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First Touch ’26 - New Zealand
The tiny island nation at the edge of the world, New Zealand is famous for the All Blacks, the second most dominant team in rugby history. But in 2026, it’s the All Whites chasing history. In this World Cup Capsule, David Gass charts how a rugby-mad country with an almost entirely amateur domestic soccer setup keeps punching above its weight, from early tours in the 1900s to gritty World Cup appearances in 1982 and 2010 where they finished as the only unbeaten team in the tournament... We walk through Oceania dominance, years of intercontinental playoff heartbreak, and what changes now that…
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