Vishal Kaith saved a penalty, and New Zealand still beat India 5-0 in Auckland
Jesse Randall scored twice on his old ground as the All Whites won the first of two friendlies. India go to Christchurch on Sunday still looking for a first win against them.
Nov 12, 2026
India have now played New Zealand three times and still have not beaten them. The third meeting, the first India have ever played in New Zealand, ended 5-0 to the All Whites at Go Media Stadium in Auckland on Thursday. It was 3-0 at half-time.
The best thing India took from the night was their goalkeeper. Vishal Kaith started in place of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who was left out of the squad after the two home friendlies last month, and he kept the score from getting worse. In the 78th minute he dived full stretch to save Bill Tuiloma’s penalty and then got back up to stop the rebound.
Randall came back to Auckland and scored twice
New Zealand were ahead inside five minutes. The ball bounced around India’s box after a scramble and went in off Bijoy Varghese.
Jesse Randall did most of the damage after that. The 24-year-old forward was an Auckland FC player until the summer, when he moved to Dundee United in Scotland after the World Cup, and he scored in the 34th and 43rd minutes on his old home ground. India’s best chance of the half had come in between, in the 19th minute, when Ryan Williams cut the ball back for Manvir Singh and Callan Elliott blocked the shot.
Chris Wood, New Zealand’s captain and record scorer, headed in the fourth in the 57th minute. Lachlan Bayliss volleyed the fifth in the 74th. Liston Colaco forced a save from Alex Paulsen with a free-kick early in the second half, and Tomba Singh Haobam’s long shot in the 88th minute was gathered by the same keeper. That was about all India managed at the other end.
Four debuts, and Thapa had the armband
Anirudh Thapa wore the armband, the first time he had captained India since 2018. Khalid Jamil changed five players at half-time, bringing on Jay Gupta, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Mehtab Singh, Ricky Meetei Haobam and Muhammad Suhail. Meetei Haobam and Suhail were making their India debuts, and David Lalhlansanga and Tomba Singh Haobam got theirs off the bench later on.
Fifteen goals in three games
This is the third heavy defeat in a row. India lost 4-0 to Brazil and 6-1 to Uruguay in Kolkata in October, so they have now conceded 15 goals in three matches and scored one. Friendlies against World Cup sides were always going to be hard for a team ranked 138th in the world. Even so, Jamil needs his defence to look better than this before the games that count.
This was not New Zealand’s strongest side. Darren Bazeley, who leaves the job at the end of the year, was without several of his Europe-based regulars and picked a squad heavy on A-League players.
The two teams meet again on Sunday, 15 November, in Christchurch, the first international football match at the new One New Zealand Stadium. Kick-off is 4pm local time, which is 8:30am IST. It is also Bazeley’s last game in charge.