Three Wellington Phoenix players have been named in the All Whites for next month’s international friendlies against Mexico and the U.S.A.
Club captain Alex Rufer, forward Kosta Barbarouses and defender Tim Payne have been selected in the 21-strong squad for the matches in Los Angeles and Cincinnati.
The trio all featured prominently in New Zealand’s OFC Nations Cup win in June.
Rufer played every minute at the tournament, while Barbarouses scored three goals across the four games.
Ben Old, Alex Paulsen and Finn Surman, who have all secured moves abroad following the Phoenix’s record-breaking 2023-24 Isuzu UTE A-League campaign, have also been called up along with fellow former Nix players Liberato Cacace, Sarpreet Singh, Ben Waine, Oli Sail, Michael Boxall and Joe Bell.
All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley has highlighted the importance of these two games ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup – OFC Qualifiers starting in the next FIFA match window.
“Playing two games against two of the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosts, in one of the host countries, is the perfect motivation for our players ahead of starting our own journey to qualify for the tournament this October,” Bazeley said.
“These are both two top sides but we need to be testing ourselves at this level so we are prepared for what we could face should we qualify for the World Cup.
“For the Mexico game we are likely going to be facing a huge and passionate Mexican crowd, and for the U.S.A. game they could potentially have a new head coach in place, so these games will present new and interesting challenges for us which we will embrace as a team.
“We have seen a lot of high-profile transfers for our players over the last few months, so it will be great to assemble as a squad and witness how our players are developing ahead of some significant games for the team.”
The All Whites will play Mexico at the Rose Bowl in California on Sunday, September 8 (NZT) before heading to Cincinnati to meet the U.S.A. on Wednesday, September 11 (NZT).
