Now just two weeks away from the start of their FIFA World Cup 2026™ campaign against Iran in Los Angeles on June 15, New Zealand’s 26-man squad has assembled at their training base in Florida and are set to ramp-up preparations with two friendly internationals in the space of four days.
New Zealand face Haiti first in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday June 3rd NZT, before taking on global heavyweights England in Tampa on Sunday June 7th NZT.
“We’ve acclimatised to the hot weather well, and have had a good three days of training together,” head coach Darren Bazeley told media on the eve of the All Whites first warm-up fixture against Haiti.
New Zealand have never met Haiti before, and have won only one of their previous four international fixtures against Carribean opposition – a 2-1 victory over Curacao in a friendly in Manama in 2021.
They have played England twice before though, both at home in New Zealand in 1995, losing by tight margins in either fixture.
There are some injury concerns around the New Zealand midfield leading into both warm-up games and the start of their World Cup campaign – with both Ryan Thomas and Joe Bell managing knocks.
‘Ryan Thomas and Joe Bell won’t take part against Haiti, but apart from that, everyone is fully fit,” said Bazeley. “We’ve got some ideas of how many minutes we want to give to each player. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to get some gametime.”
“We want to do well and win the game [against Haiti], but when we look ahead, everything is building up to our first World Cup game on June 15 against Iran.”
New Zealand’s World Cup Warm-Up Schedule:
New Zealand v Haiti | Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA | Tuesday June 2, 8pm (Wednesday June 3, 12pm NZT)
New Zealand v England | Raymond James Sadium, Tampa, Florida, USA | Saturday June 6, 4pm (Sunday June 7, 8am NZT)
New Zealand’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ Schedule:
Iran vs New Zealand | Los Angeles Stadium, USA | Monday June 15, 6pm local time (June 16, 1pm NZT)
New Zealand vs Egypt | BC Place Vancouver, Canada |Sunday June 21, 6pm (Monday June 22, 1pm NZT)
New Zealand vs Belgium | BC Place Vancouver, Canada | Friday June 26, 8pm (Saturday June 27, 3pm NZ time)