New Zealand have produced the nation's biggest win in FIFA U20 World Cup history, crushing Honduras 5-0 in their tournament opener in Poland on Saturday (NZT).
In front of 5000 fans at Lublin Stadium, Wellington Phoenix striker Ben Waine scored twice, along with strikes from Sarpreet Singh and Matt Conroy, and an early own goal from Honduras defender Darwin Diego.
The result betters their 5-1 win against Myanmar four years ago, when the teams met at the 2015 World Cup in New Zealand.
The result is also their third-ever win in U20 World Cup history, with their other triumph coming against Honduras in 2017, when they won 3-1 in South Korea.
New Zealand hit the lead after eight minutes, when Diego inadvertently steered the ball into his own net and the unfortunate incident seemed to spur New Zealand on, as they took full control of the match.
They doubled their lead after 17 minutes, when Waine scored his first goal and 10 minutes later, the 19-year-old had his brace.
The Kiwis carved out several further chances, while goalkeeper Michael Woud was rarely troubled at the other end, as New Zealand led 3-0 at the break.
Des Buckingham's side then picked up where they left off, Just latching onto a long pass, and finding Singh to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper and notch his side's fourth
Conroy sealed the record win in injury time, when his strike got a favourable bounce off the crossbar into the goal.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," Waine said after the match. "A couple of years ago, when this tournament was held in New Zealand, I was a ball boy behind one of the goals, so I can't believe it to be honest.
"But what a performance today from the boys. This is everything we've been building up to and we've put a lot of work into this tournament, so it's awesome to see it coming off.
"It's what we deserve."
In their next match, New Zealand will face Norway, who are competing in their first U20 World Cup since 1993.
The match takes place at Lodz Stadium on Tuesday at 6:30am (NZT).
Newshub.
