Dominant New Zealand Soar To World Cup Qualifying Final

The Football Ferns scored four of their five goals in the first-half, as Fiji delivered an improved second-half defensive display.

New Zealand will now go on to face Papua New Guinea in the final on Wednesday evening at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland and are just one match away from reaching their seventh FIFA Women’s World Cup™.

The hosts came out firing and opened their account in the fifth minute. Grace Jale drilled a shot that Fijian goalkeeper Mereseini Waqali could only parry into the path of Kelli Brown, who blazed into the back of the net.

The Kulas held firm under pressure for the next quarter of an hour before a pinpoint Michaela Foster cross found captain Kate Taylor, who nodded home into the bottom left corner.

Foster, in front of her home town crowd, soon added New Zealand’s third with a lofted long-range effort that dipped under Waqali and into the net.

Just past the half hour mark, Deven Jackson cut the ball back to Katie Kitching, who slotted it cleanly into the bottom left corner.

Photo Credit: OFC Media via Phototek

Waqali produced a flurry of acrobatic saves to deny strong efforts from Jackson and Brown just before the half-time whistle, and New Zealand went into the break 4–0 up.

In the second-half’s opening stages, vital interventions from Fijian centre-back Unaisi Tuberi and resolute defending from her team's backline kept the relentless Kiwi attack at bay.

New Zealand struck midway through the second-half when Katie Kitching laid the ball off to substitute Hannah Blake, who finished with a well-drilled strike into the left corner.

Fiji continued to defend strongly and reduced their opponents to just one goal in the second period, with New Zealand happy to hold on to what they had, as they look forward to Wednesday's final.

New Zealand: 5 (Kelli BROWN 11’, Kate TAYLOR 21’, Michaela FOSTER 27’, Katie KITCHING 38’, Hannah BLAKE 74’)
Fiji: 0
HT: 4-0

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