New Zealand's 2026 World Cup squad is officially confirmed, named by head coach Darren Bazeley on May 14, 2026. The 26-player roster brings together three goalkeepers, nine defenders, nine midfielders and five forwards. New Zealand is drawn into Group G, where it faces Belgium, Egypt and Iran. The most-played player in the last 12 months of national-team football is Finn Surman, with 835 minutes across 10 caps, the squad's most in-form option heading into the tournament. Close behind is Sarpreet Singh on 817 minutes, another of the side's most-used players over the same period. Over the past twelve months the team has posted 1 wins, 2 draws and 10 losses, scoring 11 goals and conceding 28. Our ranking orders the squad purely by national-team minutes, not club minutes, and every name links to a player profile with the full minutes and recent-form breakdown.
Matches & results
Group standings
Group G
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Belgium |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5 |
| 2 |  Egypt |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 5 |
| 3 |  Iran |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 |  New Zealand |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 1 |
26-man squad
| # | Player | Position | Club | NT minutes (12mo) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finn Surman | Defender | Portland Timbers | 835 |
| 2 | Sarpreet Singh | Midfielder | New Zealand | 817 |
| 3 | Maxime Crocombe | Goalkeeper | Millwall | 729 |
| 4 | Marko Seufatu | Midfielder | Swansea | 728 |
| 5 | Michael Boxall | Defender | Minnesota United FC | 664 |
| 6 | Elijah Just | Midfielder | Motherwell | 649 |
| 7 | Timothy Payne | Defender | Wellington Phoenix | 588 |
| 8 | Joe Zen | Midfielder | Viking | 566 |
| 9 | Christopher Wood | Forward | Nottingham Forest | 552 |
| 10 | Francis de | Defender | Auckland | 530 |
| 11 | Tyler Bindon | Defender | Sheffield Utd | 422 |
| 12 | Benjamin Old | Forward | Saint Etienne | 415 |
| 13 | Callum McCowatt | Midfielder | Silkeborg | 394 |
| 14 | Ryan Thomas | Midfielder | PEC Zwolle | 364 |
| 15 | Matthew Garbett | Midfielder | Peterborough | 311 |
| 16 | Liberato Cacace | Defender | Wrexham | 284 |
| 17 | Benjamin Waine | Forward | Port Vale | 204 |
| 18 | Alexander Paulsen | Goalkeeper | Lechia Gdansk | 191 |
| 19 | Jesse Randall | Forward | Auckland | 152 |
| 20 | Alex Rufer | Midfielder | Wellington Phoenix | 152 |
| 21 | Konstantinos Barbarouses | Forward | Western Sydney Wanderers | 139 |
| 22 | Callan Rennie | Defender | Auckland | 72 |
| 23 | Lachlan Bayliss | Midfielder | Newcastle Jets | 11 |
| 24 | Nando Zen | Defender | Auckland | 10 |
| 25 | Michael Woud | Goalkeeper | Auckland | 0 |
| 26 | Thomas Jefferson | Defender | Braintree | 0 |
Methodology
Players are ranked by minutes played for the national team over the last 365 days. Ties are broken by appearances. The top 16 are labeled Locked, ranks 17–22 Likely, ranks 23–30 Bubble — a starting frame, not a verdict.
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