The Futsal Whites were beaten 3-1 by Libya in the opening pool game at the Andijan Universal Sports Complex.
They showed no early signs of debut nerves as they created some nice opportunities, usually from the fleet feet of captain Dylan Manickum, while keeper Mike Antamanov made a couple of strong saves.
Libya, however, made the breakthrough with the opening goal after seven minutes.
The Futsal Whites were largely reduced to shooting from distance for the rest of the first half, and Nathan Grey had three attempts that never really threatened the goal.
Three minutes into the second half, Antamanov made another strong save, but Libya soon got their second goal.
New Zealand coach Marvin Eakins made a bold play with eight minutes left on the clock.
He took Antamanov out of goal and elected to play a "flying keeper" — an extra outfielder.
That naturally led to more possession but the Kiwis could not make it count, and they were punished when Libya snaffled a turnover in the final minute and banged it into the empty net for a 3-0 advantage.
Jordan Ditfort, originally from Hamilton and now playing futsal for an English club, wrote his name in history when he scored New Zealand’s first goal in Futsal World Cup history with seconds on the clock.
A sign of the Futsal Whites’ competitiveness is that they managed the same number of shots on goal, 33, as their opponents.
Former Mosgiel footballer Rahan Ali started for New Zealand yesterday, while Dunedin City Royals midfielder Oban Hawkins saw some time off the bench.
Things will get even tougher for the Futsal Whites.
They play world No 3 Spain tomorrow, and complete pool play with a game against world No 8 Kazakhstan.
Spain and Kazakhstan battled to a 1-1 draw yesterday.
