Soccer-New Zealand seal return to World Cup stage with win over New Caledonia

New Zealand's Kosta Barbarouses controls the ball during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Oceania qualifiers group final football match between New Zealand and New Caledonia at Eden Park Stadium in Auckland on March 24, 2025. (Photo by DAVID ROWLAND / AFP)

(Reuters) -New Zealand qualified for the 2026 World Cup on Monday with a 3-0 defeat of New Caledonia as veterans Michael Boxall and Kosta Barbarouses scored in a second-half burst to help the All Whites return to the finals for the first time since 2010.

Boxall scored his first goal for New Zealand in his 55th international with a header on the hour-mark before Barbarouses volleyed over the goalkeeper five minutes later to send a crowd of more than 25,000 into ecstasy at Eden Park.