Featured image credit: Eden Park
Auckland’s Eden Park and Wellington’s Sky Stadium are to host the final stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 – Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) qualifiers in March 2025.
The two semi-finals will take place at the 34,500-capacity Sky Stadium on Friday, March 21. The final, where the winner will secure direct entry to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Canada, Mexico and the USA, will take place at the 50,000-capacity Eden Park on Monday, March 24.
The four teams that take part in the semi-finals will be decided following the final two rounds of group games, set to be played in the November FIFA window in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell said: “It is an honour to host these incredibly significant games in New Zealand and all going well over the week ahead, we will bring together our professional players from around the globe to compete on the international stage as the final hurdle for teams from Oceania to qualify for the biggest sporting event in the world.
“We saw Kiwis turn out in their thousands for the FIFA Women’s World Cup last year, so we look forward to welcoming fans to these games which are the most significant men’s matches played in this country since 2017.
“The All Whites qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 2010 would have a transformational impact on the game in Aotearoa, so we are doing everything we can to ensure the team are in the best place to perform and call on fans across the country to get behind them.
“If all goes to plan this week, these games will present a further opportunity for our All Whites to play at home and connect with our fans.”
Wider strategy
New Zealand this week play two home World Cup qualifiers, taking on Vanuatu in Hamilton’s FMG Stadium and then Samoa at the Go Media Stadium in Auckland.
Pragnell added: “Bringing our senior national teams home has been a huge part of our wider strategy, with our senior football and futsal teams having played at home 28 times across Auckland, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin in the past three years.
“This week we bring the All Whites to Hamilton for the first time ever for a full international fixture, and we look forward to continuing to move the team around the country, taking games back to Christchurch as soon as the new stadium is complete.”
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