Three Wellington Phoenix players have been called up to the All Whites for this month’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Vanuatu and Samoa.
Veteran forward Kosta Barbarouses, fullback Tim Payne and midfielder Alex Rufer have been selected in New Zealand’s 24-strong squad for the matches in Hamilton and Auckland.
The trio all featured in the All Whites’ opening World Cup qualifying match against Tahiti last month, which New Zealand won 3-0, and the 4-0 friendly win over Malaysia which followed.
Barbarouses is the second most experienced player in the squad, behind Chris Wood, having played 64 senior internationals.
Payne, 41 caps, is fast approaching 50 matches for New Zealand, while Rufer is in line to make his 18th and 19th appearances for the All Whites.
New Zealand will square-off against Vanuatu in Hamilton next Friday night (November 15) before moving to Auckland to play Samoa on the following Monday night (November 18).
Both matches will be streamed live and free on FIFA+.
Meanwhile, Phoenix midfielder Mo Al-Taay has again been called up to the Iraq squad for their FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Jordan and Oman.
Al-Taay made his senior bow for Iraq in June and featured off the bench in their most recent qualifier against South Korea last month.
Iraq will host Jordan next Friday morning NZT before visiting Oman on the following Wednesday morning (November 20).
All four players will rejoin the Wellington Phoenix ahead of their Unite Round match against Melbourne Victory in Sydney on Sunday, November 24.
