New Zealand will play at their sixth Under-17 World Cup after dominating the Oceania qualifiers in Vanuatu this week.
The Young All Whites beat Papua New Guinea 4-0 today to achieve a perfect winning record. They won all five of their matches to collect a maximum 15 points, scoring 23 goals and conceding only three.
They opened with a 9-0 win against the Cook Islands before beating New Caledonia 4-0, Vanuatu 2-1 and Fiji 4-2. Stuart Holthusen grabbed a second-half hat-trick against PNG, with strike partner Monty Patterson adding the other.
The Young All Whites will play in their fourth consecutive Under-17 World Cup, to be played in the United Arab Emirates starting on October 17, and reached the round of 16 in Mexico in 2011.