Matches a preamble event for All Whites

one-off fixture, against the fourth-placed team from North and Central America and the Caribbean, they appear to be better positioned than they were at the same stage in the last two World Cup cycles.

A core group of players emerged last year, when coach Danny Hay’s tenure finally began for real.

Wins over Curac¸ao, Bahrain, and The Gambia ensured there was a buzz around the team, even though those fixtures were just seventh, eighth and ninth they had played since the last intercontinental playoff, against Peru in 2017.

With The Gambia advancing to the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations this weekend – and

Algeria A’, who the All Whites defeated in a non-cap earning fixture, winning the Fifa Arab Cup prior to Christmas – those results have only got better with time.

But the hope is their upcoming fixtures against Jordan and Uzbekistan will be tougher and give Hay, his players, and fans a clear picture of where the team stands as it heads into must-win territory.

All Whites matches against teams outside Oceania are so rare that they aren’t easily forgotten.

The last time they played Jordan, ahead of the intercontinental playoff against Bahrain in 2009, they won 3-1 – a result that gave the country hope it could make it back to the World Cup after a 28-year wait.

The last time they played Uzbekistan was Anthony Hudson’s first match in charge – a 3-1 loss in 2014.

But in less than five months, they will either be off to the World Cup or not, and the results and details of these coming matches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai will forever sit in the shadow of that outcome.