New Zealand will face Ukraine on June 10 in Toronto
On June 7, the 2025 Canadian Shield Tournament began. Canada faced Ukraine on the opening day, while New Zealand played against Ivory Coast. Canada defeated Ukraine 4-2 while New Zealand earned a narrow 1-0 victory against Ivory Coast.
Following the conclusion of these matches, New Zealand will now face Ukraine on Tuesday, June 10. The winner of this match will have a serious possibility of winning the inaugural tournament, depending on how the game ends between Canada and Ivory Coast.
First, New Zealand. Having already qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the “All Whites” will be using the Canadian Shield Tournament as preparation for next year’s major competition. They will use this opportunity to become more familiar with North American stadiums and playing styles of potential opponents at the competition, and they will look to become as match-ready as possible, knowing that the World Cup is only a year away. Winning the inaugural Canadian Shield Tournament would be a bonus. For that to happen, they will need to defeat Ukraine and hope that Ivory Coast either defeat or draw Canada.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has yet to begin their qualification cycle for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. To prepare for the qualification process this autumn, the Ukrainians are using the international window in June to face new opponents and practice their tactics and formations. Depending on how things unfold, they will then adopt these strategies and use them during the qualification process this autumn, where they will face France, Iceland, and Azerbaijan. In the meantime, Ukraine will hope to make adjustments to their team following the loss against Canada. A victory against New Zealand could inspire confidence for the “Zbirna” ahead of the World Cup qualification process this autumn.
As the inaugural Canadian Shield Tournament comes to an end, both New Zealand and Ukraine will hope to take away some information about their team and their style of play. How will these two teams perform on Tuesday, June 10? Will either team emerge victorious?
Team news and key stats
This will be the first time New Zealand and Ukraine have met in a match.
New Zealand have already qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The “All Whites” secured qualification after advancing in all three of Oceania’s qualification rounds.
Ukraine has yet to begin their qualification process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The “Zbirna” have only qualified for world football’s most prestigious competition once since independence, which was in 2006.
New Zealand’s expected atarting 11 against Ukraine:
Crocombe Tuiloma Bindon Boxall Cacace Stamenić Bell McCowatt Singh Garbett Wood
Ukraine’s expected starting 11 against New Zealand:
Lunin Tymchyk Zabarnyi Matviyenko Mykhaylichenko Kalyuzhnyi Sudakov Shaparenko Zinchenko Tsygankov Yaremchuk
Source: Mark Temnycky