Football: All Whites' match with world number one Belgium set to be canned – report

New Zealand Football has denied that the All Whites' fixture against Belgium has been cancelled ... for now. Photo / Photosport

One of the All Whites' biggest matches in recent memory is reportedly set to be canned.

The New Zealand men's team were in line to take on world number one Belgium on October 9 in Brussels. However according to Newshub, New Zealand Football has been forced to cancel the fixture due to a lack of player and staff availability.

New Zealand Football is currently working through the necessary processes, according to the report.

The clash was set to precede another historic match for New Zealand against England at Wembley Stadium, which is set for November 9.

When contacted by the Herald, an NZF spokesperson denied that the fixture had been scrapped.

"Nothing has been confirmed in regards to our fixture against Belgium. As we said when the game was announced, it is provisional on the safety of our players.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation in Europe for both getting our players in and getting them home without disruption to their domestic season."

Last week Danny Hay detailed the lack of players available for their end-of-year matches due to constraints brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The All Whites head coach did not expect any players outside of Europe to turn out, and conceded he himself would need to set up camp for a long period of time in the Northern Hemisphere.

On top of that, Fifa have relaxed rules for the international windows in October and November, meaning clubs do not have to release players as usual. That would likely result in even more Kiwis missing out on a special game in the white jersey.

The fixture would deliver the men's side their biggest test since their 2010 World Cup match against Italy. Even then, Italy were not number one in the world at the time.

At this stage, their clash with England is still going ahead.