Wood aims to play on until 2026 World Cup
But before another tilt at pinnacle event, striker keen to ensure Burnley avoid the drop
Chris Wood has his long-term sights set on the 2026 World Cup, which could enable him to break all kinds of records.
In news that will be well received by football fans in this country, the Burnley striker hopes to prolong his international career across almost two decades.
He’ll be 35-years-old by the time the tournament in North America rolls around but that shouldn’t be an issue, given his pedigree, ability and professionalism.
The 2026 tournament will be a 48-team competition, with Oceania gaining direct entry for the first time.
It’s quite a carrot, and one Wood wants to be around for.
“I very much hope so,” Wood told Martin Devlin on Newstalk ZB. “It’s a long way away now — seven years — but hopefully I will still be playing at a decent enough level to be eligible for that, if the manager selects me. I’d like to think I will be, and hopefully I’ll go from there in the years to come.”
Wood has scaled rarefied heights for a New Zealand striker, surpassed only by Wynton Rufer in Germany and Switzerland.
He’s scored more than 120 league goals in English football and enjoyed a staggering Premier League breakthrough with Burnley last season, with 10 league goals (only 15 players across the competition scored more).
Despite that, he’s maintained an unwavering commitment to the All Whites, accumulating 55 games and 24 goals.
He’s within touching distance of Vaughan Coveny’s record (29 goals) and should eclipse Ivan Vicelich as our most capped male player (88 internationals), though the paucity of New Zealand fixtures doesn’t help, as the team has barely assembled since the memorable World Cup playoffs with Peru in November 2017.
That was also the last time Wood was sighted in an All Whites shirt, though it was frustratingly brief.
Injury confined him to a bench role, though his introduction in the second half in both Wellington and Lima showed what might have been, as his presence changed the dimension of the game and worried the South Americans.
His well-being was a major storyline at the time but Wood explains there was no alternative.
“No, I couldn’t start,” said Wood. “I probably shouldn’t have even played . . . that’s the gist of it. I wasn’t in the right shape physically to play, but at the end of the day, there’s only one shot to get to that World Cup and it was then. We were just going to give it our all to try and get there.”
While Wood’s long-term focus is typical of his drive and determination — on display since he went to England as a raw 17-year-old — his immediate focus is much more pressing.
A poor recent run of form has dragged Burnley into a relegation scrap. The Clarets (30 points) are level with Southampton and two ahead of 18th-placed Cardiff (28 points), and those rivals have a game in hand.
The Turf Moor-based outfit have had an inconsistent season. They endured an eight-game winless run which saw them in the bottom three at Christmas before rebounding in style with a seven-match unbeaten streak to start this year.
But four losses in a row have hauled them back into danger, and they have a tough run home, with trips to Stamford Bridge and Goodison Park, home games against Manchester City and Arsenal, and a huge clash with Cardiff.
“The team feels good,” said Wood. “It’s going to be a tough seven-game run but we have got the squad and the capabilities within it to succeed and make sure we stay up.
“We don’t look too far ahead. We know who we have to play and who we don’t, but it doesn’t really matter. We’ve gone to Man Utd and drew with them, we’ve beaten Spurs at home, so it doesn’t matter really.
“All the teams in this league are tough. You just have to pick up points where you can and there is no worry that we couldn’t pick up points against the big four.”
Wood also believes Burnley’s fighting spirit and camaraderie under manager Sean Dyche will be critical.
“That’s the main thing, and that’s what gets you through these battles,” said Wood. “When you can look across to your mate, and you know he will do anything for the guy next to you. It’s one of the best dressing rooms, if not the best I’ve been in.”
After a difficult start to the season, Wood has enjoyed a fruitful 2019, at one point notching six goals in eight games.
That haul included the opener against Spurs which ended the North London side’s title hopes and a wellplaced header at Old Trafford past arguably the world’s best goalkeeper which gave Burnley a 2-1 lead.
“It was an easy one,” laughed Wood. “[No], they are never easy but you’d like to think you would put those away, especially with the great delivery in. We put ourselves in [a great place] with 10 minutes to go but unfortunately we just couldn’t see it out. But we did extremely well to get the draw there and we would have taken it before the game.”
After almost a decade in England, the former Cambridge and Hamilton Wanderers player still has moments when he has to pinch himself, reflecting on how far he has come.
“Sometimes you force yourself to sit there and think, ‘wow, this is great’,” admits Wood. “You have to enjoy it — it’s not often a kid from New Zealand gets a chance to play in the Premier League.
“It is nice to sit back and take in what I’ve been able to achieve, but at the same time, you can’t give these boys too much respect because you have a job to do and the job is to score goals and beat these teams.”
Wood has always had tremendous self-belief, typified when as a 17-yearold, he decided to mark Ryan Nelsen at his first All Whites camp, to test himself against the best.
That confidence has served him well, playing in the highest profile, richest, most demanding football league in the world, where many other strikers with stronger resumes from bigger nations couldn’t cut it.
“You just have to do the best you can,” said Wood. “These are worldclass players you are up against and you are going to have off days and bad days, or they are going to have really good days which make you feel like you have off days. But you need to remember that the next game is around the corner for you to put your stamp on it.”
Wood is disappointed there are no All Whites matches during the current international window but it also means he can fully focus on Burnley’s next match, against Wolves next Sunday (NZT).
“All we can do is deal with the game in front of us,” said Wood. “No point looking at other people’s fixtures, other results further down the line; it’s what we need to do now. We have Wolves at home in the next game and that’s where we need to put it right and get some points.”