All Whites confirm two June internationals
- Dave Worsley
- Mar 20
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 20
The All Whites have set their next international fixtures with matches in the new Canadian Shield tournament, taking place in Toronto, Canada in June.
New Zealand will face world No 46 Côte d'Ivoire on Saturday, June 7 at 7pm local time (Sunday, June 8, 11am NZ Time), followed by world No 25 Ukraine on Tuesday, June 11 at 5pm local time (Wednesday, June 11, 9am NZT).
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Both matches will take place at BMO Field, the home of Toronto FC, which will also host contests during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The tournament will award three points for a win, one point for a draw and an additional point for a shootout win.
All matches will have a winner and games will go directly to penalties after 90 minutes (plus stoppage-time).
Should the All Whites win the upcoming FIFA World Cup Oceania Qualifiers, taking place this month, the matches will form part of the crucial build-up programme, as well as providing a taste of playing in a tournament in one of the 2026 host cities.
New Zealand faces Fiji in the semifinal of the Oceania Qualifiers on Friday (kick-off 7pm) at Wellington's Sky Stadium, with the winner qualifying for the final, against the winner of the New Caledonia vs Tahiti semifinal, on Monday, March 24 (kick-off 7pm) at Auckland's Eden Park.
Should they win, it will see New Zealand represented at the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 16 years.
All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley was looking forward to the prospect of facing two challenging teams at the Canadian Shield tournament:
“We have looked to put in place a programme of games so that should we qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 we will have faced a range of opponents in the build-up, and both Côte d'Ivoire and Ukraine will provide a real test for us, which is exactly what we want.
“It will also be a great opportunity to be part of a tournament played in another one of the host countries to give us a taste of what we could face in 2026, if we win our qualification games this month.”