All Whites face Cup tightrope

The All Whites are set to be waiting until January 2022 before they can begin qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar in November and December that year.

With what is usually a long campaign increasingly looking like being compressed into a twoweek tournament, they are likely to have to navigate a one-off semifinal and final, where a single mistake could end their hopes.

In the final stage of Oceania qualifying for the 2010 and 2014 Cups, four teams played each other home and away to find one to advance to an intercontinental playoff. In 2018, two groups of three teams did the same before the group winners met in a home-andaway final ahead of the playoff.

But with the Covid-19 pandemic making team assembly and travel in the region difficult, a tournament – which could be hosted in New Zealand – and a pair of win-orbust matches is quickly becoming the only realistic option.

All Whites coach Danny Hay is growing weary of having to update his calendar, but he acknowledges it is something out of his control.

‘‘It’s far from ideal. There are a lot of unknowns at this stage, but I’m confident that whoever we need to call on, they’ll be ready.’’

Zoom calls are all Hay has had as far as All Whites activity goes since his first tour in charge in November 2019, where they lost 3-1 to the Republic of Ireland and 1-0 to Lithuania.

The most recent catchup took place last week and involved 55 players, with another ‘‘eight or nine’’ unable to make it.

‘‘It’s a bit of a Rubik’s Cube, with our players scattered all around the world,’’ he said.