New Zealand competed in qualifying for the World Cup in the People's Republic of China. Competing at the 1991 OFC Women's Championship, New Zealand took out the Oceania title by goal difference over Australia as the Australians could only score eight goals in the final match against Papua New Guinea where they needed sixteen goals to qualify through.[1]
Competing in Group A, New Zealand were drawn to take on China (host nation), Denmark and Norway. In New Zealand opening game at Guangzhou, they would lose 3–0 to Denmark. The following match which was held at the Guangdong Provincial Stadium saw a 4–0 defeat to Norway before losing to China 4–1 in the final group match at Foshan. During this game Kim Nye scored the first World Cup goal for New Zealand in the 65th minute.[2]
New Zealand next appearance at the FIFA Women's World Cup was at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup after they had finished second in the previous three OFC Women's Championships to Australia who would qualify through to the World Cup on each occasion.[4] After Australia left the OFC to join the AFC in late June 2005,[5] New Zealand was left as the biggest team in Oceania. At the 2007 OFC Women's Championship in Papua New Guinea, New Zealand took out their second title after scoring 21 goals in the three matches that were played against Tonga (6–1), Samoa (8–0) and Papua New Guinea (7–0). Kirsty Yallop and Nicola Smith was the top goalscorers of the tournament with four goals each.[6]
At the World Cup, New Zealand were drawn in Group D with host nation China, Denmark and Brazil. New Zealand first match of the group was against Brazil. Playing at Wuhan, Brazil would have four different goalscorers as New Zealand would lose 5–0 in their opening game.[7] This was followed up by consecutive 2–0 defeats to Denmark,[8] and China which meant that for New Zealand they would leave the competition without a goal.[9]
At the following World Cup which was held in Germany, New Zealand once again qualified through as the champions of the OFC Women's Championships. After scoring thirty-one goals in the group stage against Vanuatu, Cook Islands and Tahiti, they finished top of the group. In the semi-final they defeated the Solomon Islands 8–0[11] before defeating Papua New Guinea 11–0 in the final.[12]
At the World Cup, New Zealand was drawn in Group B with England, Japan and Mexico.[13] The first match in the 2011 World Cup was against Japan in Bochum. After conceding the opening goal in the sixth minute from Yūki Nagasato, New Zealand equalized from a goal from Amber Hearn which was the first goal in twenty years. Aya Miyama scored the winner in the 68th minute to give Japan a 2–1 win.[14] Their following match against England saw New Zealand take the lead in the 18th minute from a Sarah Gregorius goal. Two goals in the second half from Jill Scott and Jessica Clarke gave England the three points.[15]
The final match of the group saw New Zealand fall behind early with two goals in thirty minutes with Stephany Mayor and Maribel Domínguez securing those goals. For New Zealand, two late goals in the last few minutes from Rebecca Smith and Hannah Wilkinson gave New Zealand their first World Cup point after eight consecutive defeats from eight matches.[16][17]
New Zealand once again made through to the World Cup with the tournament being held in Canada. At the 2014 OFC Women's Nations Cup, New Zealand would take the out their third consecutive Oceania title after they scored thirty goals against Tonga (16–0), Papua New Guinea (3–0) and the Cook Islands (11–0). Amber Hearn was the leading top goalscorer of the tournament with seven goals.[21]
At the World Cup, New Zealand were drawn in Group A with host Canada, China and World Cup newcomer Netherlands. In the opening match held at Edmonton, the Netherlands scored their first World Cup goal from midfielder Lieke Martens in the 33rd minute which was the difference between the two teams on the day.[22] Their following match also in Edmonton saw them take on the hosts. After a thirty minute delay due to a soggy pitch, the match ended in a 0–0 draw with the best opportunity being in the opening half when Amber Hearn couldn't convert a penalty as it hit the crossbar.[23]
With a win needed in the final match of the group, they took on China in the final match held at Winnipeg. Rebekah Stott scored the opening goal in the 28th minute before a penalty in the 41st minute was converted by Wang Lisi despite replays showing the ball ricocheted off the chest instead of the hand. Wang Shanshan gave China the lead after a mistake from keeper Erin Nayler meant that Shanshan could loft the ball high and into the net. Hannah Wilkinson scored New Zealand's second four minutes later but they couldn't breakthrough the deadlock with the result ending in a two all draw.[24]
The following edition which was held in France saw New Zealand once again qualify through to the World Cup. This was mainly from their new head coach in Tom Sermanni who was signed as head coach in October 2018.[28] Competing at the 2018 OFC Women's Nations Cup which was also the qualifier for the 2020 Summer Olympics, New Zealand comfortably qualified through the group stage as group winners with 27 goals in three matches against Tonga (11–0), Cook Islands (6–0) and Fiji (10–0). It was during the Fiji match that Ria Percival became the leading international player for New Zealand with their 133rd cap passing Abby Erceg.[29] This was followed by the semi-final win with a 8–0 win over New Caledonia,[30] they would get another 8–0 win in the final against Fiji to book their fifth World Cup appearance.[31]
At the World Cup, New Zealand was placed in Group E with two opponents from the previous World Cup in Canada and the Netherlands with the third opponent being Cameroon who was debuting at the tournament.[32] In the opening match against the Netherlands at Le Havre, a late 92nd minute goal from Dutch midfielder, Jill Roord gave the Netherlands the three points. This was after New Zealand was simply outplayed in the first half but held firm with a draw at the break.[33] The following match against the Canadians saw New Zealand being dominated by Canada as New Zealand only had two shots for entire game compared to twenty-two from Canada, two of those being goals from Jessie Fleming and Nichelle Prince which saw New Zealand needing to win against Cameroon in the final game.[34] The final match was held at Montpellier and it would be the Ajara Nchout difference with the Cameroon player scoring two goals in the match to give Cameroon the victory. This was despite an own goal Aurelle Awona in the 80th minute which gave New Zealand a shot at a win but it wasn't to be with Cameroon advancing as one of the best third place teams.[35]
