All Whites midfielder Marko Stamenic says it’s a special feeling reporting back for international duty for their first games since the FIFA World Cup earlier this year.

The squad has assembled in Chongqing, China ahead of tonight’s friendly against Palestine and Monday’s match against the host nation in the same city.

The match against Palestine will be played at 9:30pm tonight NZT.

It marks a return to the field for Aotearoa New Zealand since bowing out at the group stage in North America, where they recorded a memorable 2-2 draw against Iran IR followed by defeats to Egypt and Belgium.

“I think we went through a lot of hurt from the World Cup. Obviously, we wanted to achieve a lot more than we did, but there was a lot of positives that came out of the World Cup, a lot of learnings as well.

“We've gone over that over the last couple of days as a team and we've had conversations over the summer and amongst ourselves as players as well.

“It's really special to be back, I think in our normal club environments, we have a tendency to forget from the last game and move on to the next game and I think that's kind of the same mentality we're going into this.

“We've learned what we needed to learn from the World Cup and we're going to try and apply that for the next four games,” says Stamenic.

Following the friendlies against Palestine and China PR, the All Whites travel to Japan for this newly extended international window where they’ll take part in the Kirin Cup.

New Zealand kick off the Kirin Cup against fellow FIFA World Cup participants Panama on 1 October in Yokohama and will play either hosts Japan or Ecuador in the second match depending on results.

All four nations played at the FIFA World Cup 2026.

All Whites coach Darren Bazeley says the experience of playing at this year’s tournament in North America sets his players up well for the future and in taking on higher ranked nations.

“I think now the players that were there have felt the ruthlessness and the level of that level of football where you make a mistake and you concede and you don't win that game.  I think there's lots of experience that's been gained and we need to keep getting better.

“We've talked about it as a group, there's some things within the game where we've conceded goals, there are things that we need to be better in those moments.”

Bazeley says there’s strong motivation within the group for players to put their best foot forward as a new cycle approaches.

“We've got players like Marko that played every game at the World Cup, we've got players here that went to the World Cup and didn't play, we've got players here that missed out on the World Cup and then we've got some young players that weren't really in the frame there.

“So, we've got a real good blend here in China and going to Japan with people that are in different places and have different motivations to go out and prove things.

“We'll definitely look to rotate and look to give people opportunities. We're going to have three people in this squad that are going to make their debuts in regard to George Stanger, Stipe Ukich and Henry Gray. They're going to make debuts and some of the players that have been on the periphery are going to get opportunities and that's what we've said to them.

“Whichever position you're sitting here in the group, whether you are a Marko that plays every sort of game or you're not a Moses Dyer that hasn't been with us for eight years, you're going to get an opportunity to push yourself forward and showcase yourself and see where you are.”

Due to tonight’s fixture against Palestine being a late addition to the team calendar, and taking place early in the extended international window where four games are played instead of the usual two, both teams are likely to use the match to give players game time and therefore a live feed of the match is not being produced or made available to any international broadcast platforms.

Following the September/October FIFA international window, the All Whites’ next games will see the team return home to Aotearoa to face India over two matches: at Go Media Stadium in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on 12 November and One New Zealand Stadium in Ōtautahi Christchurch on 15 November.

Tickets for the homecoming games, starting from $10 for children and $20 for adults, plus ticketing fees, can be booked through Ticketek.co.nz.

Article added: Thursday 24 September 2026