Australia’s decision to join the Asian Football Confederation after their run to the knockout stages of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, left ten nations to compete for a place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa. The OFC qualifying tournament consisted of two stages, with the first doubling as the 2007 South Pacific Games, and the second doubling as the 2008 OFC Men’s Nations Cup.
As the highest ranked nation according to FIFA rankings, New Zealand were given direct entry to the second round. The top-three sides from the South Pacific Games would join them.
The 2007 South Pacific Games were hosted by Samoa, with all matches played at Toleafoa J.S. Blatter Complex in Apia. Fiji opened their campaign in Group A with a massive 16-0 victory over Tuvalu, helped by a double hat-trick from Osea Vakatalesu, and never looked back. They were joined by New Caledonia as the two unbeaten sides in the group, drawing the match between each other 1-1 and progressing through to the semi-finals of the competition.
The Solomon Islands were the team to beat in Group B, conceding just once on their way to four wins from four and top spot. Vanuatu joined them in the semi-finals after picking up a 4-0 win over hosts Samoa on the opening day. A dramatic injury-time goal from Yohann Mercier pushed New Caledonia to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Solomon Islands in the first semi-final, and Fiji joined them in the final after cruising past Vanuatu 3-0 in the other.
One lone goal from Jose Hmae carried New Caledonia to a 1-0 victory over Fiji to win the tournament, whilst Vanuatu kept their World Cup qualifying hopes alive, and finished inside the top three after defeating the Solomon Islands 2-0 in the bronze medal match.
New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu joined New Zealand in the second round of qualifying, as part of the 2008 OFC Men’s Nations Cup.
All nations played each other in a home and away round-robin phase, with the winner progressing to an intercontinental play-off against an AFC nation. With two victories on the road to start their campaign in Fiji and Vanuatu, New Zealand took charge of the group early on. They were 2-0 victors in Lautoka, and 2-1 winners in Port Vila, before making it three wins from three with a commanding 4-1 success at home to Vanuatu in Wellington.
Nobody was quite able to piece together the consistency to challenge New Zealand, and they sealed top spot and the OFC Men’s Nations Cup title with a fourth straight victory away in New Caledonia. Two goals from Shane Smeltz helped them to a 3-1 success in Noumea, before he scored another brace in a 3-0 victory at home to the same opposition in Auckland. Fiji pulled off a 2-0 victory over New Zealand on the final matchday in Lautoka, but it was too little too late as the All Whites advanced to the intercontinental play-off for the FIFA World Cup™.
New Caledonia finished seven points behind in second, whilst Shane Smeltz was the tournament’s top scorer with eight goals. Bahrain were the team that separated New Zealand from a second appearance at a FIFA World Cup™, and their first in 28 years.
Playing the first leg away in Riffa, the All Whites did well to shut up shop and hold out for a 0-0 draw, giving them belief heading to Wellington. In front of a capacity crowd in the nation’s capital, New Zealand then made history, scoring the only goal of the tie with a header from Rory Fallon just before half-time. Mark Paston saved a second half penalty to seal the deal for the All Whites, and they booked their spot in South Africa with a 1-0 aggregate victory.
Despite entering as the lowest ranked nation, New Zealand punched above their weight at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, famously finishing as the tournament’s only unbeaten side, despite suffering elimination at the group stage.
They opened their campaign with a dramatic late header from Winston Reid in Rustenburg, holding Slovakia to a 1-1 draw for their first point in World Cup history. That feat was bettered five days later though, when New Zealand caught the attention of the world by holding defending champions Italy to a 1-1 draw in Nelspruit. Shane Smeltz opened the scoring inside seven minutes to give the All Whites a shock lead, and they even had the chance to win it when Chris Wood missed a chance late on.
New Zealand failed to pick up the win needed to progress to the knockout stages in their final group game though, drawing 0-0 with Paraguay in Polokwane, to fall agonisingly short with three draws from their three matches.
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