The New Zealand national football team, nicknamed the All Whites, is the national association football team of New Zealand and is governed by New Zealand Football (NZF). The team plays in an all-white strip rather than the traditional New Zealand sporting black due to a former FIFA regulation that reserved black for the international referee strip. Its nickname is also a play on the New Zealand national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks. The silver fern, a symbol of New Zealand, appears on the All Whites uniform.
The All Whites played in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The 2010 New Zealand team is one of only eight in the history of the World Cup to have remained unbeaten through a World Cup Finals competition without winning the trophy.
Because most New Zealand football clubs are semi-professional rather than fully professional, most top New Zealand footballers play abroad for clubs in Europe, in the United States, or in the Australian A-League.
New Zealand formerly battled Australia for top honours in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). However, Australia now plays in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), leaving New Zealand as the only seeded team in the OFC. New Zealand has won the OFC Nations Cup four times – in 1973, 1998, 2002 and 2008.
The All Whites played in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The 2010 New Zealand team is one of only eight in the history of the World Cup to have remained unbeaten through a World Cup Finals competition without winning the trophy.
Because most New Zealand football clubs are semi-professional rather than fully professional, most top New Zealand footballers play abroad for clubs in Europe, in the United States, or in the Australian A-League.
New Zealand formerly battled Australia for top honours in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). However, Australia now plays in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), leaving New Zealand as the only seeded team in the OFC. New Zealand has won the OFC Nations Cup four times – in 1973, 1998, 2002 and 2008.
