Football: All Whites to play Oman, Bahrain in March

NZ's Sarpreet Singh.
NZ's Sarpreet Singh. Photo credit: Photosport

The All Whites will play their first internationals of 2020 in the Middle East next month, NZ Football has announced.

They'll square off with Oman on March 26, before facing old foes Bahrain four days later. The venues are yet to be confirmed.

The tour will be Danny Hay's second in charge, following the trip to Ireland and Lithuania in November.

The matches will form part of their build-up to qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The format of Oceania qualifying is still to be confirmed, but the process is scheduled to begin in September.

The Football Ferns will also return to action in March at the Algarve Cup in Portugal, alongside the host nation, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway and Sweden.

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

Plenty of age-group action is planned, with both the U17 and U20 FIFA Women’s World Cups in the pipeline.

New Zealand has already qualified for the U20 event in Costa Rica and Panama in August.

Meanwhile, Oceania qualifying for the U17 tournament was delayed due to the recent measles epidemic. They'll have to wait until April to chase a berth at November’s World Cup in India.

The men’s U17 and U20 national teams also hope to qualify for their respective World Cups, with qualifying tournaments scheduled for July and September.