Chris Wood backs automatic World Cup qualifying for Oceania minnows

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand captain Chris Wood says it’s “only fair” that FIFA’s smallest confederation, Oceania, has been given direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup.

New Zealand will play Fiji and Tahiti will play New Caledonia in Wellington, New Zealand on Friday in the semifinals of the Oceania qualifying tournament. The final will be played in Auckland next Monday and the winner will be among the first teams to join hosts Canada, the United States and Mexico at next year’s expanded 48-team World Cup.

It’s the first time a team from Oceania has directly qualified for the World Cup finals rather than having to go through an intercontinental playoff.

The loser of the Oceania final still will have a chance to qualify through a playoff series involving teams from the Asian, African, South American and CONCACAF confederations.

New Zealand, at 89 in the FIFA rankings, is favored to qualify as the largest Oceania nation and after also qualifying through a more rigorous process for the finals in Spain in 1982 and South Africa in 2010. It has yet to win a game at the World Cup. Fiji is ranked No. 148, New Caledonia No. 152 and Tahiti No. 153.

Critics have suggested that it’s incongruous that such lowly-ranked teams should be able to qualify directly when higher-ranked teams are eliminated in larger and more competitive confederations.

Although Wood said if the World Cup is to be a true global tournament, it needs teams from all confederations. Australia moved to the Asian Football Confederation from Oceania after qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.

“I do believe Oceania should have an automatic entry to make it a full World Cup of every continent,” Wood told reporters. “It’s truly a fair way of doing it and our confederation should be represented.”

New Zealand reached the 1982 World Cup after 14 qualifying games in nine months and traveling 55,000 miles. In 2010 it beat Bahrain from the Asian confederation in a two-leg playoff. Subsequent qualifying campaigns have ended in playoff losses to Mexico, Peru and Costa Rica.

“Obviously those intercontinental games were big games and big moments. What we have now is players who have experienced the hurt of not qualifying, whether that was Mexico, Peru or Costa Rica,” New Zealand coach Danny Bazeley said. “That makes it more challenging for Fiji, knowing that we’ve got a team that won’t be complacent. This opportunity is in front of them and they’re ready to take it.”

Fiji’s task is a massive one. Most of its players are amateurs and have fulltime jobs. Wales-born coach Rob Sherman has tried in camps in Fiji and New Zealand to develop a more professional and tactical mindset.

“Look at where the Kiwi lads are. They’re all overseas, all in decent clubs,” Sherman told the Australian Associated Press. “All our preparation has been focused on trying to limit New Zealand’s strengths and maybe capitalize on one or two of their weaknesses, if they have any.”

New Caledonia coach Johann Sidaner said qualifying for the semifinals had been a triumph for his team which has had to overcome civil unrest in its homeland.

“We are very delighted to be here,” Sidaner said. “The team is already very satisfied.”

Tahiti coach Samuel Garcia said his team is also delighted to have reached this point.

“We’re very focused on what we’re doing at the moment. Our final is on Friday,” he said.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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