'Mixed feelings' as Football Ferns survive close call for World Cup

The champagne was flowing but the celebrations were measured after the Football Ferns qualified for the next World Cup.

A 1-0 win over Papua New Guinea in the OFC Qualifier Final at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Wednesday means New Zealand will participate at their sixth consecutive - and seventh in total - Fifa Women's World Cup in 2027.

However, getting to the pinnacle event as the sole direct qualifier from Oceania was far from the "formality" many believed it would be.

It was the lowest scoring game against PNG, or any team from the Pacific, in recent times, and 40 years since the next closest result against the team known as Lakatois, being a 1-all draw.

Football Ferns defender Claudia Bunge was honest in her assessment of the match that was full of missed opportunities in front of goal.

"It was a pretty poor performance from us, I think first half we were just really far off it.

"I think PNG were real aggressive and we just didn't really adapt to that quick enough.

"Their keeper's had an absolute worldie of a game ... and then second half, we were much better but still lacking just being clinical up front.

"We've got a really young team, so I think when things aren't always going our way, it's when the leaders need to stand up and keep the calm.

"But we got the job done, so we're really happy with that."

New Zealand's goal came off the head of Katie Kitching in the 55th minute - who felt "relief" that finally a New Zealand chance had been capitalised on.

"You just have to believe in yourself and believe in the team, we made it hard for ourselves but at the end of the day we scored and we got the win," Kitching said.

Coach Michael Mayne had "mixed feelings" after watching his side hit the woodwork four times, be denied two goals for late off-side calls and squander other opportunities to increase the winning margin.

Mayne said the team was a "little bit tactically naive" in the first 20 minutes of the game and he called for calm at halftime comfortable in the knowledge he "had the ability out there to create chances".

However, he was "over the moon" the team were the eighth nation to qualify for Brazil but was also aware they would need to take another step up on the global stage.

"I've been around this game long enough, some days they fall and some days they don't, and today we had to really work for that and earn our stripes.

"Obviously pleased to get it over the line, but now we know where we're heading, and now we go to work."

Finishing in front of goal will be an area that the team works on before June next year.

"For what we want to do and the step we want to take as a team, we've got to score goals. That's no secret, and that's part of the campaign plan, that's part of what we're looking for.

"Players across this tournament have shown at times the quality that we do have.

"This was a pressure test, this was a proper test in a final, I knew PNG wouldn't be rolled over tonight, and you have a couple of players for them that are outstanding to protect their goal, and things just sort of snowball and don't quite land for us.

"So I'm looking at every option, I'm looking at every player we've got in our wider squad to see how we take that step."

Mayne had selected some younger players in the squad for the World Cup qualifiers, players who would never have faced the pressure of being favourites to win on home soil with such a big prize on the line.

For 12 months Mayne had been trying to expose a wider playing group to the different scenarios in international football.

"I knew tonight that it would test a few of them, because regardless of what level they play at, when you put the carrot of a World Cup on the back of that, it does funny things.

"I said to them in the huddle, after mentioning how many more grey hairs I've got, that there'll be a lot they can take out of that game, and we'll be better for that experience."

The players now return to their clubs in New Zealand or around the world knowing that Mayne will be watching as he looks ahead to who he will call on for the World Cup.

"I know a lot of play[er]s are putting a lot of thought into the next 12 months because it's so important around where they are, the types of environments, minutes and everything.

"They know what they're going back to now and their job now is to try and find the best environments if they don't already have one or if they're coming off contract to make sure that their performance is really high and they're progressing because we know the step we need to take now."

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