The All Whites will return to action for the first time since 2019, with NZ Football announcing two matches for next month.
The NZ men will face Bahrain (October 10 NZ time) and Curacao (October 13) at Manama, Bahrain.
The matches will herald the All Whites' playing return, with their last outing a 1-0 defeat to Lithuania on November 18, 2019.
By the time the All Whites take the field to face Bahrain, 691 days will have passed between fixtures.
In that time, the All Whites have seen matches against world No.1 Belgium, England, Oman and Bahrain cancelled, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But after the success of the OlyWhites at the Tokyo Olympics - where the NZ men advanced from the group stage for the first time - coach Hay stresses the need for matches to see his side continue to develop.
"I'm delighted we are confirming these games" Hay says. "Following Tokyo 2020, our main priority was to continue to build on the momentum we established with the Olympic side and bring it to the full senior team.
"We've seen the exciting generation of players emerging, we now just need to start playing games on a regular basis to continue that development."
But due to New Zealand's managed isolation quarantine (MIQ) system, Hay will only select players based outside New Zealand and Australia.
"As things stand, we will be travelling with reduced staff and we will be using the public MIQ system to return to New Zealand," Hay adds.
"It is a difficult situation, but we are all committed to doing whatever is needed to play these games."
Only three other NZ-based staff will travel with the All Whites, as a result of the MIQ situation.
