Football Ferns fullback Lara Wall tears calf, out of World Cup qualifiers

Football Ferns fullback Lara Wall is set to miss the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2027 qualifiers with a torn calf.

The Wellington Phoenix announced she tore her left calf in their 2-1 loss to Central Coast Mariners on Sunday.

The club said the injury is likely to keep Wall out of the squad for the remainder of the A-League season as well.

The fullback was called up to the Football Ferns for the first time in October last year as a replacement for clubmate CJ Bott, who withdrew from the squad through injury.

Wall featured as a substitute in a 6-0 loss to the United States and a 2-0 loss to Australia in October and December respectively.

She also featured in the squads that played against Mexico in October and Australia in November, but stayed on the bench.

The Football Ferns will need to find a replacement for Wall when they play Samoa, the Solomon Islands and American Samoa in the Solomon Islands at the end of February and for the Oceania Women’s World Cup qualifiers in March.

Wall is in her second season with the Phoenix after featuring in all 23 games of the club’s 2024/25 campaign while also working as a structural engineer.

She had featured in all 14 of Wellington’s matches this season and has scored one goal, which came in a 7-0 victory over Sydney FC.

Before joining the Phoenix, Wall played for Southern United and Canterbury United Pride.

Her injury came in a 2-1 defeat to the fifth-placed Central Coast Mariners, denying the Wellington team their fifth straight win in the league.

A free kick from 19-year-old Peta Trimis put the Mariners ahead in the 16th minute before the Phoenix equalised through a 28th-minute Mackenzie Anthony goal.

Tamar Levin put Central Coast back ahead on the stroke of halftime and Wellington couldn’t find an answer in the second half.

However, the Phoenix are second in the women’s A-League, three points behind Melbourne City FC with a game in hand and a much stronger goal difference.