Football fans will be treated to an exciting year of international action in 2020, starting in March with the Football Ferns competing in the Algarve Cup before the All Whites take on Oman and Bahrain.

Danny Hay’s squad will travel to the Middle East for the second tour of the coach’s reign, following on from the first matches under his guidance against Ireland and Lithuania last November.

The All Whites will firstly meet Oman on 26 March before facing Bahrain four days later with the venues yet to be confirmed.

Hay is excited at the prospect of his side returning to action and is looking forward to building on the foundations laid on the November tour, in which he was able to hand seven players their debuts – namely Joe Bell, Elijah Just, Elliot Collier, Max Mata, Callum McCowatt, James McGarry and Nando Pijnaker – as he looked to embed a progressive new playing style and strong team culture.

The matches in the March window will form part of the All Whites’ build-up to the qualifying pathway for the FIFA World Cup 2022. The format of Oceania qualifying is still to be confirmed but the process is scheduled to begin in September with All Whites fixtures to be played in all three FIFA windows (September, October and November).

Hosting of the OFC Nations Cup has meanwhile been awarded to New Zealand for the first time in 18 years and, with the Oly Whites set to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in July, it will be a busy year for senior men’s international football.

The Football Ferns are likewise set to return to action for the first time since November, during which they took on hosts China and Canada on a two-match tour. Like Hay, coach Tom Sermanni took the opportunity to blood some fresh talent with Claudia Bunge, Jana Radosavljevic and Nicole Stratford all making their debuts while Hannah Blake made just her second appearance.

The Football Ferns are building towards the Tokyo Olympic Games (Photosport)

New Zealand will be joined at the Algarve Cup by hosts Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway and Sweden. Sermanni’s team will take on Belgium first up before playing at least two further play-off matches.

The Football Ferns will later compete in the Olympic Games alongside the Oly Whites and more preparation matches for the Ferns are anticipated in their build-up towards this pinnacle event.  

There is also plenty of age-group action to look forward to this year with both the U-17 and U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cups in the pipeline.

New Zealand has already qualified for the U-20 event with Gemma Lewis set to lead her team to Costa Rica and Panama in August. Oceania qualifying for the U-17 tournament was meanwhile delayed due to the recent measles epidemic with Leon Birnie and his charges having to wait until April to book their berth at November’s World Cup in India.

The men’s U-17 and U-20 national teams will also seek to qualify for their respective World Cups with qualifying tournaments scheduled for July and September.

See below for a summary of all the international action scheduled so far for 2020.

Provisional International Calendar for 2020

Algarve Cup
Portugal
Football Ferns vs Belgium, 4 March
Two further matches against either Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal or Sweden

All Whites vs Oman
Oman
26 March

All Whites vs Bahrain
Bahrain
30 March

OFC U-16 Women’s Championship
Tahiti
6 – 19 April

OFC Nations Cup
New Zealand
6 – 20 June, draw and venues TBC

OFC U-19 Men’s Championship
Venue TBC
4 – 19 July

Tokyo Olympic Games
Japan
22 July – 8 August

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup
Costa Rica/Panama
August

Qualifying for FIFA World Cup 2020
September/October/November
Format TBC

OFC U-16 Men’s Championship
Venue TBC
12 – 27 September

FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup
India
2 – 21 November 

Article added: Monday 03 February 2020