The squad has been announced for Aotearoa New Zealand’s team to take part in the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship 2025, the qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2026, taking place in Solomon Islands from 17 August 2025.

Head coach Martin Bullock has named 21 players, with 16 based domestically and five overseas in Australia and England.

The full squad is:

Oliver Anderson – Brighton & Hove Albion FC (Brighton College), England

Tomas Blackhall – Melville United (Hamilton Boys’ High School), New Zealand

Luke Carter – Western Springs (Avondale College), New Zealand

Grayson Cattle – Palmerston North Marist FC (Palmerston North Boys’ High School), New Zealand

Joseph Chalabi – Wellington Phoenix (Te Kura), New Zealand

Jack Clegg – Wellington Phoenix (Wellington College), New Zealand

Willem Des Tombe – Wellington Phoenix (St Patrick’s College, Wellington), New Zealand

Ethan Dyer – Sydney FC (Endeavour Sports High School), Australia

Gethyn Foster – Cambridge FC (Cambridge High School), New Zealand

Cailean Hamilton – Wellington Phoenix (Upper Hutt College), New Zealand

Marley Hunt – Wellington Phoenix (St Patrick’s College, Silverstream), New Zealand

Sean Kane – Eastern Suburbs (Saint Kentigern College), New Zealand

William Martin – Lions FC (Ipswich Grammar School), Australia

Joe McIntyre – Wellington Phoenix (Hutt International Boys’ School), New Zealand

Matias Nunez – Auckland United FC (Mount Albert Grammar School), New Zealand

Benjamin Perez Baldoni – Auckland FC (Selwyn College), New Zealand

Cruz Pietersen – Wellington Phoenix (St Patrick’s College, Silverstream), New Zealand

Keigo Shimokawa – Melbourne Victory (Ballarat Clarendon College), Australia

Ben Trenberth – Wellington Phoenix (Hutt International Boys’ School), New Zealand

James Wenceslao – Auckland United FC (Mount Albert Grammar School), New Zealand

John Woldegiorgis – Western United (The Grange P-12 College), Australia
 

The squad represents the start of a new cycle, with a number of the team new to international football, something head coach Martin Bullock is excited about:

“It is great to start a fresh FIFA U-17 World Cup cycle with this group and give opportunities to a number of new players to test themselves at international level, as well as reward some players who took part in the FIFA Youth Series in May where we finished as runners up.

“With this squad we have selected a number of players born in 2010 to give them opportunities to potentially take part in two FIFA U-17 World Cup campaigns. 

“I’m now looking forward to getting over to Solomon Islands and getting to work with this group.”
 

Aotearoa New Zealand have been drawn in Group B at the tournament alongside New Caledonia, Samoa, and hosts Solomon Islands.

The team will start against Samoa on 18 August 2025 (KO 1pm NZT), before facing New Caledonia on 21 August 2025 (KO 1pm NZT), and Solomon Islands on 24 August 2025 (KO 4pm NZT).

All Group B games will be played at National Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands, and be broadcast live and free on FIFA Plus.
 

Article added: Wednesday 16 July 2025