{"id":602640,"date":"2026-09-16T23:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T23:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/602640\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T23:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T23:28:12","slug":"new-zealand-u-17-mens-team-visit-japan-for-world-cup-preparation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/602640\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand U-17 men’s team visit Japan for World Cup preparation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Warren Olson<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s U-17 men will begin an important phase of their FIFA World Cup preparations when they open a three-match tournament in Japan.<\/p>\n

Head coach Martin Bullock\u2019s 18-player squad will face hosts Niigata, Myanmar and Japan at the International Youth Soccer Tournament in Niigata.<\/p>\n

The tournament provides New Zealand with competitive international football two months before the FIFA U-17 Men\u2019s World Cup in Qatar.<\/p>\n

The squad prepared for Japan with two matches between academy teams from Wellington Phoenix and Auckland United at the NZCIS facility in Trentham last weekend.<\/p>\n

Nine members of the Japan-bound squad featured for Wellington Phoenix, with players\u2019 minutes managed because of the short turnaround before Thursday\u2019s opener.<\/p>\n

Wellington won the first match 1-0 through a Ben Trenberth goal before taking the second 2-1 after trailing at half-time.<\/p>\n

Joseph McIntyre scored twice after coming on for the second half, including the winner from a free kick.<\/p>\n

Goalkeeping coach Alex Brittan welcomed the demanding preparation, telling Friends of Football the players needed exposure to greater intensity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intense trainings and stiff competition for spots in a squad are far more demanding in many of the strong footballing nations than what our boys are used to,\u201d Brittan said.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Action from the match between the academies of Wellington Phoenix (yellow strip) and Auckland United (blue). Photo credit: Warren Olson.<\/p>\n

New Zealand open against Niigata at 3pm (NZT) on Thursday, followed by Myanmar at 6pm on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Their final match is against Japan at Niigata\u2019s Denka Big Swan Stadium at 6pm on Monday.<\/p>\n

Bullock will use the tour to help assess his options before selecting his World Cup squad.<\/p>\n

New Zealand have been drawn in Group G in Qatar alongside Belgium, Mali and Vietnam.<\/p>\n

New Zealand squad<\/p>\n

Tomas Blackhall \u2014 Melville United \/ Hamilton Boys\u2019 High School, New Zealand
Luke Carter \u2014 Western Springs \/ Avondale College, New Zealand
Zach Ashmore \u2014 Wellington Phoenix \/ Scots College, New Zealand
Grayson Cattle \u2014 Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Jack Clegg \u2014 Wellington Phoenix \/ New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa, New Zealand
Willem des Tombe \u2014 Wellington Phoenix \/ St Patrick\u2019s College, New Zealand
Gethyn Foster \u2014 Wellington Phoenix \/ New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa, New Zealand
Cailean Hamilton \u2014 Wellington Phoenix \/ New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa, New Zealand
Sean Kane \u2014 Auckland FC \/ St Kentigern, New Zealand
Lachlan MacIntyre \u2014 Brentford FC \/ Elthorne Park High School, England
William Martin \u2014 Queensland Lions \/ Ipswich Grammar School, Australia
Joseph McIntyre \u2014 Wellington Phoenix \/ New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa, New Zealand
Matias Nunez \u2014 Auckland United \/ Rutherford College, New Zealand
Cruz Pietersen \u2014 Wellington Phoenix \/ New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa, New Zealand
Keigo Shimokawa \u2014 Melbourne Victory \/ Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School, Australia
Zac Thomas \u2014 Bohemian FC \/ Castleknock Community College, Ireland
Ben Trenberth \u2014 Wellington Phoenix \/ New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa, New Zealand
Sena Vesty \u2014 Christchurch United \/ Burnside High School, New Zealand<\/p>\n

Fourteen members of the travelling squad helped New Zealand win last year\u2019s OFC U-16 Men\u2019s Championship, securing qualification for the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really important to give players the opportunity to test themselves in competitive international games ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup,\u201d Bullock said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of the group already know each other well from the OFC U-16 Men\u2019s Championship campaign last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this tournament gives us even more opportunity to build on those relationships on and off the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fixtures<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Game to be played on Thursday September 17, 2026<\/p>\n

New Zealand v Niigata
Niigata City Athletic Stadium, 3pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Game to be played on Saturday September 19, 2026<\/p>\n

New Zealand v Myanmar
Niigata City Athletic Stadium, 6pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Game to be played on Monday September 21, 2026<\/p>\n

New Zealand v Japan
Denka Big Swan Stadium, Niigata, 6pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

Warren Olson<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Warren Olson is a Wellington-based enthusiast for and long-time follower of the women\u2019s game, and covers futsal and age-group football.<\/p>\n

This story was first published on September 17, 2026.<\/p>\n

More football stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Warren Olson New Zealand\u2019s U-17 men will begin an important phase of their FIFA World Cup preparations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[296978,227787,111,43,139,69,128112],"class_list":["post-602640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-auckland-united","tag-fifa-u-17-mens-world-cup","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-wellington-phoenix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602640","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=602640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}