Newcastle United frontman Chris Wood suffered World Cup heartache on Monday as New Zealand missed out on qualification for this year's tournament in Qatar.
The All Whites went into their final intercontinental play-off against Costa Rica knowing the winners would secure their place at the upcoming finals, with Wood starting at the Al-Rayyan Stadium.
But things began badly for Danny Hay's men as former Arsenal forward Joel Campbell fired Costa Rica in front after just three minutes.
New Zealand rallied, and Wood had the ball in the net six minutes before the break – but the goal was disallowed after a VAR check, with Matthew Garbett adjudged to have fouled Oscar Duarte in the build-up.
Wood's side's hopes were dealt a further blow when Kosta Barbarouses was shown a red card – upgraded from a yellow after another check – with 20 minutes left on the clock.
That dismissal all but ended New Zealand's hopes of featuring at a third successive World Cup finals, with Costa Rica hanging on to win and Wood completing 90 minutes.
Elsewhere, there was a second half outing for Jeff Hendrick as the Republic of Ireland drew 1-1 with Ukraine at the neutral venue of Stadion ŁKS in Łódź, Poland.
Hendrick replaced Jayson Molumby on 67 minutes, with Artem Dovbyk having cancelled out Nathan Collins' first half opener to level the score at 1-1 in the UEFA Nations League clash.
The result leaves Stephen Kenny's Ireland in third place in Group B1, two points shy of Scotland in second.
And Kieran Trippier was an unused substitute on a night to forget for England, who were thrashed 4-0 by Hungary at Molineux.
The result leaves Gareth Southgate's charges rooted to the bottom of Group A3 after Roland Sallai's brace and strikes from Zsolt Nagy and Daniel Gazdag sealed a stunning victory for the visitors.