OFC was represented by four nations for the qualifying tournament for the 1982 FIFA World Cup™ in Spain, following Australia’s decision to rejoin from the AFC in 1978. They were joined by Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, and first-time participants Fiji.
The qualifying process was combined with AFC, and consisted of two stages. The first stage involved four groups, with the winner of each progressing to a final round, where each nation would play each other in a home-and-away format.
The winner of the final round would progress to Spain, whilst the second and third placed nations would square off in a play-off to decide the second spot at the FIFA World Cup™. All four OFC representatives were drawn alongside each other for the first round, joined by Indonesia in a five-team group.
The qualifying process began with a thrilling 3-3 draw between rivals Australia and New Zealand at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, before the Kiwis took early charge of the group with away victories in Fiji and Indonesia. It stayed that way after a 2-0 win for New Zealand away at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the reverse fixture with Australia, wth goals from Steve Woddin and Grant Turner. Australia had catching up to do, but they slipped again with a 0-1 defeat away in Indonesia in their penultimate game, and New Zealand remained unbeaten with six wins and two draws to finish top of the pool and advance to the final round.
Elsewhere, Fiji were on the end of some big double-digit defeats by both of the top two sides, but made history with their first FIFA World Cup™ qualifying victory in their maiden campaign, beating Chinese Taipei 2-1 at home with two goals from Ratu Jone. It wasn’t enough for Fiji to avoid last place in the group though, as Chinese Taipei edged them to fourth on goal difference.
New Zealand joined Kuwait, China, and Saudi Arabia in the final stage of the qualifying process, and they got off to a positive start with a 0-0 draw away in Beijing. A first half goal from Ricki Herbert was enough to beat China 1-0 in the reverse fixture in Auckland, as the Kiwis remained unbeaten through their first two fixtures. Their first defeat of the qualifying campaign came at home to Kuwait though, falling 1-2, before slipping to a 2-2 draw at home to Saudi Arabia.
New Zealand responded to hold Kuwait to a 2-2 draw away from home in the reverse fixture, and secured a play-off place by seeing off Saudi Arabia 5-0 in their final group match with braces from both Wynton Rufer and Brian Turner.
Kuwait finished two points above the Kiwis to secure their spot in Spain, leaving New Zealand with a play-off against China in Singapore to decide the second spot at the tournament. History was made as New Zealand became the first OFC member to qualify for a FIFA World Cup™, when they held on for a 2-1 victory over China. Steve Wooddin and Wynton Rufer scored the first half goals for the Kiwis in Singapore, before defending stoutly for the rest of the game to book their place in Spain. Steve Sumner and Brian Turner finished as New Zealand’s joint top-scorers across the qualifying campaign, with nine goals each.
The draw for the showpiece event wasn’t kind on New Zealand, who were paired alongside powerhouses Brazil and USSR, as well as a Scotland side competing in their fifth FIFA World Cup™. They found themselves 0-3 down to Scotland just after the half hour mark in their opening game in Malaga, but restored some respect with the way they fought back in the second period. Steve Sumner had the honour of scoring New Zealand’s first goal at a FIFA World Cup™, before Steve Wooddin found the back of the net to reduce the deficit to 2-3, before conceding two late goals in an eventual 2-5 defeat.
They failed to score again through their remaining two games of the tournament, suffering a 0-3 defeat to the USSR in Malaga, and conceding two in either half in a 0-4 loss to Brazil in Sevilla. Nevertheless, the All Whites had made history by earning the chance to represent the OFC on the world stage, and their run to the tournament will forever be fondly remembered in this corner of the world.
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