AUCKLAND: Nottingham Forest forward Chris Wood was named on Thursday to lead New Zealand at the World Cup, where they will chase a first-ever win in their third tournament appearance.
Prolific striker Wood, who has scored 45 goals in 88 matches for the All Whites, will captain the lowest-ranked team at the tournament.
Wood and defender Tommy Smith are the only members of the 26-man squad who also played in their most recent World Cup appearance, in South Africa in 2010.
New Zealand drew all three matches at that tournament and failed to advance through the group phase.
In their only other World Cup visit, they lost all three group matches in Spain in 1982.
The 85th-ranked New Zealand earned direct World Cup entry by winning the Oceania qualifying series in March.
Their first opponents in Group G are Iran in Los Angeles on June 15, before games against Egypt and Belgium.