All Whites exit World Cup with heavy 5-1 defeat to Belgium

New Zealand's World Cup campaign has ended with a heavy 5-1 defeat to Belgium, a scoreline that reflected the gulf in depth between the sides even as the All Whites found moments worth taking from the tournament.

Belgium's movement between the lines proved decisive. Once the second goal arrived, New Zealand were forced to commit numbers forward, and the spaces that opened were punished repeatedly in the closing half hour.

The consolation goal will matter to a squad that arrived at the tournament with modest expectations, and the campaign as a whole delivered the kind of exposure the domestic game rarely gets.

The longer-term question is what follows. Qualification cycles reward continuity, and the value of this tournament will be measured by how many of this squad are still involved when the next one begins.