Chris Wood to miss All Whites games in November. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
All Whites captain Chris Wood has been ruled out of the November international window.
The Nottingham Forest striker is still recovering from a knee injury and will miss the All Whites' games against World No.13 Colombia and World No.23 Ecuador to be played in the United States.
At the other end of the park, goalkeeper Kees Sims has been called up for his senior debut.
Sims, who has previously represented New Zealand at age-group level, recently broke into the first team for his club side GAIS, who play in the Allsvenskan - the top tier of Swedish football.
Kosta Barbarouses and Liberato Cacace are both back in the squad after missing the last window against European opposition last month Poland and Norway.
Both matches continue the team's strategy of taking on top 40 ranked opponents to prepare for who they could be drawn to play in the FIFA World Cup 2026, with Colombia set to be the highest-ranked side the All Whites have faced so far in this cycle.
Coach Darren Bazeley congratulated Sims on his call-up.
"I have known him for a long time and followed his development, so it is great to reward his effort and bring him into the squad," Bazeley said.
"It is great to name this squad ahead of two tough but important games for us, especially as they will give us another taste of playing in one of the host countries.
"We haven't had the opportunity to test ourselves against South American teams so far this cycle, so this is a great chance to challenge the team against another style of play that we could realistically face next year.
"Especially for the game in Florida, we are expecting vocal local support from the South American communities there, which is another really good challenge."
The All Whites will face Colombia on 16 November in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at Chase Stadium, home of MLS side Inter Miami.
Three days later, they will take on Ecuador at Sports Illustrated Stadium, home of the New York Red Bulls, in Harrison, New Jersey.
The full squad is:
Kosta Barbarouses (70/9) Western Sydney Wanderers, Australia
Joe Bell (28/1) Viking FK, Norway
Tyler Bindon (20/2) Sheffield United, England (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
Michael Boxall (60/1) Minnesota United, USA
Liberato Cacace (35/1) Wrexham AFC, Wales
Max Crocombe (19/0) Millwall, England
Andre de Jong (11/2) Stellenbosch, South Africa
Francis de Vries (15/1) Auckland FC, New Zealand
Matt Garbett (34/5) Peterborough United, England
Eli Just (38/8) Motherwell, Scotland
Callum McCowatt (28/4) Silkeborg IF, Denmark
Ben Old (18/1) AS Saint-Étienne, France
Alex Paulsen (5/0) Lechia Gdańsk, Poland (on loan from AFC Bournemouth)
Alex Rufer (22/0) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Storm Roux (16/0) Central Coast Mariners, Australia
Kees Sims (debut) GAIS, Sweden
Sarpreet Singh (24/3) FK TSC Bačka Topola, Serbia
Marko Stamenić (33/3) Swansea City, Wales
George Stanger (0/0) Kilmarnock, Scotland
Finn Surman (13/2) Portland Timbers, USA
Ryan Thomas (23/3) PEC Zwolle, Netherlands
Bill Tuiloma (45/4) Charlotte FC, USA
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