New Zealand Soccer - photos

Stadium	Soccer Team	Soccer Team	Stadium
Endeavour Park	Soccer Game	Soccer Field	Ole Academy
FIFA Under 20	Phoenix Fans	Phoenix Camp	Soccer Field
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About New Zealand Soccer

Soccer, more generally known as football in other countries, occupies a similar position to that which it occupies in the United States - it is the most popular of the football codes in terms of participation but is not particularly popular as a spectator sport. Club and provincial games attract few spectators, although overseas competitions, particularly the English Premier League and the World Cup, are widely followed.

The New Zealand national football team, nicknamed the All Whites, is controlled by New Zealand Football. The team has twice qualified for FIFA World Cup - in 1984 and 2010. Because of the lack of a high-quality domestic league, most talented New Zealand footballers play in the higher-class leagues of England, Europe, the United States, or in the Australian A-League.

New Zealand has competed in three Confederations Cups, in Mexico 1999, France 2003 and South Africa 2009. In each of these tournaments, the All Whites failed to progress past the first round. At the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup New Zealand gained their first point at a FIFA tournament with a draw against Iraq.

In the 2010 World Cup, New Zealand was the only team in the competition to not lose a game. They drew 1-1 with Slovakia, and 1-1 against the reigning World Champions Italy, followed by a 0-0 draw against Paraguay. This however was not enough to progress to the next round.