'Four years is a long way away': Wood signals intentions after All Whites exit

By Michael Burgess in Vancouver

All Whites captain Chris Wood wants to be around for the next Fifa World Cup – and is confident the team can take a significant leap forward over the next four years.

New Zealand’s campaign ended in bitter circumstances in Vancouver on Saturday, with a crushing 5-1 defeat to Belgium.

It was always going to be a massive ask against the European giants, who are ranked No 10 by Fifa and have some of the best players in the world.

But the All Whites struggled with the onslaught – not reaching the levels in the previous two matches - while conceding a couple of soft goals.

Wood was clearly devastated as he faced the media but is equally proud of the campaign.

“[The team] has done extremely well,” Wood said, as he stood in the bowels of BC Place stadium as the clock ticked past 11pm on Friday night local time. “We showed that we can compete on this world stage. Now it’s about coming to a new level, a better level and executing it for a full 90 minutes to win games at the highest level and that’s the big thing we’ll have to do.”

Wood was also satisfied that the team had done everything possible to prepare for success, given their early qualification in March 2025.

“I believe so,” Wood said. “We’ve raised our game, raised our level. We always talked about building over the four years, and sometimes it didn’t look like we were heading in the right direction but we have. We got to the world stage and performed.”

However, Wood admits that the three lost leads – and in particular the Iran match – is going to hurt as the dust settles over the next few weeks and months. While New Zealand’s exit was confirmed with the Belgium defeat, their fate was probably sealed in Los Angeles when they couldn’t maintain a 2-1 advantage with around 30 minutes to play.

“Yes, that’s what it comes down to, that first game, to put ourselves in those situations twice in a game is huge,” Wood agreed. “We need to go kill games off and that’s what it’s about, getting another one to go even further in front. That’ll be the big one we’ll look back on.

“It’s very tough to playing up against [world class teams] and you come unstuck and they can pick moments off. You need to be perfect at every single stage of the game, we weren’t at times, but that’s life and it happens.”

Wood revealed to the Herald in 2024 his desire to play until he was 38, which would take in both the Los Angeles Olympics and the next World Cup. That remains a goal, though the injury suffered last season has added a complicating factor.

“Four years is a long way away,” Wood said. “A lot changed over the last 18 months for me and my career and my body. I’m not ruling it out. I want to play for at least another three years. It will depend on where I’m playing, how high I’m playing, and if the body can continue, but I have no intentions to stop just yet.”

Wood said the drive to be at another Fifa World Cup won’t go away – “That side of it will not stop” – but it is dependent on being at the right level and being physically ready.

On the loss to Belgium , Wood was downhearted but also realistic. He paid tribute to Belgium’s excellence and said the decision to chase the match at 0-2 down meant they got punished further, with three goals in the last 30 minutes as the match opened up.

Wood also defended the decision of coach Darren Bazeley not to start either Jesse Randall or Ben Old, given their pace could have offered an outlet from the beginning. Both wingers came on at halftime – and added a dimension – but Wood said it was a different balance.

“It’s very tough,” Wood said. “You have to make a decision as a manager to go with your gut feel. The boys have shown in the first two games that they deserved to be involved.

“We changed it at halftime to try. It’s one of those - we can all be a bit different in hindsight, but we’ve done all right in this situation.”

Overall, Wood feels confident about the future, given the age of most of the squad and the growth potential.

“We’ve got a lot of great players at a good age,” Wood said. “In history players at around 28, 29 that’s when you hit your peak and you do extremely well. So hopefully in 4 years’ time those boys and this team will be in a great state.”

Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.

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