Ben Waine

Ben Waine
Personal information
Full name	Benjamin Peter Waine
Date of birth	11 June 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth	Wellington, New Zealand
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Mansfield Town ; (on loan from Plymouth Argyle)
Number	32
Youth career
–2018	Wellington Phoenix
Senior career*
Years	Team
2017–2020	Wellington Phoenix Reserves
2018–2022	Wellington Phoenix
2023–	Plymouth Argyle
2024–	→ Mansfield Town (loan)
International career‡
2019	New Zealand U20
2019–	New Zealand U23
2022–	New Zealand
Medal record
Men's football
Representing New Zealand
OFC Nations Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 October 2024 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 October 2024

Benjamin Peter Waine (born 11 June 2001) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL League One side Mansfield Town, on loan from EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle and the New Zealand national team.

Club career

Wellington Phoenix

On 7 August 2018, Waine made his debut for the senior side in their FFA Cup loss to Bentleigh Greens.^[2]

After his debut for the Phoenix in the FFA, Waine played most of his games for the Wellington Phoenix Reserves in the ISPS Handa Premiership scoring a team high of 8 goals, before getting called up to the senior team again in March 2019^[3]

On 30 March 2019, Waine made his professional debut for the Wellington Phoenix coming on as a substitute in their 4–1 win over the Newcastle Jets.^[4]

On 28 April 2019, Waine made his first start for the Phoenix in a 5–0 loss to the Perth Glory.^[5]

On 21 June 2019, Waine signed a two-year contract with the Phoenix. The first year being a scholarship deal, with the second year moving him onto a full-time contract.^[6] Just before the 2019–20 season kicked off, the first year of this contract was upgraded to full-time.^[7]

On 3 November 2019, Waine scored his first professional goal off the bench in Wellington's 3–2 loss to Melbourne City, passing Liberato Cacace to become the youngest goalscorer in the club's history at 18 years and 145 days.^[8]

Plymouth Argyle

On 30 December 2022, Waine agreed to join League One leaders Plymouth Argyle for an undisclosed fee on a two-and-a-half-year deal, the transfer going through on 1 January when the transfer window opened.^[9]

Mansfield Town (loan)

On 30 August 2024, Waine joined League One side Mansfield Town on a season-long loan in order to gain some more game time, having played as a substitute on 33 of his 43 occasions in the previous season.^[10]^[11]

International career

New Zealand U-20s

On 16 April 2019, Waine was selected as one of the 21 players for the New Zealand U-20 who played at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.^[12] He scored a brace in their opening match against Honduras on 24 May. He made two further appearances in the tournament, starting in both New Zealand's 2–0 victory over Norway and the 1–1 loss on penalties to Colombia in the Round of 16.

New Zealand U-23s

In September, Waine was a member of the New Zealand U-23 team, known as the "Oly-Whites", who took part in the 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.^[13]^[14] He was second top goal scorer for the tournament with 8 goals including one in the final, helping New Zealand to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.^[15]^[16]

New Zealand

Waine made his international debut on 18 March 2022, including scoring his first international goal for New Zealand in their World Cup qualification match against Papua New Guinea, winning the game 1–0.^[17]^[18]

Personal life

Waine attended school at Hutt International Boys' School in Upper Hutt where he was the Junior school captain in 2019.^[3]

Waine is a dual citizen of New Zealand and the United Kingdom, as his parents are both from England.^[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 November 2024

**Appearances and goals by club, season and competition**
Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wellington Phoenix Reserves	2017–18^[20]	NZFC	16	0	—		—		—		16	0
	2018–19^[20]		17	8	—		—		—		17	8
	2019–20^[20]		5	7	—		—		—		5	7
	Total		38	15	—		—		—		38	15
Wellington Phoenix	2018–19^[21]	A-League	3	0	1^[a]	0	—		—		4	0
	2019–20^[22]		15	1	1^[a]	0	—		—		16	1
	2020–21^[23]		14	7	—		—		—		14	7
	2021–22^[24]		25	6	4^[a]	2	—		—		29	8
	2022–23^[25]		8	3	1^[a]	0	—		—		9	3
	Total		65	17	7	2	—		—		72	19
Plymouth Argyle	2022–23^[26]	League One	10	1	0	0	0	0	1^[b]	1	11	2
	2023–24^[27]	Championship	32	2	0	0	2	3	0	0	34	5
	2024–25	Championship	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	1
	Total		43	3	0	0	3	4	1	1	47	8
Mansfield Town (loan)	2024–25	League One	5	1	1	1	0	0	1^[b]	0	7	2
Mansfield Town (loan)	Total		5	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	7	2
Career total			137	36	8	3	1	2	3	2	144	43

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Appearances in FFA Cup
^ ^a ^b Appearances in EFL Trophy

International

As of match played 11 October 2024.

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National Team	Year	Apps	Goals
New Zealand U-20	2019	3	2
New Zealand U-23	2019	5	8
Total
New Zealand	2022	7	1
	2023	4	0
	2024	8	6
Total		19	7
Total

International goals

Scores and results list the New Zealand goal tally first.

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	17 March 2022	Qatar SC Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Papua New Guinea	1–0	1–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	18 June 2024	VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu	Solomon Islands	1–0	3–0	2024 OFC Nations Cup
3.	18 June 2024		Solomon Islands	2–0	3–0
4.	27 June 2024		Tahiti	2–0	5–0
5.	27 June 2024		Tahiti	4–0	5–0
6.	10 September 2024	TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, United States	United States	1–1	1–1	Friendly
7.	11 October 2024	VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu	Tahiti	3–0	3–0	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification