At 01:00 Beijing time on March 31, the Oceania World Preliminary Championship final, Tuyloma scored twice, Chris Wood, Joe Bell and Gabert scored 1 goal each, and New Zealand won 5-0 against solo islands to qualify for a play-off.
New Zealand's play-off opponent will be 4th in the World Preliminary Round in Central and North America, and it seems that the current situation will most likely be Costa Rica.
In the latest edition of the FIFA rankings, New Zealand ranks 111th in the world, which is still a big gap from the national football team, but they are already the highest ranked team in Oceania. Oceania has a total of 10 member states, the highest ranking is New Zealand, and the lowest ranking is Tonga, which has a population of only 100,000, ranking 199th in the world.
There is no direct World Cup place in the Oceania region, only one play-off place. Now, New Zealand has qualified for this play-off.
There is a superstar in the New Zealand squad, and he plays for Newcastle. In the winter transfer window, Newcastle spent €27 million to bring in the New Zealand high striker from Burnley, allowing him to overtake Irving as the most expensive striker in team history.
In the World Preliminary Round, Chris Wood scored 5 goals in 4 appearances and won the top scorer of the World Preliminary Round without any suspense. Throughout the World Preliminary Round, New Zealand passed the game as easily as chopping melons and chopping vegetables, scoring 12 goals in the group stage and conceding only 1 goal, and winning all 3 games to qualify as the top of the group.
In the two group games in which Chris Wood appeared, New Zealand swept Fiji 4-0 and New Caledonia 7-1, Chris Wood scored 4 goals in 2 games and New Zealand scored 11 goals in 2 games.
Facing Tahiti in the semi-finals, New Zealand advanced 1-0. By the final, New Zealand had another 5-0 win. Throughout the World Preliminary Round, New Zealand won all five matches, playing an aggregate score of 18-1.
New Zealand has played in two World Cups, the last time it was in 2010. Now they are only one step away from returning to the World Cup after 12 years.