New Zealand Football has named a 30-person squad for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ OFC preliminary competition, which kicks off this month in Qatar.
Wellington Phoenix duo Ben Old and Ben Waine have been called up to the senior national side for the first time, while seasoned veterans Chris Wood, Kosta Barbarouses and Tommy Smith – who between them boast 150 caps for New Zealand – are also included in coach Danny Hay’s group.
“We knew this would be a challenging squad to put together but I’m confident in the team we’ve been able to assemble,” Hay said.
“I want to thank all the clubs for the flexibility they have shown when making their players available.
“Over the past year we have shown people what we are capable of as a team. Now is when we have to put everything we have been talking about into practice as we fight to return to the FIFA World Cup.”
A number of players will join the squad in Qatar at a later date than others, while some players will also leave during the tournament due to the squad size.
Michael Boxall (recovering from injury, on standby if required), Elliot Collier (injury), Sarpreet Singh (injury), Ryan Thomas (not currently available) and Michael Woud (not considered due to club commitments), were unavailable for the tournament.
The All Whites kick-off their campaign in Group B against Papua New Guinea, followed by further group games against Fiji and New Caledonia, with the top two sides progressing to the semi-finals against the top two Group A teams.
New Zealand squad for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ OFC preliminary competition
Matthew Gould (0 caps) Altrincham FC, England
Stefan Marinovic (27 caps) Hapoel Nof HaGalil, Israel*
Oli Sail (0 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand+
Jamie Searle (0 caps) Swansea City, Wales*
Nikko Boxall (3 caps) San Diego Loyal, USA
Liberato Cacace (6 caps) FC Empoli, Italy (LOAN)*
Francis de Vries (2 caps) IFK Värnamo, Sweden
Dane Ingham (8 caps) Newcastle Jets, Australia+
Niko Kirwan (3 caps) Calcio Padova, Italy
Tim Payne (21 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand*
Nando Pijnaker (4 caps) Sligo Rovers, Ireland (LOAN)*
Winston Reid (27 caps) Unattached
Tommy Smith (42 caps) Colchester United, England
Bill Tuiloma (28 caps) Portland Timbers, USA*
Dalton Wilkins (1 cap) Kolding IF, Denmark+
Joe Bell (5 caps) Bröndby IF, Denmark*
Matthew Garbett (3 caps) Torino, Italy
Cam Howieson (13 caps) Auckland City FC, New Zealand
Clayton Lewis (16 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand+
Ben Old (0 caps, debut senior call-up) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand+
Marko Stamenic (4 caps) HB Køge, Denmark (LOAN)*
Kosta Barbarouses (47 caps) Sydney FC, Australia+
Joe Champness (3 caps) Giresunspor, Turkey
Andre de Jong (6 caps) AmaZulu FC, South Africa
Alex Greive (1 cap) St Mirren, Scotland*
Elijah Just (6 caps) FC Helsingør, Denmark*
Callum McCowatt (5 caps) FC Helsingør, Denmark*
Logan Rogerson (4 caps) FC Haka, Finland
Ben Waine (0 caps, debut senior call-up) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand+
Chris Wood (61 caps) Newcastle United, England*
* Joining from 19 March onwards
+ Leaving from 22 March onwards