short

All Whites qualify for FIFA World Cup

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If you want to develop your listening skills, try these tasks as you listen to the text. The answers are at the bottom of this page, after the Vocabulary. Thanks to Natasha Groves for preparing the tasks.

If you want to listen and read, just scroll down to the text.

1. Listening for main ideas

First, just listen to the text, taking notes if you wish. What information can you catch during this first listening?

2. Now listen again and answer the following questions:

  1. What happened last Monday, 25 March?
  2. Where is next year’s World Cup being held?
  3. In which two years has New Zealand played in the World Cup?
  4. How much money is New Zealand Football expected to receive?
  5. How much of that amount will go to the players?
  6. What games have been planned so far for this year?

3. Language focus: Reference words

Read the following sentences and decide what the underlined words refer to.

  1. Last Monday, 25 March, New Zealand’s football team, the All Whites, qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0. They are the Oceania qualifiers.
  2. The World Cup is being held next year in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. It is the biggest sporting event in the world.
  3. The All Whites’ qualification means New Zealand Football is expected to receive just over $18 million dollars. Around 40 percent of that will go to the players.
  4. Now New Zealand Football is planning for the team to play several games in preparation for the tournament. They already have games against Côte d’Ivoire and Ukraine in June in Toronto, Canada, …

Text

Last Monday, 25 March, New Zealand’s football team, the All Whites, qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0. They are the Oceania qualifiers. It is the first time that the Oceania region has had a direct qualification into the FIFA World Cup.

The World Cup is being held next year in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. It is the biggest sporting event in the world. New Zealand has played in two World Cups in the past, in 1982 and in 2010.

The All Whites’ qualification means New Zealand Football is expected to receive just over $18 million dollars. Around 40 percent of that will go to the players. Now New Zealand Football is planning for the team to play several games in preparation for the tournament. They already have games against Côte d’Ivoire and Ukraine in June in Toronto, Canada, and a game against Norway in October in Oslo, Norway. It is hoped that some other games will be played in New Zealand.

Vocabulary

Oceania – the region in the Pacific with many island countries

FIFA – the international organisation that manages football. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (in French), or International Federation of Association Football

Answers

a. What happened last Monday, 25 March?

    The All Whites qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by beating New Caledonia 3-0.

    b. Where is next year’s World Cup being held?

    Mexico, the United States, and Canada

    c. In which two years has New Zealand played in the World Cup?

    1982, 2010

    d. How much money is New Zealand Football expected to receive?

    Just over $18 million

    e. How much of that amount will go to the players?

    Around 40%

    f. What games have been planned so far for this year?

    Against Côte d’Ivoire and Ukraine in June in Toronto, Canada, and a game against Norway in October in Oslo, Norway.

    Language focus answers

    1. The All Whites
    2. The World Cup
    3. Just over $18 million
    4. The All Whites; The World Cup; The All Whites