However, Latham's speculation did not prove true, as only one MLS player made the New Zealand squad for the World Cup.
A common next step in these players' career paths is a stint in Major League Soccer ESPN soccernet journalist Brent Latham speculated in a March 2010 story that New Zealand's 2010 FIFA World Cup squad could have more MLS players than the U.S. The trend that Clark started has continued to the present more than two dozen New Zealanders are now playing for NCAA Division I men's programs in the U.S.
Clark began recruiting in New Zealand, and former New Zealand national players Ryan Nelsen and Simon Elliott played for him at Stanford. after his 1994–96 stint as New Zealand head coach to take the head coaching job at Stanford University (he now holds the same position at Notre Dame). This influence began when former Scotland international Bobby Clark returned to the U.S. Since the 1990s, United States college soccer has played a significant role in the development of New Zealand players.
However, over the following decades the composition of the national squad changed and "the face of football became increasingly Kiwi". This included the captain Steve Sumner and striker Steve Wooddin, who had both played club football in England before immigrating. Of the 22-man squad, 11 members were born in the United Kingdom, including seven in England alone. The All Whites qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, losing all three of its games by multiple goals. 1980s success Īccording to Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, up until the 1980s "the high visibility of British migrants in the All Whites, as well as in the game's administration and domestic club scene, attracted negative comments". New Zealand would become one of the founder members of the Oceania Football Confederation in 1966 which was founded between Charlie Dempsey and his Australian colleague Jim Bayutti in founding the federation. In 1927, Canada became the second team to play in New Zealand as they played in four official matches with a win and a draw. The results were two 3–1 wins to New Zealand and a 1–1 draw in Wellington.
New Zealand playing against Israel during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiersĪ New Zealand national team did not play again until 1922, when New Zealand played three official full internationals against Australia, played at Carisbrook in Dunedin, Athletic Park in Wellington, and Auckland Domain. However, there are also New Zealand footballers who now play for clubs in European league such as Italy, Denmark, and Turkey.
Because most New Zealand football clubs are semi-professional rather than fully professional, most professional New Zealand footballers play for clubs in English-speaking countries such as England, the United States and Australia. The team represented New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup tournaments in 19, and the FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments in 1999, 2003, 20. The team's official nickname is the All Whites ( Māori: Ōmā). The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), which is currently a member of FIFA and Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The New Zealand national football team ( Māori: Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions.