Tommy Smith and New Zealand will not be at next summer’s World Cup in Brazil, Mexico having confirmed their place at the finals with a 4-2 victory over the All Whites in this morning’s play-off second leg at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. The Mexicans went through 9-3 on aggregate having won the first leg 5-1.

Oribe Peralta netted a first-half hat-trick for the visitors but New Zealand, with Blues defender Smith again skippering, scored twice late on through Chris James from the penalty spot and ex-Town loanee Rory Fallon. Carlos Pena added Mexico’s fourth with three minutes remaining.

After the game the Blues defender tweeted: "Unlucky boys. Was always going to be tough against Mexico and their footballing pedigree. We never gave up though and showed great character.

"I also want to say that the crowd was amazing, never stopped cheering us on and definitely played their part in us grabbing two goals back!"

Smith, who played all three games for the All Whites at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and in last summer's London Olympics, was winning his 27th full cap.

Elsewhere, Town captain Carlos Edwards played 87 minutes as Trinidad and Tobago beat Jamaica 2-0 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

Prior to kick-off Edwards and Port Vale's Chris Birchall were recognised for their contribution to Trinidad and Tobago football and received a warm reception from their fans when they were subbed.

Birchall, who played alongside Edwards at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, has retired from international football but the Town skipper plans to continue his Soca Warriors career having made 88 appearances and scored four goals.

The 35-year-old is likely to be back with the Town squad on Thursday, while Smith, 23, is not expected to return from New Zealand until Friday morning with manager Mick McCarthy having already put him down as a doubt for Saturday’s home game against Leicester City.

Photo: Action Images

TractorCam added 09:44 - Nov 20 That's a shame, would of been nice to see a Town player in the competition again
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Robbie12345 added 10:36 - Nov 20 Tough luck mate, better luck next time! Head up and concentrate on Ipswich now :)
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kiwiblue added 10:37 - Nov 20 It was a very exciting end to end game. Mexico ripped through a very static defence many times in the first half and had three tap ins from the central player. Great crowd over 35000 and a sunny evening which made the constant beer showers bearable, yes we can stand drinking beer in our seats with no hassle from jobsworths over here.
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KIWI78 added 12:00 - Nov 20 Dag. Well at least I dont have to worry about NZ and England in the same group.
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StanwayBlue added 12:07 - Nov 20 Kiwi, you said the defence was static. Does this mean Tommy had a poor game?
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bluefeast added 12:12 - Nov 20 whats the point
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kiwiblue added 12:45 - Nov 20 Stanway Tommy was playing this game with two new wingbacks both on debut and teenagers. he played central and the Mexicans lapped around the sides and passed to the strike Peralta who had got free each time. always a yard ahead of the defender. Same happened last week in Mexico when it was two older fullbacks and the game was lost by half time. Tommy normally plays alongside Winston Reid of West Spam and missed that balance in both games. 9.3 over two games shows the defence was well stretched.......

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Michael11 added 15:20 - Nov 20 Rory Fallon hahaha
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jamesmostevens added 16:18 - Nov 20 Mexico have used 56 players and 4 managers in the past year. The Blackburn of international football.
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Radlett_blue added 17:20 - Nov 20 England have also capped over 50 players sine Mr Roy got the job.
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chrismakin added 19:31 - Nov 20 I hope we keep hold of Smithy in Jan. Our new version of Butcher
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KiwiTractor added 20:40 - Nov 21 I thought Tommy played well. Not only did he have 2 teenagers playing as fullbacks his central defensive partner is particularly dire - so he was do a lot of covering.
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