Gray and New Zealand Open U20 World Cup Campaign Against Hosts
Saturday, 27th Sep 2025 12:09

Blues keeper Henry Gray and his New Zealand U20s teammates get their World Cup campaign under way against the hosts Chile overnight (KO midnight).

The 20-year-old was in the senior squad for the Soccer Ashes games against Australia during the international break, having been with the All Whites previously in 2023, but is yet to win a full cap.

The young New Zealanders are in Group A and following tonight’s match take on Egypt on Tuesday and finally Japan in the early hours of next Saturday morning.

The top two in the groups plus the four best third-placed sides go through to the round of 16.

Gray, who was born in Mönchengladbach, spent the second half of 2024/25 on loan at Braintree Town, and won the National League side’s Young Player of the Season award.

Earlier in the campaign, he trained with the Blues’ first-team squad and signed a new contract at Portman Road.

Gray, who is still to make a senior debut for Town, joined the club in the summer of 2023 from New Zealand Central League side Waterside Karori following a trial at the end of the previous campaign. He was previously with A-League club Wellington Phoenix’s reserves.