Vanuatu football coach Juliano Schmeling says team well-prepared to face All Whites

Members of the Vanuatu football team with coach Juliano Schmeling (in blue).

Vanuatu’s team to play the All Whites in Hamilton is almost all based in the islands — but coach Juliano Schmeling knows plenty about New Zealand football.

Schmeling has previously coached in New Plymouth and Palmerston North and was lured to Vanuatu as national coach in the middle of the year.

His contract is for the World Cup qualifying rounds, but it could be extended.

Speaking to the Waikato Herald before the match, Schmeling said his squad was “well prepared” for the clash against the All Whites.

New Zealand is favoured to progress from the pool and win a place in the expanded 2026 World Cup finals in North America.

The Oceania qualifying series started with 11 Pacific nations — there are now eight left — and will culminate in semifinals and a final in New Zealand next March.

Brazilian-born Schmeling came to New Zealand in 2011 with a project to develop futsal — a hardcourt five-aside version of the game — but was lured away to coach in the Pacific Islands.

He subsequently coached the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia at international level and spent 10 years delivering courses and building relationships in the Islands.

His new team has already notched up a victory in Group B of the qualifiers, beating Samoa 4-1 in Vanuatu last month, a day after New Zealand beat Tahiti 3-0.

Vanuatu football coach Juliano Schmeling.

New Caledonia, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea make up the other group.

The Hamilton match will be the third Schmeling has overseen against New Zealand. New Zealand won 4-0 and 3-0 in Oceania Nations Cup fixtures in June.

Football is a popular sport in Vanuatu and having worked with the national team, Schmeling saw the potential for players to step up to a higher level.

He likens the enthusiasm of players in Vanuatu, where he now lives, with young players in his home country.