Head coach Darren Bazeley has shared his disappointment after New Zealand’s 2-0 loss to Finland in the FIFA Series international match at Auckland’s Eden Park.
“I’m disappointed,” he told media in a post-match briefing.
“We came into tonight’s game knowing it’s a chance for us to be the home team.
“We’ve been away from home a lot, you know, and played a lot games away from home over the last couple of years which is tough.
“We came in wanting to put on a performance, but we talked about scoring goals and getting results at this stage, you know, being closer to the World Cup.”
Bazeley said his team were out of sorts in the first half.
“We didn’t look like we were ourselves,” he said.
The All Whites were “off the pace” when out of possession, and were not as good as expected in possession.
Though brighter in the second half, the team could not convert chances, he said.
HIGHLIGHTS: Finland spoil All Whites’ coming home party at Eden Park >>>>
READ MORE: Finland exploit defensive lapses to beat All Whites 2-0 in FIFA Series >>>>
Watch Darren Bazeley’s post-match interview
Result
Game played on Friday March 27, 2026
New Zealand 0
Finland 2 (Joel Pohjanpalo 25′, Jaakko Oksanen 85′)
Line-ups
New Zealand
1. Max Crocombe (Gk), 2. Tim Payne (24. Callan Elliot 64′), 3. Francis de Vries (15. James McGarry 44′), 4. Tyler Bindon, 16. Finn Surman, 11. Elijah Just (7. Logan Rogerson 79′), 19. Ben Old (25. Andre de Jong 80′), 20. Callum McCowatt (9. Jesse Randall 45′), 8. Marko Stamenic (captain) (6. Joe Bell 80′), 23. Ryan Thomas (10. Lachlan Bayliss 65′), 18. Ben Waine (17. Kosta Barbarouses 64′).
Subs not used: 12. Alex Paulsen (Gk), 22. Michael Woud, 21. Bill Tuiloma, 14. Alex Rufer.
Finland
23. Viljami Sinisalo (Gk), 3. Samuli Miettinen, 17. Nikolai Alho (2. Matti Peltola 80′), 21. Ville Koski (4. Tony Miettinen 45′), 6. Leo Walta, 10. Naatan Skyttä (22. Onni Valakari 59′), 11. Adam Markhiyev (24. Jaakko Oksanen 45′), 13. Juho Lähteenmäki (15. Ryan Mahuta 45′), 16. Anssi Suhonen (25. Doni Arifi 67′), 7. Oliver Antman (18. Topi Keskinen 67′), 20. Joel Pohjanpalo (captain) (26. Kasper Paananen 45′).
Subs not used: 1. Lukas Hradecky (Gk), 12. Jesse Joronen, 5. Miro Tenho, 8. Oiva Jukkola.
Officials
Referee: Casey Reibelt.
Assistant referees: Arvin Shanmuganathan, Ashley Beecham.
Fourth official: Jack Morgan.
Fixtures
Games to be played on Monday March 30, 2026
#Current FIFA world rankings
Cape Verde (#65) v Finland (#75)
Eden Park, Auckland, 4pm
New Zealand (#85) v Chile (#55)
Eden Park, Auckland, 7pm
General sale tickets are available through Ticketek.
This story was first published on March 28, 2026.