Marco Rojas nets brace as New Zealand beat New Caledonia

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:53 am

Marco Rojas gives New Zealand the lead against New Caledonia.
Marco Rojas gives New Zealand the lead against New Caledonia.
Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images

Marco Rojas scored twice as New Zealand beat New Caledonia 2-0 Saturday in an Oceania World Cup qualifying match.

Rojas put New Zealand ahead 1-0 with a 42nd-minute strike that was only partially stopped by New Caledonia goalkeeper Thomas Schmidt. He made the game safe in the 72nd minute when Chris Wood back-heeled Monty Patterson's cross to Rojas, who finished well.

New Zealand have been drawn with New Caledonia and Fiji in Group A in the third stage of qualifying in the Oceania region. Tahiti, drawn with Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands in Group B, opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over the Solomons on Friday.

The group winners play each other in a two-leg playoff in August 2017. The winner then advances to an inter-confederation playoff against the fifth-placed team in South America.