New Zealand Football have today welcomed the confirmation that should they qualify from the Oceania Football Confederation, the men’s national team will play a side from Concacaf in the intercontinental playoff for the FIFA World Cup 2022. 

The playoff, now scheduled to be one game at a neutral ground rather than over home and away legs, will be played on 13 or 14 June in Qatar. 

New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell said:

“Should we qualify from the OFC region, it is great to finally know which confederation we will be facing.

“We share fans disappointment that the change in competition structure means we won’t have a home game but now can start planning to reach our ultimate goal of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar next year.”

Men’s National Team Head Coach Danny Hay said:

“Whichever team we get from Concacaf we know they will be strong as they have to be at this level. 

“We still have work to do to qualify for the intercontinental playoff but, as we have shown in the previous two international windows, we are making progress both on and off the pitch. 

“It is now our job to continue to build on what we have done this year and take that momentum into 2022 as we look to qualify for Qatar.”

Article added: Saturday 27 November 2021