According to FIFA, New Zealand head coach Danny Bazley discussed the 1-5 defeat to Belgium in a post-match press conference.

Bazley stated that the team had a difficult evening. "Maybe I haven't fully processed that we've been eliminated and we're going home. Tonight is a bitter night. We knew we had to stay in the game. When Belgium released their starting lineup, we knew they were an extremely strong team, and the first 20 minutes were very difficult. All we could do was try to stay in the game, defend resolutely, and I thought the players did that very well, with some blocks and crucial defensive work in the final moments. The plan was to stay in the game for as long as possible, then open it up in the second half and try to get the win we wanted."

He said New Zealand conceded "a very poor goal" in the second half and then had to chase the game. "The opposition isn't the type of team that thinks, 'Okay, we'll just lose 0-2.' We opened up the game and made many attacking adjustments. Against an opponent like that, you risk conceding goals like we did today. But looking back, I'm very proud of the players; they fought hard today. However, our elimination from the FIFA World Cup didn't really happen tonight, but when we were 2-0 up against Iran and when we were leading against Egypt. Those are the points we needed to progress from this group, and we didn't get them, which made losing to Belgium tonight a difficult pill to swallow."

When asked about tactical decisions during the match, Bazley said the team could have defended better from set pieces. "Football is made up of moments. We did concede goals tonight, but for large periods of the game, we defended very well, even heroically at times, blocking crosses, blocking shots, protecting the goal. Belgium are an excellent team with top players from the best leagues across their squad. They dominated possession and could repeatedly push forward and find each other. We needed to keep a 0-0 scoreline until halftime, but we didn't. After that, we had to take risks, make adjustments, add pace on the wings, but still conceded. That opened up the game further, and we brought on Callum and switched to two attacking midfielders, trying to get back into it. We weren't going to leave the World Cup down 0-2; we wanted to score, to get back in the game, but unfortunately we were punished several times. Conceding late was painful, but what really prevented us from progressing from the group tonight was actually the first two matches. We had better chances to pick up points in those two games than we did tonight."

When asked about Eli Just, who scored again tonight for his third goal in this World Cup, Bazley said the player is fully capable of stepping up to a higher level. "Of course he should. I think he was outstanding tonight. He's one of only a few players in our team who can operate at this level. He rarely loses the ball, can find space in tight areas, and turn to face forward. He was brilliant throughout the match and finished with a beautiful goal, giving the fans a moment to cheer. The fans are amazing; they traveled far to support the team, and the players really felt that support and love. We're all disappointed that this journey has ended for us and the fans, but the supporters were truly incredible, and we gave them a moment, it's just that tonight wasn't our night."

When asked about the significance of this World Cup for the team's future, Bazley said that experience in such matches is crucial. "It means a lot. We don't normally play matches like this, not just World Cup matches, but also highly competitive official matches. We certainly play Oceania qualifiers, and the rest of the time we mostly play international friendlies. We can call them FIFA matches and count points toward them, but you can't replicate this harsh and unforgiving environment. For many of our players, they don't play in the Premier League or in top leagues like Italy or Spain the way many of Belgium's players do. We don't get enough of these moments for our players to really experience it, to really be in it, whether it's against Egypt, Iran, or tonight. Most of the players will continue to develop, and many will return in four years and will be better for this, and they need to be. If we want to reach the heights everyone expects, which is reaching the knockout stages, we need to perform better in crucial moments. We've said throughout the tournament that football is decided by moments. Defensive moments need to be better, with no lapses in concentration. I also said yesterday that to win today, we needed to be perfect; but when set pieces came, we weren't, and as a result, we quickly fell behind 0-1, and the game changed. But they'll certainly learn from this. This is a very good group of players with a very bright future both individually and collectively. Though it will hurt, that pain is justified, because we are at the World Cup, and now we have to go home and watch the rest of the tournament on TV, which will certainly be difficult."

When asked whether the expanded FIFA World Cup format could help teams like New Zealand close the gap with stronger nations, Bazley said his team was already narrowing it. "If you look at our matches this time, you'll find that the gap has indeed narrowed. We drew with Iran; it was a great match, and we should have won; we also put a lot of pressure on Egypt, who have world-class players and are a very strong team. So I do think the gap is closer. But we're still facing an entire team with Premier League, Serie A, and La Liga players. For us, perhaps more players need to follow a similar path. We have Chris Wood playing in the Premier League, and aside from him, we have players in MLS, Norway, Denmark, and the Championship. We need more players to move to higher platforms and play at this level alongside Wood. That way, when we face top teams again, it will be more helpful."

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