A well-taken goal by Eli Just has fired New Zealand to a 1-0 win against Côte d’Ivoire in their opening game at the four-nation Canadian Shield tournament in Toronto.
The All Whites, rated #86 in the current FIFA world rankings, upset the African Nations Cup champions in a tense game at BDO Stadium.
READ MORE: Gritty All Whites land win against African champions Côte d’Ivoire >>>>
In the early game, hosts Canada beat Ukraine 4-2.
Watch the highlights
Results
Games played on Sunday June 8, 2025 (NZT)
New Zealand 1 (Eli Just 41′)
Côte d’Ivoire 0
Canada 4 (Jonathan David 4′, 24′, Promise David 31′, Tajon Buchanan 81′)
Ukraine 2 (Illya Zabarnyi 89′, Oleksandr Zinchenko 90+2′ pen)
Line-ups
New Zealand’s starting line-up.
New Zealand
Max Crocombe, Bill Tuiloma (Callan Elliott 62′), Tyler Bindon, Finn Surman, Liberato Cacace (captain), Joe Bell, Marko Stamenic (Michael Boxall 82′), Sarpreet Singh (Alex Rufer 62′), Eli Just (Matthew Garbett 62′), Kosta Barbarouses (Chris Wood 82′), Callum McCowatt (Ben Old 29′),
Subs not used: Nando Pijnaker, Ben Waine, Francis de Vries, Alex Paulsen, Nik Tzanev, Tommy Smith.
Cards: Callum McCowatt 25′ (yellow), Matt Garbett 86′ (yellow).
Côte d’Ivoire
Ali Badra, Luc Zogbe, Jean Gbamin (Odilon Kossonou 77′), Cedric Kipre, Emmanuel Latte (Ibrahim Sangare 66′), Cristopher Operi, Mohamed Diomande (Franck Kessie 66′), Lazare Amani (Simon Adingra), Nicolas Pepé (Jeremie Boga 77′), Evann Guessannd, Gbane Mory (Sebastien Haller 66′).
Subs not used: Yahia Fofana, Ghislain Konan, Wilfried Singo, Clement Akpa, Parfait Guiagon, Mohamed Kone.
Card: Mohamed Diomande 16′ (yellow).
Officials
Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauziere (Canada)
Assistant referee 1: Marie-Han Gagnon (Canada)
Assistant referee 2: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt (Canada)
Fourth official: Carly Shaw-MacLaren (Canada)
BMO Field, Toronto.
Fixtures
Games to be played on Wednesday June 11, 2025 (NZT)
All Whites v Ukraine
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada, 9am (NZT)
Canada v Côte d’Ivoire
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada, 2.30pm (NZT)
This story was first published on June 8, 2025.