Ben Waine

Wellington Phoenix

Waine joined the Academy at Wellington Phoenix at the age of 14. On 7 August 2018, Waine made his debut for the senior side in their FFA Cup loss to Bentleigh Greens. At the age of 17 years and 57 days, this made him the youngest player in the club's history. He played most of his games for the Wellington Phoenix Reserves in the New Zealand Football Championship, scoring a team high of eight goals, before head coach Marko Rudan called up to the senior team again in March. On 30 March, Waine made his league debut for the Phoenix, coming on as a substitute in their 4–1 win over the Newcastle Jets at the Westpac Stadium. On 28 April, he made his first league start for the Phoenix in a 5–0 loss to the Perth Glory. In June 2019, Waine signed a two-year contract with the Phoenix. The first year was a scholarship deal, with the second year moving him onto a full-time contract. Just before the 2019–20 season kicked off, the first year of this contract was upgraded to full-time. On 3 November, Waine scored his first professional goal off the bench in Wellington's 3–2 loss to Melbourne City to become the youngest goalscorer in the club's history at 18 years and 145 days. He continued to score goals for Chris Greenacre's Reserve team, before injuries to Tomer Hemed and Jaushua Sotirio and a suspension for David Ball gave him the opportunity to play games for the senior team. He established himself as a key player in the 2020–21 campaign, becoming the youngest…

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. 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. 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 Olympic Qualifying Tournament. He was second top goal scorer for the tournament with eight goals including one in the final, helping New Zealand to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He went on to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, scoring the winning goal against Guinea at the Allianz Riviera in the group stages. Waine made his senior international debut on 18 March 2022, scoring his first senior international goal in New Zealand's World Cup qualification match against Papua New Guinea, winning the game 1–0. He established himself as the back up to captain Chris Wood. He scored four goals at the 2024 OFC Nations Cup and played the first 73 minutes of the final, a 3–0 victory over Vanuatu. He was named in the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America by head coach Darren Bazeley, though did not make it onto the pitch.

Waine is a pacey forward, noted for his agility and work rate.

Benjamin Peter Waine was born on 11 June 2001 in Wellington, New Zealand. He attended school at Hutt International Boys' School in Upper Hutt, where he was the Junior school captain in 2019. He is a dual citizen of New Zealand and the United Kingdom, as his parents are both from England. He supports Newcastle United as his mother's family are Geordies.