Football fever spread through out Wellington, New Zealand on Saturday, as fans painted the town white.

Not since 1982 have the New Zealand All Whites qualified for the Soccer World Cup.

Now the All Whites are back in the game and show casing their skills in front of the 35,000 people who attended the sold out match against Bahrain.

[All Whites Supporter]
"I think their going to get there but it's going to be hard. There's no doubt about it, Bahrain is a good Team."

Those who weren’t lucky enough to get tickets swarmed to the city to watch it on the big screen.

The atmosphere was electric as the city came to life with pre-match entertainment from soccer competitions, to live artworks.
[All Whites Supporter]
"We managed to blag our tickets off some locals, and yea we've travelled five hours to get here."

With all the hype the game had a lot to live up to and it didn’t fall short, producing a nail biting 90 minutes of football.
"It's a great game, I think the All Whites will win this game, definately."

There were two defining moments: The first was in the final minutes of the first half, when New Zealand’s striker Rory Fallon produced a stunning header to take New Zealand in to the lead and bring the crowd to their feet.

The second was when Bahrain down 1-0, gained a controversial penalty after a poor challenge.

Bahrain, set to go to 1 all, were denied after a miraculous save by Mark Paston, the New Zealand Goal Keeper, keeping New Zealand’s nose in front.

With the Whistle came celebrations that continued deep into the night which helped to give the City's economy a $7 million dollar boost.

[All Whites Supporter]:
"It's awesome, just like being there."

[Jake Theron]:
"I tell you what, that result is what New Zealand need."

The win is clearly one of the biggest moments in New Zealand sporting history. And in this rugby mad nation the victory will be bringing the sport some much-needed recognition.