(Reuters) - Chris Wood scored his 35th international goal as New Zealand got their quest for a spot at the 2026 World Cup off to a solid start with a 3-0 victory over Tahiti in Group B of the second round of Oceania qualifying on Friday.
The All Whites have been the dominant force in Oceania football since Australia jumped ship to the Asian confederation in 2006 but have fallen short in intercontinental playoffs in their last three attempts to qualify for the World Cup.
The expanded 2026 tournament, however, means direct passage for the best team from Oceania and the New Zealanders know that winning five qualifying matches will secure them a third trip to the finals after 1982 and 2010.
A journey New Zealand hope will take them to packed World Cup stadiums in the United States, Canada and Mexico in two years' time began on Friday in front of a smattering of spectators, many seated on grass banks, in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Winger Eli Just gave the All Whites the perfect start when he curled the ball into the net from the edge of the box after just 90 seconds at Freshwater Stadium.
For the rest of the first half, Tahiti did a good job of getting men behind the ball and frustrating the New Zealanders, who resorted to firing speculative passes towards the head of their skipper Wood.
The frustration continued for New Zealand until the 67th minute, when substitute fullback Sam Sutton found his target with a deep corner from the right and Wood steered the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the six-yard box.
Wood departed soon afterwards and Ben Waine added the third goal a minute from fulltime, pouncing on teammate Matt Garbett's miskick and finishing well from close range.
"We got the job done we needed. We won the game. We got the three points," said New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley.
"Coming away from home into these environments is challenging. So it was pretty safely navigated."
New Zealand will next host Vanuatu in Hamilton on Nov. 15 before their final group match against Samoa in the same city three days later.
The top two teams from each of the two groups will progress to the third stage of qualifying, a four-team knockout tournament in New Zealand next March which will decide which nation bags the automatic World Cup spot.
In the opening Group A matches played in Suva on Thursday, Fiji edged Solomon Islands 1-0 thanks to a clinical strike from Roy Krishna and New Caledonia beat Papua New Guinea 3-1.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
