FIFA World Cup™ 1974 – Oceania Qualifiers

Australia’s decision to move to the Asian Football Confederation in 1972, meant New Zealand were OFC’s sole representatives in FIFA World Cup™ Qualifying for the 1974 tournament in West Germany.

Again the qualification stage was combined with AFC, with 15 teams separated into two zones based on geographical location. New Zealand were allocated into Zone B, and were drawn into Group B1 alongside Australia, Indonesia, and Iraq. Each team played each other twice, with the winner of the group progressing to the next stage of the qualifying phase.

After opening their campaign with a 1-1 draw with Australia in Auckland, New Zealand struggled to kick on, and failed to win any of their qualifying matches. They recorded two more draws, one against Indonesia, and a dramatic 3-3 result away in Sydney against Australia. The All Whites then lost to Iraq twice, including a 0-4 humbling, and were beaten by Indonesia 0-1 to finish bottom of the group with just three points.

Whilst not members of OFC at the time, Australia would go on to qualify for their first FIFA World Cup™, after topping Group B1 undefeated, and defeating Iran and South Korea in two two-legged play-off ties. At the finals they proved no match for either West or East Germany, but picked up their first World Cup point by holding Chile to a 0-0 draw in Berlin.