovakia	2010
15 June 2010	Winston Reid	Slovakia	2010
20 June 2010	Rory Fallon	Italy	2010
20 June 2010	Tommy Smith	Italy	2010
20 June 2010	Ryan Nelsen	Italy	2010
24 June 2010	Ryan Nelsen	Paraguay	2010

References

^ Israel and Chinese Taipei both competed with OFC for political reasons in 1986 and 1990.
^ ^a ^b "Tactical Line-up – Group F – New Zealand-Slovakia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 15 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Tactical Line-up – Group F – Italy-New Zealand" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 20 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Tactical Line-up – Group F – Paraguay-New Zealand" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2010.