The All Whites’ worst result in nine years has left them with plenty to digest and plenty to work on less than a fortnight out from their return to the FIFA World Cup.
After a 4-0 loss to world No. 83 Haiti at Inter Miami Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, world No. 85 New Zealand will now take on world No. 4 England at 8am Sunday in Tampa.
Their second warm-up match in Florida, against one of the title contenders, is unlikely to provide much opportunity for them to generate the shots that were lacking here.
coach Darren Bazeley says when you look at the game, possession was fairly even and chances fairly even but Haiti were very clinical and very ruthless in those moments.
He says it is a real harsh lesson for the team, especially with tough games coming up.
Bazeley says they have got England coming up and then the World Cup games coming up.
He says the team in the changing room are very disappointed.
The coach says they have had a pretty good run of performances and results over the last few years.
Bazeley says they came with the intentions to really be building towards the World Cup and this is not the result the players wanted.
New Zealand takes on Iran in their opening match on June 16th at 1pm.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will begin on next Friday conclude on 20th July.
Co-host Mexico takes on South Africa in the opening match at 11am on Friday.
