Kosta Barbarouses
Squad number 17 · Western Sydney Wanderers
Their 2026 World Cup
Kosta Barbarouses travelled to the 2026 World Cup with New Zealand, wearing number 17, without ever getting on the pitch. His side played 3 matches (1 draw and 2 defeats) and bowed out in the group stage (Group G), beaten by Belgium 5-1.
Attack went to C. Wood (3 matches, 270′) and B. Old (3 matches, 91′).
Another 8 players in the New Zealand squad ended up the same way, without a single minute. The full run is on the New Zealand team page.
Biography
Konstantinos "Kosta" Barbarouses (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μπαρμπαρούσης, pronounced [konstaˈndinos barbaruˈsis]; born 19 February 1990) is a New Zealand professional footballer who last played as a winger for A-League Men club Western Sydney Wanderers and the New Zealand national team. As of June 2026, Barbarouses has played 372 A-League matches, the most of any active player in the A-League, the most of any forward in the competition's history, and the third-most of any player overall behind Leigh Broxham and Nikolai Topor-Stanley.
Club career Kosta was born in New Zealand and is of Greek descent. Before turning professional Barbarouses played for St. Patrick's College and for local clubs Wellington Olympic and Miramar Rangers in New Zealand's Central Premier League.
Barbarouses played 21 matches during his first stint with Wellington Phoenix in three seasons and scored two goals. The Phoenix club officially signed Barbarouses as one of its foundation players on 4 May 2007. Seventeen years old and still at school, he started as the club's youngest player.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) · text adapted from the article.
See all the tournament stats on the World Cup data hub.
Photo: Кирилл Венедиктов · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)