New Zealand have defeated South American opposition for the first time, beating Chile 4-1 in their final home warm-up game as part of the FIFA Series™ before FIFA World Cup 2026™.
Following a frustrating 2-0 defeat to Finland three days earlier, the All Whites bounced back with one of their best performances in recent times at Eden Park in Auckland – finally defeating a South American nation at their 20th attempt.
A second yellow card for Chilean attacking midfielder Dario Osorio in the 27th minute provided a huge for the hosts, reducing Chile to 10 men for just over an hour of the contest.
New Zealand took advantage, scoring twice before the break to propel themselves into an unassailable lead. Both came from set-pieces, Kosta Barbarouses opening the scoring in the 31st minute with his tenth senior international goal, and Elijah Just adding the second in the 44th minute following a lengthy VAR check.
The All Whites kept their foot on the throttle in the second half, Jesse Randall scoring his first goal against a nation outside of Oceania in the 60th minute, and Ben Waine rounding out the scoring off the bench with New Zealand’s fourth in the 71st.
Chile added a late consolation via Gonzalo Tapia to give their passionate supporters something to cheer, but it proved in vain as New Zealand recorded a famous win in front of their home fans before the FIFA World Cup™ in June.
Monday night’s win means New Zealand have finished second in their home FIFA Series™ event behind Finland. All eyes are now firmly fixed on the global finals, with the All Whites confirmed to play England in a final warm-up game on June 7, before opening their FIFA World Cup 2026™ campaign against Iran at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on June 15.
New Zealand: 4 (Kosta BARBAROUSES 31′, Elijah JUST 44′, Jesse RANDALL 60′, Ben WAINE 71′)
Chile: 1 (Gonzalo TAPIA 83′)
HT: 2-0
Meanwhile, the Solomon Islands’ first international match against CONCACAF opposition has ended in a 4-2 defeat to St Kitts & Nevis in their final FIFA Series™ match at the Galora Bung Kano Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Having fallen to their largest defeat of the century just three days earlier against Bulgaria, the Solomons rallied to deliver a much improved performance in just their second match under new head coach Ben Cahn.
Omari Sterling-James gave the Carribbean nation the lead on the half-hour mark, but the Solomon Islands briefly levelled in the 37th minute when Don Keana raced onto a long ball in-behind and rounded the opposing goalkeeper for his first senior international goal.
It remained level at 1-1 for just seven minutes though, captain and goalkeeper Phillip Mango spilling the ball into his own net just before the break.
Liverpool youngster Kyle Kelly extended St Kitts & Nevis’ lead in the 75th minute with a sumptous long-range strike, before Junior Fordney also scored his first international goal in the 85th to keep the Solomon Islands in sight.
St Kitts & Nevis finally shook off the Bonitos in the 87th minute, Harry Panayiotou rounding out the scoring with his nation’s fourth.
The result means the Solomon Islands finish fourth in their FIFA Series™ tournament in Indonesia with two defeats from their two fixtures. The tournament has provided them with valuable exposure to European and the Carribbean opposition though, and Ben Cahn’s side will be much better for the experience moving forward into the new cycle.
St Kitts & Nevis: 4 (Omari STERLING-JAMES 30′, Own Goal 44′, Kyle KELLY 75′, Harry PANAYIOTOU 87′)
Solomon Islands: 2 (Don KEANA 37′, Junior FORDNEY 85′)
HT: 2-1
Photo credit: FIFA via Getty Images