Nine Wellington Phoenix academy players were involved as New Zealand lifted the U-16 OFC Championship on Saturday night in Port Moresby.
The final saw the Young All Whites cruise to a 5-0 win against Fiji. Zach Cashmore grabbed the opener, while fellow academy player Jack Clegg also bagged a goal.
New Zealand beat the Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji on their way to the title, only conceding twice.
Both of the major individual awards for the tournament also went to Phoenix representatives. Team captain Ben Trenberth was the winner of the golden ball for best player, while Cashmore received the golden boot after scoring seven goals in five games.
The other Nix players in the squad were Ethan Amyes, Tristan Bancroft, Caleb Brown, Vasilios Kastrinakis, Cruz Pietersen, and London Ridge.
Bancroft, Amyes, and Pietersen also got on the scoresheet, with Pietersen notably nabbing a double in the 3-0 semifinal win over hosts Papua New Guinea.
The Phoenix connections didn’t end with the players, with academy staff Cam Grieve and Alex Richardson part of the New Zealand coaching team.
By securing a top-three finish in this tournament, New Zealand have also qualified for the 2027 U-17 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar.
