It's 23 games in 22 days - let the U-20 World Cup begin

Football fanatics, from left, Dave Richardson, Dale Warburton, Tracey Hodge and Evald Subasic, who will attend 23 FIFA U-20 World Cup matches in 22 days. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Four football-mad mates have embarked on an ambitious 22-day road trip to watch 23 Fifa U-20 World Cup games.

The group left Wellington last night and were due to arrive in Auckland in the early hours of this morning for the tournament opener between New Zealand and Ukraine.

In the coming weeks, their 2003 Nissan Bluebird will weave its way across the North Island, travelling about 5200km from stadium to stadium. On nine occasions the group will watch two games in one day.

Organiser Dale Warburton said the trip would consist of only three things. "It's pretty much just drive, watch football, sleep, drive, watch football, sleep - which is not too bad in my eyes."

The 31-year-old, who works in the public service, would be taking close to three weeks off work for what he described as a "great opportunity".

"It's probably unlikely we're going to get anything bigger than this down here in New Zealand, so why not make the most of it."

He was confident New Zealand would put on a successful event.

"We'll probably get quite an engaged community come out. I think once it starts there will be a bit more coverage and buzz around some of the regional centres and I think we should see some good crowds."

Mr Warburton met his three fellow road-trippers - Dave Richardson, 28, Evald Subasic, 36, and Tracey Hodge, 27 - through the Wellington Phoenix fan group Yellow Fever.

During the A-League off-season the group often rebrand themselves as "White Noise", with many flocking to stadiums around the country, and sometimes further abroad, to support the All Whites.

Mr Warburton said for this trip they were each spending about $500 on tickets, $300 on fuel and $30 a night on accommodation. This was much cheaper, he said, than some of the other football trips he had been on, including one to South Africa for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Miss Hodge, who was on the same tour in 2010, was excited to be taking part in a World Cup hosted at home. She was looking forward to taking in "as much football as possible" and hoped she would meet lots of fans from different countries.

"My view on the tournament is that if I can travel to South Africa to watch the games, then I should be able to take time to see it in our own backyard."

Meanwhile, Mr Warburton had advice for anyone inspired to follow suit. "Choose your passengers wisely, it's tight quarters for a long time."

His team of four would share the driving. "I think that's the only way through it ... we want to make sure we get to all the games and not end up in a ditch somewhere."