The men’s football team to represent New Zealand at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics has been named today.
Under the competition regulations squads are limited to 18 players, at least 15 of which must be aged 23 and under, with three overage players permitted.
The squad sees All Whites Joe Bell, Michael Boxall and Sarpreet Singh selected as the overage players, with 11 of the 15 U-23 players also having been capped at senior level, including 10 who were part of the squad for the OFC Men’s Nations Cup win in June.
The full squad is:
Goalkeepers:
Alex Paulsen* - AFC Bournemouth, England
Kees Sims - GAIS Göteborg, Sweden
Defenders:
Tyler Bindon* – Reading FC, England
Michael Boxall* - Minnesota United, USA
Lukas Kelly-Heald* - Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand
Matthew Sheridan - Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand
Finn Surman* - Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand
Sam Sutton* - Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand
Midfielders:
Joe Bell* – Viking FC, Norway
Fin Conchie* - Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand
Matt Garbett* - NAC Breda, Netherlands
Ben Old* - AS Saint-Etienne
Sarpreet Singh* - Unattached
Forwards:
Riley Bidois - Loudoun United, USA
Jay Herdman - Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada
Jesse Randall* – Auckland FC, Aotearoa New Zealand
Oskar van Hattum* - Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand
Ben Waine* - Plymouth Argyle, England
Alternate Players:
Lachlan Bayliss – Newcastle Jets, Australia
Liam Gillion – Auckland FC, Aotearoa New Zealand
Henry Gray - Ipswich Town FC, England
Isaac Hughes - Wellington Phoenix, Aotearoa New Zealand
Albert Kelly-Heald, Scott Morris, Luis Toomey, Finn Linder, Aaryan Raj, Ronan Wynne, Zac Zorocich and Nathan Lobo have been named as non-travelling reserves.
*Capped for the All Whites
Head coach Darren Bazeley is excited about seeing his young side come together in France:
“The Olympics is a special tournament, so it is great to name the side that will be heading over to Paris 2024 as part of the wider New Zealand Team.
“With the competition happening outside of a FIFA window there have been some challenges with clubs releasing players, who are all really keen to be part of the tournament, but that is an issue that numerous countries have faced.
“In many ways it shows the level that our players are operating at that top clubs want to hold on to people like Chris Wood, but luckily we have been building real depth so have talented options to come in instead.
“Over half of this group were part of the All Whites squad that won the OFC Men’s Nations Cup last month, so we are looking to continue that momentum when we get to France.
“This is a rare opportunity for us to test ourselves against some top teams, especially the hosts France in our final group game, and I know all of the players are massively excited and proud to be representing Aotearoa New Zealand.”
NZOC CEO Nicki Nicol extended her congratulations to the athletes.
"We're really pleased to have the men's footballer named to the New Zealand Team for Paris 2024," said Nicol.
"We remember their Tokyo Olympic campaign fondly and we look forward to them creating more New Zealand sporting history shortly."
The men’s team have been drawn in Group A at the tournament alongside hosts France, Guinea and the USA.
The team start their Paris 2024 campaign vs Guinea on Thursday 25 July (KO 3am NZT) in Nice, before facing the USA on Sunday 28 July (KO 5am NZT), and France on Wednesday 31 July (KO 5am NZT), both in Marseille.