Marko Stamenić Set for New Zealand Return at 2026 World Cup
Marko stamenić is set to feature for New Zealand in the early hours of Tuesday morning as they open their Group B campaign against Iran in Los Angeles. The 24-year-old midfielder is heading into a World Cup return for New Zealand that has been a long time coming, and he is carrying the memory of his late father with him.
He said he is always thinking of Nikola Stamenic when he steps on the field for New Zealand or Swansea, and he wants to make him proud. Stamenic was eight years old when he watched New Zealand's most recent World Cup appearance with his father, then told him, "I want to do that, I want to play at the World Cup for New Zealand,"
Stamenic and New Zealand's return
The match in Los Angeles will be New Zealand's first World Cup tournament game since 2010. That team drew with Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay and went home after the group stage without a defeat, a run Stamenic watched on early mornings with his father.
Stamenic made his New Zealand debut in 2021 and is now set to join the small band of Kiwi footballers who have played at a World Cup. He described his father as "the best man I will ever know" in an emotional tribute last October, after Nikola Stamenic died suddenly last October.
Nikola Stamenic's place in the story
Stamenic's words ahead of the tournament show how tightly the personal and the sporting moments are linked. "I don't really think he's not with us, in a way," he said. "I'm always thinking of him when I step on the field, whether that's for the national team or for Swansea."
He added: "He had a huge, huge part in my life and all of our lives in my family and there is a huge hole in all of our hearts now." And he said: "But I know he's watching from above and I hope we're making him proud."
Los Angeles on Tuesday
New Zealand's Group B opener against Iran gives Stamenic the chance he said he wanted for years. "I'm over the moon that the chance has come," he said. For a 24-year-old who first imagined this at eight years old, the next step is simple: play, and carry that promise into New Zealand's first World Cup game in 16 years.
