World Cup-bound New Zealand bury the ghosts of past qualifying failures

New Zealand's return to the World Cup stage in 2026 will mark the end of a long road for a number of the nation's players who have carried the regrets from a string of past qualifying failures.

On Monday, their relief was palpable as the All Whites booked their ticket to the finals in North America with a 3-0 win against New Caledonia in Auckland.

Few would have felt as emotional as veteran winger Kosta Barbarouses, who came off the bench to score the second goal and set up the last for teammate Elijah Just.

Three years ago, Barbarouses was sent off for a rash tackle during a 1-0 playoff defeat by Costa Rica in Doha which ended New Zealand's hopes of reaching the 2022 World Cup.

"I think about it most nights, to be honest," the 35-year-old said of the red card. "No joke, it crosses my mind at some point quite frequently.

"Whether my red card affected the overall outcome of the game, deep down I feel like it might have. I’ve been carrying that for a while. So to be able to put that aside well and truly now I think I’ll feel a whole lot better about the situation now."

Barbarouses has featured in five New Zealand qualifying campaigns, with three ending in playoff defeats.

He played a part in New Zealand's last qualification for the World Cup in 2010 but then missed out on a place in the squad for the finals in South Africa.

Teammate Michael Boxall shared in Barbarouses' heartbreak during multiple qualifying campaigns, including the 2-0 loss to Peru in Lima that ended their hopes of returning to the World Cup at the 2018 tournament in Russia.

Prior to his 55th international on Monday, the 36-year-old centre back had never scored for New Zealand but his thumping header on the hour-mark at Eden Park put the hosts in front and settled their nerves.

"When the goal went in, I think it was a bit more relief than anything else," he said. "Just seeing everyone's reaction with the ball at the back of the net was a pretty cool feeling."

Just minutes earlier, New Zealand's talismanic captain Chris Wood had limped off injured, sending a chill through the home crowd.

The Nottingham Forest forward is the only player left in the squad who played at the World Cup in South Africa, where the Ricki Herbert-coached All Whites exited at the group stage after draws with Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay.

Wood will have scans on a sore right hip later on Tuesday and said he hopes it will be "nothing too major" ahead of Forest's FA Cup quarter-final against Brighton at the weekend.

He will expect to be in the All Whites line-up for friendlies against Ivory Coast and Ukraine in June and Norway in November, with the long-term target of leading New Zealand onto the pitch for the group stage at next year's World Cup.

"That's the only way the team is going to be good is if we have all our players together and pulling in the same direction," Wood told New Zealand media on Tuesday.