Fifa World Cup 2026

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Senecio

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#3506989 29-Jun-2026 12:16

Batman:

interestingly on my TVNZ pass it's only showing 12 matches in the round of 32

there should be 16?

Probably just timing. Some of the 3rd place group qualifiers for the round of 32 were only confirmed late on Sunday.

invisibleman18

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#3507030 29-Jun-2026 15:10

Senecio:

Batman:

interestingly on my TVNZ pass it's only showing 12 matches in the round of 32

there should be 16?

Probably just timing. Some of the 3rd place group qualifiers for the round of 32 were only confirmed late on Sunday.

Yeah looks like they are all showing now. The final ties weren't confirmed until yesterday afternoon so they just didn't update the schedule immediately.

One thing I’d like for the knockout games is if the duration of the streams could be somehow hidden when watching on demand. It can be a spoiler as to whether it goes to extra time/penalties. For the Canada vs South Africa game this morning I couldn't quite watch the whole 90 minutes before getting to work so I watched the last 10-15 mins of normal time from where I was up to at lunch time, but the amount of time left on the stream made it obvious there was going to be a late winning goal and no extra time (I couldn't avoid seeing the time as needed to skip forward to where I had got to live). Similarly, if there had been an hour left on the stream that’s a pretty good indication it went the distance.

If the time can’t be hidden then maybe all replay streams could be say 3 or 4 hours long to avoid this spoiler (ie, with a “thank you for watching” screen at the end of coverage). I know ideally you need to watch live if you don't want spoilers, but many games are taking place during the NZ day time when work etc happens so it’s not possible to watch live for all games. I’ve sent TVNZ this feedback so will see if they respond.

Handsomedan

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#3507063 29-Jun-2026 16:29

In the wake of NZ's exit, there are a number of articles asking, "What Next?" for the management and squad.

Personally, I'd like to see a new gaffer installed - I don't think that Bazeley did well enough with the talent at his disposal and both tactically and mentally, he got a few things wrong.

Subs not used, squad selections that left you wondering what he saw that was different to what we saw, etc.

I've never really been a Bazeley fan, so in my opinion I think he's run his course, despite his statements that he'd like to continue and he thinks that the whole experience was great (whilst not meeting any of their goals).

NZ Football needs a coach that can properly coach fully professional players that are more talented than we've had in the past and make positive steps forward over the next 4 years in the run-in to the next WC.

At a minimum, NZ needs to be planning to fully compete in the next Group stage and make it to the knockout phase and beyond.

The fact that the All Whites were set up in such a way that one of the most prolific strikers in the Premier League in recent times wasn't able to even score a single goal speaks volumes for me.

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invisibleman18

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#3507064 29-Jun-2026 16:43

The challenge for NZ is getting meaningful competitive games against quality opposition in between World Cups. Now Oceania gets the automatic spot it's pretty much guaranteed qualification as NZ shouldn't really be pushed by any of the island nations. Australia got fed up of having no competition in Oceania and having to go to a playoff against South American opposition which they usually lost so moved to the Asian confederation where they can get more regular competitive games which has improved them, and they are also usually good enough to get one of their automatic spots.

I wonder if Asia is something NZ have ever looked at as a way to get more regular competitive matches. It would be giving up a pretty much guaranteed WC spot now though.

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