The rivalry was more intense when Australia and New Zealand were both members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and regularly contested finals of the OFC Nations Cup and for top position in OFC World Cup Qualification campaigns.[6] The rivalry has since been less frequent since Australia left the OFC to join the more competitive Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2006.[8][4][6] In 2022, Football Australia and New Zealand Football planned a home and away series, to mark the 100th anniversary of the first meeting between the two nations, which was first played in Dunedin back in 1922.[9][10] Australia has the better record overall in both the men's and women's fixtures.
History
Men's
The first Australia team playing New Zealand in 1922
Both Australia and New Zealand's first official internationals were played against each other during the Australian 1922 tour of New Zealand.[11][12] They played three matches at Carisbrook in Dunedin, Athletic Park in Wellington, and Auckland Domain. The results were two 3–1 wins to New Zealand and a 1–1 draw in Wellington.[13][14] New Zealand would go on to win four of the first six matches with Australia picking up one win in the first game between the teams in Australia.[3][15][16] From 1923 to 1954, the sides played for the "Soccer Ashes" trophy, a razor case carried by a former Private serving in the Gallipoli campaign, containing the ashes of cigars smoked by the teams' captains, Alex Gibb and George Campbell, after the sides first international series in 1923.[17]
Australia and New Zealand would become regular opponents in exhibition matches for the next 36 years, with the trans-Tasman neighbours playing each other on 21 occasions in seven test series during that time period.[18] This included Australia's largest victory over their rivals with a 10–0 win in 1936 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.[19]
By 2015, New Zealand had only won 13 games out of the 64 times the two teams met.[11]
In 2022, the 'Soccer Ashes' were found in storage, having been lost for nearly seventy years. The teams subsequently announced that they would play a friendly for the Soccer Ashes in England in October 2023.[17]
Women's
The Australian Women's Soccer Association (AWSA) was founded in 1974[20][21] while a New Zealand women's national team was formed the year after when they were invited to take part in the 1975 Asian Ladies’ Football Confederation Cup in Hong Kong. (Later recognised as the first Asian Cup).[22][23][24] While the two teams would meet at the tournament, with New Zealand beating their Australian rivals 3–2,[24][23]: 28 it wasn't considered the first official meeting between the countries due to the Australian side being a composite of players largely from the St. George-Budapest Club in Sydney.[20][25][23]: 27 This changed in 2022 when Football Australia recognised the former players as official national team members.[26]
What was considered the first official international match between the women's teams until the change in 2022, was on 6 October 1979 when New Zealand travelled to Australia for a three-match series.[20] The game, played at Seymour Shaw Park, ended in a 2–2 draw.[21][20] This was followed by a second match at the same venue with New Zealand winning 1–0 before the teams moved to Perry Park in Brisbane for the third game with Australia picking up their first win 1–0 ending the series in a draw.[20][25][24]
Australia and New Zealand have played 66 official matches. Australia have the better record overall in the fixture, with 42 wins to New Zealand's 13. There have been 11 draws, only two of them goalless. Australia have scored 158 goals to 70 by New Zealand. The record margin of victory in the fixture was Australia's 10–0 win in 1936, while New Zealand's biggest victory was 4–1 in 1923.
Australia and New Zealand have played 53 official matches. Australia have the better record overall in the fixture, with 35 wins to New Zealand's 10. There have been 8 draws, only two of them goalless. Australia have scored 95 goals to 43 by New Zealand. The record margin of victory in the fixture was Australia's 6–0 win in 2007, while New Zealand's biggest victory is 3–0, done twice in 1984 and 1991.[25]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
The FIFA World Rankings evolution of Australia and New Zealand (men's team).
As of 17 September 2023
Men's Team
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Australia
67
43
11
13
160
70
+90
New Zealand
67
13
11
43
70
160
–90
As of 12 April 2022
Women's Team
GP
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Australia
53
35
8
10
95
43
+52
New Zealand
53
10
8
35
43
95
–52
Top scorers
As of 5 June 2011
Players in bold are still available for selection.
^Hilton, Tony; Smith, Barry (1991). An Association with Soccer: The NZFA Celebrates Its First 100 Years. New Zealand Football. pp. 143–144. ISBN978-0473012915.
