With a mischievous smile and full of emotion, Germain Haewegene, forward for New Caledonia, celebrated the second goal in the 2-0 friendly victory against Gibraltar. Despite the joy, he knew a long night awaited him. A bus would pick them up at 2:30 a.m. to begin a 30-hour, 12,000-mile journey back home, just 72 hours after having traveled in the opposite direction to play the friendly on October 8th.Haewegene, with an apple in his hand outside the visiting dressing room at the Europa Point Stadium in Gibraltar, far from protein shakes or rehydration gels, wanted to talk about his goal, the pride of representing the South Pacific nation and why an exhausting trip back to the French-controlled archipelago was not a reason to complain.
New Caledonia’s most important journey has just begun, and the final destination, as incredible as it may seem, could be the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.Nicknamed “Les Cagous”, in reference to the flightless native bird that inhabits the dozens of islands that make up the country, New Caledonia secured their place in the FIFA Interconfederation Play-Offs next March by reaching the final of the Oceania qualifying campaign, where they lost 3-0 to New Zealand earlier this year. However, their victory in the semi-finals against Tahiti had already sealed the prize of a ticket to the Play-Offs.It’s a joy to play soccer and a great joy to score a goal, which I dedicate to my son and my wife. I feel proud of my country and also of my teammates, who did a great job to win this match.
Germain Haewegene
Tahiti and New Caledonia are separated by 2,900 miles of ocean, making it perhaps the most distant “local” rivalry in the sport. New Zealand secured Oceania’s only direct spot for the World Cup, New Caledonia will travel to Mexico for the Inter-Confederation Play-Offs in Guadalajara and Monterrey, knowing that they are only two victories away from the World Cup.The team is made up of part-time players who play in the New Caledonia Super Ligue, which has 10 teams, and several who play in the fifth division of French football. Only Jeno, who joined Unirea Slobozia of Romania this summer, represents a top-level team outside of Oceania. Bolivia has also qualified for the Play-Offs and will join two Concacaf nations and one each from Asia and Africa; New Caledonia, ranked 150th by FIFA, knows it has a mountain to climb to become the smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup, surpassing Iceland, by securing one of the last two qualifying spots.It’s always special to beat Tahiti. They are our great rivals.
Jekob Jeno
New Caledonia’s dream began to take shape, becoming a FIFA member in 2004, after the French Football Federation gave it permission to apply for membership four years earlier. As one of France’s overseas territories, its citizens have French nationality and are eligible to vote in French presidential elections. Despite being more than 10,000 miles away, the close ties with France explain why almost half of Sidaner’s team plays in the country and why the 48-year-old coach left a position at his local club Nantes to become New Caledonia’s coach in 2022.It was an easy decision for me. The culture of the people is welcoming, friendly, and they love football. It’s easy to manage this football team.AS Magenta, the current champions of the New Caledonia Super Ligue, will play in this season’s Coupe de France and have already been assigned a home draw in the seventh round in November, the same stage at which Ligue 2 teams enter the competition, so fans of Saint-Etienne, Nancy or Montpellier could face an epic trip.However, the French connection can be problematic. When Gibraltar confirmed the friendly against New Caledonia last month, the announcement was made with the flags of Gibraltar and New Caledonia side by side on the Gibraltar Football Association website, causing a small diplomatic incident.The flag of New Caledonia can only fly alongside the French tricolor, which led to a rushed update.The sensitivity of the flag also led Gibraltar to have to buy a new mast for the match because both the French flag and that of New Caledonia needed to fly, with strict instructions that the French flag take precedence over that of the island nation. It was only in 2008 when France granted the football team permission to have their own anthem instead of La Marseillaise, which remains the official national anthem of New Caledonia, so it is in this context of French control that New Caledonian footballers are literally putting their country on the map.The step is big. Maybe we have a 1% chance of qualifying for the World Cup. But we will play at 100% to achieve it.
Johann Sidaner
Haewegene, the charismatic goalscorer, laughs when asked if he could be a full-time professional in New Caledonia with AS Magenta, before revealing his incredible “real” job.Maybe we can show ourselves as New Caledonia through our football. Our football is not professional, but it is football and every year we develop.
Jekob Jeno
Professional? Haha, no! I play for the biggest team in New Caledonia, but we are not professionals. My job is a Paralympic coach: I am a guide for blind or visually impaired runners. I went to the Paralympic Games last year to help the French athletes. I can run 100 meters in 11.3 seconds: I am fast. Very fast!
Germain Haewegene
How does a national team from the South Pacific, a country 1,200 miles east of Sydney, Australia, end up playing against one of the smallest nations in Europe in a friendly match? It’s a match that pits the world’s number 200 team (Gibraltar) against one that is only 50 places above.
The Gibraltar stadium is half football field and half cricket pitch, framed by the imposing Rock of Gibraltar, a red and white lighthouse and the Strait of Gibraltar, the nine-mile-wide stretch of water that separates Europe from Africa. But, having not played a match since the defeat against New Zealand in Auckland in March, New Caledonia simply needed to play.It’s an important victory for us because we have defeated a European team for the first time. We haven’t played together for a long time, so this will be a big step for our plans for the Play-Offs.My job is to organize matches for national teams and the New Caledonia coach asked me to look for an opponent in Europe in October. But it’s not easy. There aren’t many possibilities, especially since there are now World Cup qualifiers and the big national teams can find opponents much more easily.
Gaël Mahé
