Following three straight World Cup qualifying campaigns ending in defeat in the playoffs, New Zealand will have been delighted that the increased number of teams in the tournament meant that the Oceania region got one automatic qualifier for the first time. The last time they lost a match against a side in their own continent was back in 2008 in their final qualifying game once they had already guaranteed top spot. In this qualifying campaign, New Zealand played five games, scored twenty nine goals and conceded just once. It can be a little tough to gauge the strength of a side whose qualifying games are against sides they ordinarily thrash, but it will be interesting to see how they fare this summer. In their last appearance in 2010, they drew all three of their matches in the group stages, and although they were dumped out of the tournament at the earliest possibility, they did finish the tournament as the only team to have not tasted defeat.