Ben Waine's Journey from Port Vale to World Cup Glory

Ben Waine was nowhere near a World Cup when he was sitting out matchdays at Port Vale, not even in the squad, watching from a distance as his season unravelled.

Now he is heading to what Gianni Infantino calls the “104 Super Bowls” of this expanded World Cup, carrying with him a season that very nearly broke him – and then quietly rebuilt him.

“It has been a tough season. I'm not going to lie,” he tells Sky Sports. There were weeks when his name did not appear on the teamsheet at all. No minutes. No role. Just a growing sense that England, and League One, might be a step too far.

“It sucked in the moment,” he says. “But it was probably one of the best things to happen to me. I was really able to work on my game.”

From the stands to Sunderland

Port Vale went down. The club’s season ended in relegation. On paper, that is failure.

But in March, under the lights in a crackling FA Cup tie, Waine found something to cling to. He scored the winning goal against Sunderland, a moment that cut through the gloom of a brutal campaign.

“It made a tough season a little bit more bearable,” he explains.

That header was not a flash of luck. It came from repetition, from lonely hours on training pitches with individual coach Simon Ireland.

“Literally, every day we would work on one or two types of finish, just focusing on the technique,” Waine says. It was not glamorous work. No crowds. No cameras. Just a forward trying to repair his confidence, one strike at a time.

“It was about trying to find that composure, that finish that I could go to without thinking so it became instinct. It gave me real purpose. I knew what I was working towards. Even when things were not going well, I had that to work on. It made me relax a bit more.”

He realised how badly he had been chasing it. “Because I was so desperate to do well, I was rushing actions in front of goal.”

The Sunderland goal looked simple from the stands: a loopy header back across the goalkeeper. For Waine, it was the product of all that unseen detail.

“The second finishing drill we didn't do a huge amount of but I did a lot of visualising of it off the field as well. And the one goal that I actually pictured was that Sunderland goal, the kind of loopy header back across the goalkeeper. I had actually visualised it.

“It does not seem like one you would practise when you are just working on the technique of hitting the ball but that action of going across the goalkeeper is one we had worked on and it just became a bit more natural. It was really cool to see that come off.”

The celebration said the rest. A Newcastle-supporting family. An FA Cup night. Sunderland beaten. Waine wheeled away in front of the travelling away end, arm raised in an Alan Shearer salute.

“It was just awesome. I had never seen the stadium like that before. It was absolutely bouncing,” he recalls.

That goal was one of eight for Port Vale, a respectable return in a struggling side and a marker of his own revival.

“I kind of took it with both hands. It sounds silly but I actually enjoyed playing my football again.”

The hard road from Wellington to England

Enjoyment had not always been there since he left Wellington Phoenix in January 2023 to join Plymouth Argyle. The jump from the A-League to League One was harsh.

“I knew the jump to League One would be big. Not technically, but in terms of intensity and physicality, the adjustment was massive,” he says.

Plymouth surged. Promotion followed. The club leapt into the Championship and Waine had to leap with it.

“And then you get this amazing promotion and you are playing Championship football all of a sudden. It almost came too quickly.”

He still found moments. There were a couple of goals at that level, including one at Elland Road against Leeds United. But he needed more minutes, more rhythm. A loan to Mansfield was meant to solve that. It did not.

“That just did not work out at all.”

The easy option sat 11,000 miles away.

“I promised myself that however hard it got I was not going to go back. That would have been the easy option. I stuck it out and have come out of it as a better player and a better person.”

Now the reward is clear: a World Cup, and a genuine belief that he can affect it.

Olympic stages, World Cup stakes

Waine is not new to big tournaments. Two Olympic Games with New Zealand have already given him a taste of high-pressure football.

“France in the Velodrome was an awesome game to be a part of,” he says.

But even that, he knows, is a rung below what awaits.

“It is going to be another level up.”

New Zealand have tried to prepare for that rise. The All Whites have stepped into deeper waters this year. Waine scored in a 4-1 win over Chile in March, a bright moment in a demanding run of fixtures that has also brought defeats to Colombia, Ecuador and Finland, plus recent losses to Haiti and England.

They have felt the gap.

“You have to realise that when we are stepping up and playing harder opposition, we cannot expect the results to be perfect. We have had to mentally adjust.”

Learning from Wood, moving for minutes

He calls himself “a running nine” – a forward who wants to press hard, stretch defences, sprint in behind. But New Zealand already have a centrepiece in that role. Chris Wood is the country’s most celebrated player and their record scorer. Nobody is dislodging him.

So Waine has adapted. Port Vale used him from the left. Sometimes from the right. Sometimes through the middle again. That flexibility may prove crucial.

“At the start, I was a bit hesitant but I see it as a really positive thing. It just felt really natural. I am actually playing on the left, on the right and down the middle now. It adds another dynamic, which should help my case.”

Wood has given him something else: a lesson in waiting.

“As a striker, you can barely touch the ball all game but when that one chance comes, you had better take it. He has proven time and time again that he can do that.”

One chance. That is the phrase Waine keeps coming back to.

“There is going to be that opportunity to be the hero. You just want that one moment.”

Iran, Egypt, Belgium – and belief

New Zealand open against Iran, then face Egypt and Belgium. On reputation, it is a daunting set of names. On balance, there are far worse groups.

“My first thought was that we have actually got a chance here. Everyone sees us as underdogs but we want to take the opportunity that is in front of us. We want to get our first win on the world stage and we want to get out of the group for the first time ever.”

He smiles at the mention of Mohamed Salah’s shirt.

“I am assuming there will be a few people pulling rank,” he says.

Maybe he leaves without it. Maybe he leaves with something far more enduring.

A goal on the world stage. A celebration that echoes Shearer again. “Maybe it will reappear,” he says, laughing.

For now, his focus is simple and ruthless.

“To squeeze the most out of my potential.”

After what he calls “a lot of ups and downs”, he has dragged himself back into contention, given himself the platform he craved. The work is done. The drills are banked. The visualisations are stored.

Now it comes down to that one chance he has been waiting for. Will he take it?