New Zealand have been demolished 5-0 by hosts Argentina in their final match of group play at the U20 Football World Cup on Saturday (NZ time).
The locals dominated proceedings from start to finish at Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario to hand the New Zealanders their first defeat at the tournament, after a win over Guatemala and a draw against Uzbekistan in their previous group games.
Currently sitting third in group A, they'll now rely on other results going their way over the next two days to determine whether they advance to the knockout stages.
NZ goalkeeper Kees Sims was under assault from the opening whistle, as the Argentinians fired 31 shots at goal, nine of which were on target.
In stark contrast, New Zealand - quite literally - didn't fire a single shot the entire match, on target or otherwise.
The highlight of Argentina's one-sided performance came from Luka Romero, who spun out of a tackle on his own side of halfway, dribbled clear and unleashed a long-range rocket past Sims and into the top corner.
The goal-of-the-tournament contender helped Argentina to a 3-0 lead at halftime, with Brian Aguirre converting from the penalty spot on VAR review and Alejo Veliz slotting home a late header to round out the scoring.
Argentina 5 (Ignacio Mestro Puch 14th min, Gino Infantino 17th min, Luka Romero 35th min, Brian Aguirre pen 50th min, Alejo Veliz 87th min) New Zealand 0
