Events In History
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16 May 1981All Whites beat Australia on road to SpainThe New Zealand football team's famous 2-0 victory in Sydney was a defining moment in their epic qualifying campaign for the 1982 World Cup finals. Read more...
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1 October 1923First Chatham Cup football finalAt Athletic Park, Wellington, Seacliff from Otago defeated Wellington YMCA 4-0 in the first final of the Chatham Cup, which has become New Zealand football’s longest-running and best-known national club competition. Read more...
Articles
1982 Football World Cup
As New Zealand prepares for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, we look back to 1981-82, when football first seized the country’s imagination. After slogging through an epic qualifying schedule of 15 games, the 'All Whites' took on the best in the world at the 1982 finals in Spain.
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Page 2 – Qualifying rounds
New Zealand’s long road to Spain began on Anzac Day 1981 with a hard-fought 3–3 draw with Australia at Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland.
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Page 3 – Playing in the finals
The New Zealanders were given little hope against their opposition in Group 6, which was dubbed the ‘pool of death’. This group included the cup favourites, Brazil
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Page 4 – All Whites' results
Results from qualifying and finals games played by New Zealand
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Page 5 – Further information
This web feature was written by Neill Atkinson and Steve Watters and produced by the NZHistory.net.nz team.Links1982 World Cup team (on the New Zealand Football website)FIFA’s
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Main image: All Whites' game against Chinese Taipei, 1981
This is the programme for New Zealand’s first-round match against Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) at Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium on 30 May 1981.
