It will very much be a case of all or nothing when the Football Ferns take to Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier in the early hours of Friday morning (NZT).

New Zealand will meet Cameroon in their final group game of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and, to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages, must take maximum reward.

Consecutive defeats have left the Ferns’ hopes of making history hanging by a thread and a sharp mathematical brain is required to work out their chances of earning a Round of 16 berth as one of the best-performing third-placed teams.

But one thing is absolutely certain if the Ferns are to stay alive in France – they simply have to beat Cameroon.

That sense of significance is not lost on the players as they prepare for a game that will make or break their entire campaign.

“It feels like in two days we’re going to play the biggest game of our lives,” says veteran striker Sarah Gregorius.

“It will be the biggest 90 minutes this playing group have ever experienced. But we’re fully focused and we know what we have to do. It’s an opportunity, not only to create history but to continue our tournament. That’s still in our hands and we really believe we deserve to be in the Round of 16.”

Even if the Ferns win but fail to go through, they will write themselves into the record books as the first team from these shores, of either gender, to win a game at a senior World Cup.

The All Whites have three draws to show from their efforts at two World Cups while the Ferns have now played 14 times on the biggest stage of all and posted three draws.

Their best ever showing at a FIFA event came in the 2012 London Olympics when New Zealand qualified for the quarter-finals. Fittingly, their progression on that occasion was sealed by a 3-1 win over Cameroon and Gregorius will be hoping lightning strikes twice after finding the net in that memorable victory.
 

                   Annalie Longo has previous experience of defeating Cameroon on the world stage (Getty Images)

Seven other current squad members were also in the starting line-up that day, including midfield playmaker Annalie Longo. She was not selected to start against Canada four days ago but ended up playing the majority of the disappointing 2-0 loss after replacing the injured CJ Bott early on. Bott has now been ruled out after undergoing surgery, leaving the door open for the likes of Longo to potentially earn a starting berth.

The Canterbury United Pride skipper – named MVP of last year’s National Women’s League – admits she has not seen a lot of Cameroon since getting the better of the central Africans seven years ago but has a good idea of what to expect.

“I would call them an unorthodox side,” Longo says.

“We didn’t know too much about them but we’ve had two games to see them play at this World Cup and they look like a very good side with a number of quick players. Sometimes they’re a bit unorthodox in the way they play which can be difficult to play against.”

The Football Ferns were starved of the ball by a dominant Canada and Longo says retaining possession will be a big focus against Cameroon.

“When you do that sort of running defensively, it makes it very hard to attack and the movement off the ball is a little bit slower, which means they can get around the ball and crowd it. So one of our key work-ons is going to be keeping the ball and you need the ball to score goals,” she says.

“So we’ll work really hard on that in training and make sure we’re ready to go.”

Match Details

Cameroon vs New Zealand
FIFA Women’s World Cup, Group E
Friday 21 June, 4am (NZT)
Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Live on SKY Sport

New Zealand (from): 1. Erin Nayler (GK), 2. Ria Percival, 3. Anna Green, 5. Nicole Stratford, 6. Rebekah Stott, 7. Ali Riley (c), 8. Abby Erceg, 9. Emma Kete, 10. Annalie Longo, 11. Sarah Gregorius, 12. Betsy Hassett, 13. Rosie White, 14. Katie Bowen, 15. Sarah Morton, 16. Katie Duncan, 17. Hannah Wilkinson, 18. Stephanie Skilton, 19. Paige Satchell, 20. Daisy Cleverley, 21. Victoria Esson (GK), 22. Olivia Chance, 23. Nadia Olla (GK)
Coach: Tom Sermanni

Article added: Wednesday 19 June 2019