VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Well, we'll always have those combined 34 minutes that New Zealand led Iran in Los Angeles, until Team Melli rallied back from behind, twice, to secure a draw. And we'll always have the 43 minutes that the Kiwis led against Egypt in Vancouver, until Mohamed Salah and company roared back to claim a 3-1 win. We'll have that 5-1 loss to Belgium at BC Place, too, but maybe that's not one to dwell on.
Indeed, if there was one major emotion emanating from All Whites players as they trudged to their team bus on Friday evening -- the All Whites nickname derived from the colour of their kits -- it was a sense of regret.
And it wasn't over their heavy defeat at the hands of the Belgians, either. They'd in fact made the decision to chase the game after going into the halftime break down 1-0 after conceding a horrifically defended Leandro Trossard opener, preferring not to die wondering. Them being duly punished by shipping a further four in the second stanza -- allowing the Red Devils to claim top spot in Group G on goal difference -- came as a result of that.
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Instead, their lament focused on those periods of control they had against both the Iranians and Egyptians, where they could have gone on with things, put their foot on the throats of their opponents and made no doubt of what would have been a first-ever men's World Cup win for New Zealand, only to see the opportunity slip through their grasp. Because, at times, the Kiwis played some nice football this World Cup, certainly nicer to look at than some of the teams that will be headed to the Round of 32, but won't have anything to show for it.
"We spoke about that," Ben Old reflected. "It was a weird situation where we felt like we started those first two games really well, and we still seemed to have this underdog mentality; when we go up, we're then trying to defend the lead. But we need to realise that we were good enough to dominate these teams and be able to get that third and fourth.
"Talking about regrets, maybe that could have been a big one for us: to push the games more, rather than sit off. But I think the boys did amazing, and well, I think we did get very unlucky."
Had the Kiwis been able to go on with either of those leads, they would have entered Friday evening's game on at least four points, already locked into a place in the knockout stages regardless of how heavily they lost to Rudi Garcia's side.
"We didn't get knocked out by this game tonight," coach Darren Bazeley said. "We were leading against Iran twice, and we were leading against Egypt. They're the moments where the points are at stake. With those performances we put on, we should have been coming into this game probably on four points, and this result doesn't matter."
The reality is that in the new, 48-team era of expanded World Cups, New Zealand will be back here in four years time. Ever since Australia departed for Asia, the Kiwis have been the undisputed kings of Oceania. Short of catastrophic incompetence of their own creation, the rest of the confederation simply isn't developed enough yet to realistically challenge for the one automatic qualification slot that is now on offer.
But what do they need to do in the intervening four years to ensure that, next time, they're claiming a first World Cup history? To progress to the knockouts for the first time? That's a question.
Some of it will likely be linear progression. Players such as Old, Tyler Bindon, Finn Surman, Marko Stamenić, Liberato Cacace, Alex Paulsen, Ben Waine, and Jess Randall will all still be under 30 by the time of the next World Cup, and Elijah Just (who set a new mark for the nation's men in scoring three goals in 2026) Joe Bell and Callan Elliot won't be too far beyond that point, either.
"We've got a lot of great players that are at a good age," said skipper Chris Wood. "Even when you're over 30, you can still be in your prime, as I like to think, a lot of our players have shown. But yes, ultimately, in history, players at around 28, 29, that's when you hit your peak, and you do extremely well. So, hopefully, in four years' time, those boys, or this team, or the country will be in a great stead."
However, what 2026 has exposed is that, in treading an easier path to qualification, New Zealand doesn't build up the scar tissue, the wounds, that come with grinding through qualification in Asia, Africa, or Europe, nor do they experience the same challenges that come with an Asian Cup, AFCON, or Euros. Combine this with Wood being the only member of the squad playing consistently in one of the world's biggest leagues, and there was a lot of education taking place at the World Cup for the players, lessons that will do them the world of good but which, for now, they can't replicate.
"You're playing against some world-class players, they're clinical and ruthless, and we get punished if we're not flawless for 90 minutes," Bazeley said. "These are lessons for our players.
"We are very young... the majority of this team is very young, and this is really the first time they've been exposed to this type of level of ruthlessness and professionalism. They all play professional football, they all play in good leagues, but we've only got Woodsy, who plays in the Premier League. You come up against a Belgium team full of Premier League, Serie A, La Liga -- they've all played in the highest levels of football for a long time and been to World Cups, to Euros, and all those things.
"We have our Oceania qualifiers, which are cool, and then we play a lot of friendlies. We play friendlies, and we're making six subs and giving everyone a go, and you can't replicate what the boys have learned here."
There's also a question of style and substance. Led by the players, Bazeley has looked to introduce a more free-flowing, attractive style of play into the team, and he was rewarded with goals in every game in 2026. However, the side also copped 10 goals going in the opposite direction, and when you compare the Kiwis to their close neighbors Australia, who don't play all-that-attractive football but have advanced to the knockouts with two clean sheets, there's perhaps something to be said for pragmatism.
Bazeley, too, will come under the microscope in the months ahead. Every coach does, or at least should, after a World Cup. Out of contract in December, and with this 5-1 shellacking the last memory they'll have of the tournament, New Zealand Football will need to determine if the coach remaining in place, which he signalled he wants to do, is the next best step for this side. If he's not, they have to ask themselves if there's a local in place possessing the necessary skill set to assume the role or, if not, there's a foreigner they can invest in to try to import some of the necessary IP to compete with the bigger confederations.
It will require soul-searching, kind of like the Kiwi players will be doing on the long flight back to Aotearoa after a campaign that could have gone very differently.