In the early morning of March 31, Beijing time, the World Cup Oceania Division decided 0.5 promotion places. In the regional finals, New Zealand, the most comprehensive, defeated the Solomon Islands 5-0 to get the chance to play in the play-offs. In this Oceania Qualifier, New Zealand can be described as a ride, winning all 5 games and scoring 18 goals, which can be described as crushing other teams to advance.
Since Australia moved to the AFC, New Zealand has become an absolute brother of Oceania football. In several competitions, New Zealand has basically been able to pass the test smoothly. This qualifier, New Zealand is in a group with Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Caledonia. Although New Zealand is ranked 111th in the world, it already exists in Oceania.
In the group stage of this qualifier, in addition to the first round of 1-0 small wins encountered certain difficulties, the remaining two games were scored 4 goals and 7 goals respectively, the victory or defeat is no suspense. In the semi-finals, New Zealand met Tahiti, who had a magical 0-point advance in the group stage. Perhaps due to the light enemy, New Zealand also encountered some obstacles in the semi-finals, but in the end there was a thrilling 1-0 victory to advance.
In the final, I thought the Solomon Islands would cause some trouble for New Zealand, but that was not the case. In the first half of the game, New Zealand had a two-goal advantage, including Premier League striker Chris Wood scoring smoothly to reach the top of the Oceania division's top scorer, and the Newcastle new signing scored a total of 5 goals.
In the second half, 3 different players in New Zealand scored 3 goals and swept the Solomon Islands 5-0 on aggregate, refusing the upset. After 5 qualifiers, New Zealand showed the strength of the crushing level, and they deserved 0.5 promotion places.
Of course, for New Zealand, even if they sweep the regional qualifiers, there is no guarantee that they will be able to participate in the Qatar World Cup at the end of the year. With only 0.5 places in the Oceania division, they also have to compete with North American teams in the play-offs, most likely Costa Rica.
Since there is only one theoretical opponent left, in terms of probability, New Zealand has a 50% chance of qualifying. In the next World Cup, if New Zealand can continue to be strong, they can actually get rid of the trouble of playing in the play-offs. In 2026, the Oceania division will also receive a direct entry list, which can be said to be New Zealand's bag.
As New Zealand qualified for the play-offs, a 34-year record for the World Cup came to an abrupt end. For the first time since the expansion of the World Cup in 1998, this World Cup has not qualified for the new team. Of course, with the expansion of the next World Cup, we will most likely see more new troops.