Football: All Whites add friendly against African side Gambia for November international window

The All Whites will look to build on their two recent victories, confirming another international friendly, and will face African side Gambia in Abu Dhabi next month.

Fresh from consecutive wins over Curacao and Bahrain in the October international window, Danny Hay's side will line up in another friendly, as they build towards qualifying for the 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar.

The All Whites will face Gambia, nicknamed the Scorpions, on November 17 (NZ time), as well as playing another fixture on November 13 as a warm-up, with their opponents to be revealed at a later date.

The latest fixture is a bonus for the All Whites, having returned to international football after a gap of nearly 700 days when they lined up against Curacao last month.

October's victories saw the All Whites blood a number of new players for what will be a crucial qualifying campaign to reach next year's World Cup in Qatar, with coach Danny Hay stating it's vital to see his side continue to play regularly beforehand.

"It's hugely important that we keep up the momentum from the October games so I'm delighted we are able to lock-in these fixtures," Hay says.   

"We know we are playing catch-up with other nations, after not playing because of COVID restrictions, so now want to take every opportunity to get together as a squad and continue to build the culture and understanding on and off the pitch. 

"These games will be another good test for us. It also gives us another opportunity to acclimatise to the conditions in the Middle East ahead of potential OFC games here."

However like the October fixtures, the All Whites will select a playing squad from outside of New Zealand and Australia, due to the challenges of travelling and returning to the managed isolation quarantine (MIQ) system.

"It's a tough one for the A-League players at the moment but you can already see things are starting to open up which is positive. 

"Hopefully this is the last window where we are restricted in who we can select but, as was shown by the games against Bahrain and Curacao, I have every faith in the squad we will be assembling."