New Zealand

Confederation – OFC (Oceania)

FIFA Code – NZL

Nickname(s) – Young All Whites

Tournament History

New Zealand is the strongest football team in the Oceania confederation. During their previous seven appearances in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, New Zealand had reached the Round of 16 for thrice while they had failed to cross the group stage in the other four appearances. The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup is their eighth overall appearances and sixth consecutive appearances in this competition.

Year	Hosts	Final Status
1997	Egypt	Group Stage
1999	New Zealand	Group Stage
2007	South Korea	Group Stage
*2009*	*Nigeria*	*Round of 16*
*2011*	*Mexico*	*Round of 16*
2013	UAE	Group Stage
*2015*	*Chile*	*Round of 16*

(Note: The best performance(s) is/are marked in bold and italic)

Present Status (for 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup)

i) The Journey: New Zealand had won the 2017 OFC U-17 Championship which secured their spot for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In the final match of that Oceania tournament, New Zealand had beaten New Caledonia by a humiliating 7-0 margin. It was their sixth consecutive crown and seventh overall crown in that Oceania tournament.

ii) Head Coach: In April 2015, Danny Hay (Nationality – New Zealand) has been appointed as a head coach of this team. He was also the head coach of this team in the previous FIFA U-17 World Cup edition (2015), where they had been eliminated from the round of 16.

Danny Hay’s standard formation is 4-2-3-1.

iii) Full Squad: (Goalkeepers) Zac Jones, Jacob Clark, Nicholas Milner

(Defenders) Jordan Spain, Joshua Rogerson, Liberato Cacace, Boyd Curry, Matthew Jones, Ben Deeley, Emlyn Wellsmore

(Midfielders) Leon Van Den Hoven, Elijah Just, Oliver Duncan, Max Mata, Williem Ebbinge, Kingsley Sinclair, Oliver Whyte, Kieran Richards,

(Forwards) Matthew Conroy, Matthew Palmer, Charles Spragg

iv) Player(s) To Watch Out:

Charles Spragg (Present Club – Western Springs AFC)

Charles Spragg is a high-talented striker who had won the Golden Ball (tournament award for being the most valuable player) as well as the Golden Boot (tournament award for scoring most goals) in 2017 OFC U-17 Championship, after scoring seven goals in just five matches.