New Zealand's Chris Wood in action during the All Whites' semifinal against Fiji in the Fifa World Cup 2026 Oceania qualifiers at Sky Stadium, Wellington on Friday. Photo / Photosport
New Zealand's Chris Wood in action during the All Whites' semifinal against Fiji in the Fifa World Cup 2026 Oceania qualifiers at Sky Stadium, Wellington on Friday. Photo / Photosport
Of all the challenges that New Caledonia face on Monday night in the Oceania qualifying final against New Zealand, the biggest can be crystallised into six words.
How do you stop Chris Wood?
The All Whites striker is in the middle of the hottest streak of his career. He has had good periods before – many of them – but nothing quite like this. In the English Premier League, Wood has already scored 18 goals this season, with only three players managing more, and he is on track to break the magical 20-goal barrier, with almost a quarter of the campaign to go.
That form – and confidence – has translated to the international arena, where he has found the net 10 times in his last five appearances. Even allowing for the fact that four of those matches have been against Oceania opposition, the sequence (1-1-2-3-3) is remarkable. It adds up to a foreboding task. If teams such as Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester haven’t been able to prevent Wood from making an impact on the scoresheet, what can New Caledonia do?
“He is in a grand period, his confidence is very high,” New Caledonia coach Johann Sidaner told the Herald. “If he decides to score, he can. In the semifinal he scored three goals. But we have to find a way.”
Midfielder Jekob Jeno, who plays in the Israeli top flight, admits the New Zealand No 9 will be a focal point.
“We know he is a great player,” says Jeno. “Everybody knows what he has done in the Premier League. He is very strong, fast, he scores a lot of goals.
“We want to defend together. It’s not just about him. It’s about the New Zealand team. We want to be compact. We want to give no more chances to him, for sure, because if he has more he stays confident and he can score. The plan is we defend together.”
Chris Wood celebrates during Friday's match against Fiji. Photo / Photosport
New Caledonia are massive underdogs. If they do qualify for next year’s World Cup – either tonight or via the intercontinental tournament early next year – they would be the smallest nation (population 270,000) to reach Fifa’s biggest stage, besting Iceland’s record. It’s a huge ask, even if the squad are playing for a higher purpose than sport, after the violence and unrest that has plagued the territory since May 2024, following protests over constitutional reform.
“[Everybody] knows the situation in New Caledonia last year,” said Jeno. “We want to show more, we want to give hope and we are here for this. We want to show our values, our strength, our confidence.”
But they face an All Whites team in a good place, physically, mentally and tactically. They have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time – some, like Wood – more than 15 years – and are ready to execute. New Zealand have slipped up against Island nations occasionally over the years but that won’t happen tonight.
“We don’t really want to look back but a large part of the group was there against Costa Rica [in 2022] and we just want to make amends for that,” said vice-captain Libby Cacace. “A massive thing is discipline. We know we are the favourites heading into the match, but we just can’t be complacent. We just have to give everything and if we stick to the game plan, we’ll get the job done.”
The All Whites are aware of New Caledonia’s threats. They are physically strong, they have pace and trickery in the final third and they can be lethal on the counter-attack.
“We need to play our own game, while understanding some of the challenges they bring,” said coach Darren Bazeley. “And in any game you have to have discipline anyway but the stakes are so high here that we don’t need people to get involved in anything other than just concentrating on playing football.”
Cacace has enjoyed being back in New Zealand – including the rare fixture in Wellington against Fiji, where he made time for a quick trip to his parents’ restaurant, La Bella in Petone.
“I did pop over there, say hello to Mum and Dad there, said Cacace. “I did have a meal as well, can’t miss out on that.”
Liberato Cacace of the All Whites. Photo / Photosport
Like most players, Cacace has a relaxed routine on match day. There is a team walk in the morning near their central city hotel, while he will also spend some time with family.
“I just like to keep calm,” said Cacace. “It’s obviously a big game but not really treated any differently to what I’ve done.”
And – like the rest of his teammates – Cacace hasn’t even contemplated the thought of a second-chance route to the World Cup via the playoff tournament next year.
“Definitely not,” said Cacace. “The job is to qualify on Monday night and we’ll do that.”
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns.
