New Zealand’s hopes of going to their third FIFA World Cup finals depend on the All Whites getting past two key hurdles.
First, they have to win an eight-nation tournament between March 18-31 in Qatar.
Then, the All Whites have to beat whichever nation finishes fourth in the eight-team North & Central America & the Caribbean qualifying series.
New Zealand go into the Oceania qualifying tournament as favourites but they will need to finish first or second in their group to qualify for the sudden death semi-finals.
If they can win the final, they’ll return to Qatar for a one-off game on June 14 or 15, against the CONCACAF qualifier.
Going into March, the most likely sides to finish fourth in CONCACAF are Panama or Costa Rica – click here to read why.
Download our one-page guide
Friends of Football have produced a print-friendly one-page guide to the qualifiers.
It covers the Oceania and CONCACAF qualifiers that by March 31 will determine which two nations will play-off in June for the 32nd and final place at the FIFA World Cup finals.
Click here to download our World Cup guide >>>>
The Road to Qatar – the daily schedule
All dates and times are NZT
Friday March 18
3am: Cook Islands v Solomon Islands (Oceania, Group A)
6am: Tahiti v Vanuatu (Oceania, Group A)
Saturday March 19
3.00am: Papua New Guinea v NEW ZEALAND (Oceania, Group B)
6.00am: New Caledonia v Fiji (Oceania, Group B)
Monday March 21
3.00am: Cook Islands v Tahiti (Oceania, Group A)
6.00am: Solomon Islands v Vanuatu (Oceania, Group A)
Tuesday March 22
3.00am: Papua New Guinea v New Caledonia (Oceania, Group B)
6.00am: NEW ZEALAND v Fiji (Oceania, Group B)
Friday March 25
6.00am: Vanuatu v Cook Islands (Oceania, Group A)
6.00am: Solomon Islands v Tahiti (Oceania, Group A)
6.00am: NEW ZEALAND v New Caledonia (Oceania, Group B)
6.00am: Fiji v Papua New Guinea (Oceania, Group B)
12.05pm: Jamaica v El Salvador (CONCACAF)
2.05pm: Panama v Honduras (CONCACAF)
3.00pm: Mexico v United States (CONCACAF)
3.05pm: Costa Rica v Canada (CONCACAF)
Monday March 28
3.00am: Oceania – winner Group A v Runners-up Group B
6.30am: Oceania – winner Group B v Runners-up Group A
9.05am: Canada v Jamaica (CONCACAF)
10.05am: El Salvador v Costa Rica (CONCACAF)
12.00pm: United States v Panama (CONCACAF)
12.05pm: Honduras v Mexico (CONCACAF)
Thursday March 31
6.00am: Oceania – final to decide which nation qualifies for the intercontinental play-off against fourth-placed CONCACAF team.
2.05pm: Panama v Canada (CONCACAF)
2.05pm: Costa Rica v United States (CONCACAF)
2.05pm: Mexico v El Salvador (CONCACAF)
2.05pm: Jamaica v Honduras (CONCACAF)
How the CONCACAF table looks
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