The All Whites were drawn in Group G at next year's World Cup. Photo: photosport
The All Whites will play Belgium, Iran and Egypt in Group G at next year's FIFA World Cup following a glittering draw ceremony in Washington DC.
New Zealand have been placed one of the easier of the 12 pools at next year's global tournament, although they will still be outsiders to advance to the knockout stage for the first time in their history.
The 86th-ranked All Whites were the last team pulled out of the draw, leaving supporters and a seven-strong contingent from New Zealand Football attending the event at the Kennedy Centre in suspense for more than two hours.
New Zealand have avoided some of the game's super-heavyweights but will have their hands full against eighth-ranked Belgium, 20th ranked Iran and 34th-ranked Egypt.
Egypt were ranked among the strongest teams in the third-tier pot three, meaning there is no team close to New Zealand's relatively low status.
The All Whites played Egypt in March last year, going down 1-0 in a competitive contest in Cairo decided by a questionable penalty, although the African side were without their star Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.
All Whites striker Ben Waine in action against Egypt. Photo: photosport
New Zealand have never played a Belgium side who could feature a host of leading European club stars, including Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal) and Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa) from the English Premier League.
The All Whites' most recent clash with Iran was a 3-0 loss in 2003. The Iranians topped their Asian qualifying pool to comfortably qualify for next year's tournament.
A top two finish in pool play will guarantee a place in the round-of-16 at the expanded 48-nation tournament which starts on 12 June.
Eight of the 12 third-placegetters will also advance.
The dates and match venues among the 16 host cities in the US, Canada and Mexico are to be unveiled on Sunday morning (NZT).
All three of New Zealand's pool games are expected to be played in Seattle, Los Angeles and Vancouver, with their first-up opponents likely to be Iran.
The All Whites failed to make the knockout stage in their two previous visits to the men's World Cup in 1982 and 2010.
Mexico kick off
The tournament will kick off with co-hosts Mexico playing South Africa at the Azteca Stadium - venue of the 1970 and 1986 finals - followed by South Korea against a playoff winner.
Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, talks on stage with hosts Heidi Klum and Kevin Hart during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Fellow hosts the United States and Canada will join the party the next day, against Paraguay and a playoff winner - possibly Italy - respectively in Los Angeles and Toronto.
Defending champions Argentina were grouped with Algeria, Austria and Jordan, while five-time winners Brazil will play Morocco - semi-finalists in 2022 - Haiti and Scotland.
The Scots are appearing in the finals for the first time since 1998, when they lost to Brazil in the opening game.
France's first game will be against Senegal in a repeat of one of the biggest tournament upsets, when the Africans stunned the then-holders in their first game of the 2002 tournament.
England will start against Croatia, who beat them in the 2018 semi-finals, and also face Panama, who they beat 6-1 in the group stage in the same tournament.
The teams outside the hosts' groups will have to wait until Saturday to find out the venues and kick-off times for their games after FIFA attempts to optimise venues and kick-off times relating to the various worldwide TV markets.
A newly introduced seeding system ensures that the current top four in the world - Spain, holders Argentina, 2022 runners-up France and England - cannot meet until the semi-final stage if they win their groups.
The schedule is a mammoth 104 matches across 16 cities in the US, Canada and Mexico, culminating in the final in New Jersey on 19 July.
Pool draw
GROUP A
Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, European Playoff D
GROUP B
Canada, European Playoff A, Qatar, Switzerland
GROUP C
Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
GROUP D
United States, Paraguay, Australia, European Playoff C
GROUP E
Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
GROUP F
Netherlands, Japan, European Playoff B, Tunisia
GROUP G
Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
GROUP H
Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
GROUP I
France, Senegal, FIFA Playoff 2, Norway
GROUP J
Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
GROUP K
Portugal, FIFA Playoff 1, Uzbekistan, Colombia
GROUP L
England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
- Reuters, with additional reporting by RNZ
