The UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer program will be represented at this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
Michael Boxall, who holds the UCSB record for most minutes played in a single season and played center back for the Gauchos from 2007-10, was named to New Zealand’s 26-man roster for the tournament being hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada, June 11-July 19.
Meanwhile, Manu Duah, a graduate of Dunn School in Los Olivos who starred in the midfield as a freshman for the Gauchos in 2024, has a shot at making Ghana’s squad for the World Cup. He received his first call-up to the senior national team for its final preparation games against Mexico (May 22) and Wales (June 2).
World Cup team rosters must be finalized by June 2.
“We are very proud to see Manu selected to represent his country, what an honor,” UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg said. “We saw firsthand how talented of a player he was as a Gaucho. It is no surprise that he has continued to excel in the MLS and at the next level.”
Duah was the No. 1 pick of the MLS Draft in 2025, taken by new franchise San Diego FC.
Boxall played 2,185 minutes for UCSB in 2009 and finished with 6,730 career minutes in his career, the fourth-most in program history. In 2010, he anchored a Gaucho defense that ranked among the top 25 teams nationwide in both shutout percentage and goals-against average
He has made 61 appearances for New Zealand’s All Whites on the senior level, plus six appearances across the 2008 and 2024 Olympic Games with the under-23 OlyWhites team.
Boxall is the second Gaucho to make the roster of a World Cup participant, joining fellow countryman Tony Lochhead, who started for New Zealand in its three group-play matches at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
New Zealand will play their three group-play matches on the West Coast. They begin on June 15 against Iran at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and play the next two at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia against Egypt on June 21 and Belgium on June 26.
