{"id":478110,"date":"2026-06-15T08:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T08:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/478110\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T08:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T08:49:11","slug":"injury-concern-for-all-whites-midfielder-ahead-of-world-cup-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/478110\/","title":{"rendered":"Injury concern for All Whites midfielder ahead of World Cup opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

The All Whites are facing an injury concern ahead of their World Cup opener against Iran<\/a>, with midfielder Matthew Garbett in doubt less than 24 hours before kick-off.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old picked up a hamstring injury during training yesterday and remained under assessment by the team\u2019s medical staff today. <\/p>\n

Garbett, who plays for English club Peterborough United, had been expected to start in New Zealand\u2019s opening match at Los Angeles\u2019 SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley said it was still unclear whether the midfielder would be fit to play.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ll get back today and find out more what this means for us and him,” Bazeley told 1News.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve got a great medical department that will ensure that once decisions are made, they will know exactly what it is.”<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New Zealand head coach Darren Bazeley. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

Bazeley confirmed the remainder of the squad was fit and available for the match, with the starting lineup set to be confirmed 90 minutes before kick-off.<\/p>\n

New Zealand have been completing their final preparations<\/a> at the University of San Diego training facilities ahead of their trip to LA for the clash against Iran, who are ranked 20th in the world compared to the All Whites’ 85th. <\/p>\n

When asked if the team were ready for their opening World Cup match, Bazeley insisted his side was “very organised and prepared”. <\/p>\n

“I think we just want it to come now. We\u2019ve been waiting a long time and it\u2019s been getting closer and closer, and now we\u2019re here,” he said. <\/p>\n

“These are the sort of games that every player dreams of being a part of. So there\u2019s pressure for sure, but it\u2019s something that we should embrace.<\/p>\n

“We just need to go and perform.” <\/p>\n

Fans flow into the University of San Diego for a peek at the team from Downunder at training.\u00a0 (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Despite being the lowest-ranked side at the World Cup, Bazeley said his side were embracing the occasion.<\/p>\n

“We don\u2019t get that many opportunities to play in these types of tournaments,” he said. <\/p>\n

“So this is why we do it, to have the opportunity to play on the biggest stage in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Captain Chris Wood said one of the team\u2019s biggest challenges would be helping younger players handle the scale of the occasion. <\/p>\n

\"SoFi<\/p>\n

SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Los Angeles’ SoFi stadium holds a total capacity of 70,240 and was expected to be packed with fans for tomorrow’s game. <\/p>\n

“But that\u2019s a great challenge to have,\u201d Wood said. “These boys are going to step up to the best level in the world.<\/p>\n

“The World Cup is a great stage to play on, and we\u2019ve all got something to prove.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve worked a long four years to get here, and now we\u2019re at the end goal and it\u2019s time to perform and put it all into place.”<\/p>\n

The All Whites will take on Iran at 1pm on Tuesday (NZT). <\/p>\n

Watch all matches at the World Cup with an event pass on TVNZ+<\/a> | All Whites games free-to-view on TVNZ1 and TVNZ+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The All Whites are facing an injury concern ahead of their World Cup opener against Iran, with midfielder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2965,2966,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-478110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-whites","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}