View source for Wynton Rufer

{{Short description|New Zealand footballer (born 1962)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Wynton Rufer<br>{{nobold|{{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM|size=80%}}}}
| image = Wynton rufer headshot.JPG
| caption = Rufer in 2009
| fullname = Wynton Alan Whai Rufer
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1962|12|29}}
| birth_place = [[Wellington]], New Zealand
| height = 
| position = [[Striker (association football)|Striker]]
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1  = 1980
| clubs1  = [[Stop Out Sports Club|Stop Out]]
| caps1   = 5
| goals1  = 2
| years2  = 1981
| clubs2  = [[Wellington United|Wellington Diamond]]
| caps2   = 19
| goals2  = 7
| years3  = 1982
| clubs3  = [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]]
| caps3   = 0
| goals3  = 0
| years4  = 1982
| clubs4  = [[Miramar Rangers AFC|Miramar Rangers]]
| caps4   = 8
| goals4  = 3
| years5  = 1982–1986
| clubs5  = [[FC Zürich]]
| caps5   = 100
| goals5  = 43
| years6  = 1986–1988
| clubs6  = [[FC Aarau]]
| caps6   = 37
| goals6  = 18
| years7  = 1988–1989
| clubs7  = [[Grasshopper Club Zürich|Grasshoppers]]
| caps7   = 22
| goals7  = 12
| years8  = 1989–1995
| clubs8  = [[SV Werder Bremen|Werder Bremen]]
| caps8   = 174
| goals8  = 59
| years9  = 1995–1996
| clubs9  = [[JEF United Chiba|JEF United]]
| caps9   = 54
| goals9  = 38
| years10 = 1997
| clubs10 = [[1. FC Kaiserslautern]]
| caps10  = 14
| goals10 = 4
| years11 = 1997
| clubs11 = [[Central United F.C.|Central United]]
| caps11  = 30{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}}
| goals11 = 12
| years12 = 1998
| clubs12 = [[North Shore United]]
| caps12  = 11{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}}
| goals12 = 3
| years13 = 1999–2002
| clubs13 = [[Football Kingz FC|Auckland Kingz]]
| caps13  = 48
| goals13 = 12
| totalcaps = 522
| totalgoals = 213
| nationalyears1 = 1980–1997
| nationalteam1  = [[New Zealand men's national football team|New Zealand]]
| nationalcaps1  = 23
| nationalgoals1 = 12
| manageryears1  = 1998–1999
| managerclubs1  = [[North Shore United|North Shore]]
| manageryears2  = 1999
| managerclubs2  = [[New Zealand national under-16 football team|New Zealand U16]]
| manageryears3  = 1999–2002
| managerclubs3  = [[New Zealand Knights FC|Kingz]]
| manageryears4  = 2014–2015
| managerclubs4  = [[Papua New Guinea national football team|Papua New Guinea]]
}}

'''Wynton Alan Whai Rufer''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM|size=85%}} (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired professional [[association football|footballer]] who played as a [[striker (association football)|striker]]. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at [[SV Werder Bremen|Werder Bremen]], where he won a total of four major titles and finished the top scorer in the [[1993–94 UEFA Champions League]]. He was also a member of the [[New Zealand men's national football team|New Zealand national team]] in its first [[FIFA World Cup]] appearance in [[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982]]. He was named the [[Oceania Footballer of the Year#Other Oceania Awards|Oceania Footballer of the Century]] by the [[Oceania Football Confederation]].

==Club career==
===Early career===
Rufer was born in [[Wellington]] to a Swiss father, Arthur Rufer, and a New Zealand [[Māori people|Māori]] mother, Anne Hine Rufer (née Campbell). He affiliates to the [[Ngāti Porou]] [[iwi]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://maorisportsawards.co.nz/profiles/wynton-rufer-cnzm/ |title=Wynton Rufer CNZM |website=Māori Sports Awards |date=27 March 2017 |access-date=30 November 2022}}</ref> After leaving the city's [[Rongotai College]], he played his first football for [[Wellington United|Wellington Diamond United]], [[Stop Out]] and [[Miramar Rangers]].

After being voted New Zealand's Young Player of the Year in 1981 and 1982,<ref name="nzhon">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id170.htm|title=Honours List|publisher=The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website|access-date=25 July 2008}}</ref> Rufer attracted the attention of [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] manager [[Kenneth Brown (footballer born 1934)|Ken Brown]], who invited the player and his older brother [[Shane Rufer]] to [[Norfolk]] for a trial. He impressed and signed a professional contract on 23 October 1981,<ref name="FIFA">{{cite web | url = https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/do-you-remember/newsid=694177/index.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130524122558/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/do-you-remember/newsid=694177/index.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 24 May 2013 | title = Rufer's a Wynr in New Zealand | publisher = FIFA.com  | access-date = 11 May 2013}}</ref> becoming the first [[Kiwi (people)|Kiwi]] to do so. However, he was denied a work permit to play in England, so he joined [[FC Zürich]] in May of the following year.

===Switzerland===
Rufer would play in Switzerland in the following seven years, also representing [[FC Aarau]] and [[Grasshopper Club Zürich|Grasshoppers]]: whilst at the former, he topped the scoring charts at 21 in the [[1987–88 in Swiss football|1987–88 season]], helping his club to the fourth place. With the Hoppers, he won the [[Swiss Cup|domestic cup]], precisely against Aarau, and surpassed the 100-goal mark in his years in the country.

===Werder Bremen===
In the 1989 summer, Rufer signed with [[SV Werder Bremen|Werder Bremen]], coached by [[Otto Rehhagel]]. His [[Bundesliga]] debut came on 29 July, in a 0–0 draw at [[FC St. Pauli]], and his impact was immediate, as he netted six times in his first 13 league matches. Overall, he would play an enormous part in the side's achievements, pairing with [[Klaus Allofs]] up front: on 6 May 1992, both scored in [[1992 European Cup Winners' Cup Final|the final]] of [[1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup|the season]]'s [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup]], in [[Lisbon]] (2–0 win against [[AS Monaco FC|Monaco]]).

In the [[1992–93 Bundesliga|1992–93 league season]], as Werder won the third championship in the club's history, Rufer finished second in the scoring charts, at 17. On 8 December 1993, he scored two against [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]] in the [[1993–94 UEFA Champions League|UEFA Champions League]], in a 5–3 home win (Anderlecht led 3–0 with 25 minutes to go); he finished as that competition's topscorer, alongside [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]]'s [[Ronald Koeman]], and added his second [[DFB-Pokal|German Cup]].<ref name="Herald"/>

Rufer was voted Oceania's Player of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1992.<ref name="FIFA"/><ref name="Oceania Player of the Year">{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/oce-poy.html |title=Oceania Player of the Year |date=26 February 2009 |access-date=11 May 2013 |first=José Luis |last=Pierrend |url-status=live |website=[[RSSSF]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204065644/http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/oce-poy.html |archive-date=4 December 2013 }}</ref>

===Later years===
In 1994–95, the 31-year-old left Bremen and moved to [[JEF United Chiba|JEF United Ichihara]] of the [[J1 League]], finishing as the club's leading scorer in his second year. When Rehhagel took on the task of resurrecting [[1. FC Kaiserslautern]]'s fortunes in 1996 – the club would eventually [[1996–97 2. Bundesliga|return to the top division, as champions]] – he called upon Rufer in February 1997, and he contributed with four goals in 14 [[2. Bundesliga|second division]] matches.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/players/ruferdata.html | title = Wynton Alan Whai Rufer - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga | first = Matthias | last = Arnhold | date = 23 February 2017 | website = [[RSSSF]] | access-date = 3 March 2017 }}</ref>

Rufer returned to his country and successively represented [[Central United F.C.|Central United]], [[North Shore United]] and [[Football Kingz FC|Auckland Kingz]], retiring at the age of nearly 40. He then founded a football coaching school, WYNRS, which produced football stars such as women's international [[Annalie Longo]].<ref name="FIFA"/>

With his brother Shane, Rufer took on player-coaching duties at North Shore United in 1998, before coaching the national Under-16 men's squad ahead of the 1999 Junior World Cup Finals, notably achieving a draw against the Under-16 men's teams of Austria and win over Norway in an unofficial U-16 World Cup tournament in Nice, France in 1998. He was appointed player-coach of the country's first professional football team, Auckland Kingz, participating in the Australian Soccer League for two seasons before retiring in 2001, having been named Oceania's Player of the Century ahead of [[Frank Farina]] ([[Australia men's national soccer team|Australia]]) and [[Christian Karembeu]] ([[France national football team|France]], of [[New Caledonia]] descent).<ref name="Herald"/>

==International career==
Made his A-international debut for [[New Zealand men's national football team|New Zealand]] against [[Kuwait national football team|Kuwait]] on 16 October 1980 in the friendly international Merdeka Tournament in Malaysia aged 17 years and 291 days.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/rufer-intlg.html | title = Wynton Alan Whai Rufer - Goals in International Matches | first = Roberto | last = Mamrud | date = 23 February 2017 | website = [[RSSSF]] | access-date = 3 March 2017 }}</ref> Added late to the squad for [[New Zealand men's national football team|New Zealand]] in their World Cup qualification campaign in 1981 and played his first World Cup qualifier on 14 December 1981 against [[Kuwait national football team|Kuwait]], aged 18, scoring in a 2–2 draw for the [[1982 FIFA World Cup]] [[1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)|qualifiers]], Rufer quickly established himself in the All Whites side. Late in the following year, he netted the 2–1 winner in the decisive playoff against [[China national football team|China]], which propelled the nation to its first [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] ever.<ref name="Herald">{{cite web | url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/a-league-soccer/news/article.cfm?c_id=523&objectid=283515 | title = Soccer: Rufer - simply the best we've had | publisher = The New Zealand Herald | date = 15 December 2001 | access-date = 11 May 2013 | first = Terry | last = Maddaford | archive-date = 5 November 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131105174321/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/a-league-soccer/news/article.cfm?c_id=523&objectid=283515 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In the final stages in Spain, 19-year-old Rufer was the youngest member of the squad, appearing in all three group losses, against [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]], the [[Soviet Union national football team|Soviet Union]] and [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nzsoccer.com/page/1982_world_cup_team.html |title=NZ 1982 World Cup |publisher=New Zealand Soccer |access-date=25 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723152233/http://www.nzsoccer.com/page/1982_world_cup_team.html |archive-date=23 July 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In total, he gained 23 full [[Cap (sport)|caps]], scoring 12 goals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1708.htm |title=A-International Appearances – Overall |publisher=The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website |access-date=25 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007054503/http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1708.htm |archive-date=7 October 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1842.htm |title=A-International Scorers – Overall |publisher=The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website |access-date=25 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228182255/http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1842.htm |archive-date=28 February 2008 }}</ref> From 1985 to 1989, he only collected a total of five international appearances, namely due to the fact Zürich would not release him;<ref name="Herald"/> from there until 1996, he did not appear for the national side at all.

==Managerial career==
In February 2014, Rufer was appointed manager of [[Papua New Guinea national football team|Papua New Guinea]]. He was also responsible for managing [[Papua New Guinea national under-19 football team|Papua New Guinea U19]] at the [[2014 OFC U-20 Championship]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.pngfootball.com.pg/News/ViewArticle/tabid/1386/Article/8cca66e6-d9a0-4778-84cf-2b9d57148830/language/en-US/Default.aspx | title = Wynton Rufer appointed PNG national coach | publisher = pngfootball.com.pg | access-date = 28 May 2014 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141020111006/http://www.pngfootball.com.pg/News/ViewArticle/tabid/1386/Article/8cca66e6-d9a0-4778-84cf-2b9d57148830/language/en-US/Default.aspx | archive-date = 20 October 2014 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

==Personal life==
<!-- linked from redirect [[Caleb Rufer]] -->
During his time in Switzerland, Rufer converted to Christianity and married his wife, Lisa, in 1986. They have two sons, Caleb and Joshua, who are also footballers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/4341432/Young-Rufer-focused-on-making-name-for-himself |title=Young Rufer focused on making name for himself |publisher=Stuff |date=13 November 2010 |access-date=26 December 2021}}</ref> His brother [[Shane Rufer|Shane]] and his nephew [[Alex Rufer|Alex]] also played professional football and played for the [[New Zealand men's national football team|New Zealand national team]].

==Career statistics==

===Club===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|Cup
!colspan="2"|Continental
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
!rowspan="2"|{{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|[[Stop Out Sports Club|Stop Out]]
|[[1980 New Zealand National Soccer League|1980]]
|{{nowrap|[[New Zealand National Soccer League|National Soccer League]]}}
|5||2||||||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||5||2
|<ref name="nft">{{NFT player|4424|access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref>
|-
|{{nowrap|[[Wellington United|Wellington Diamond United]]}}
|[[1981 New Zealand National Soccer League|1981]]
|National Soccer League
|19||7||||||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||19||7
|<ref name="nft"/>
|-
|[[Miramar Rangers AFC|Miramar Rangers]]
|[[1982 New Zealand National Soccer League|1982]]
|National Soccer League
|8||3||||||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||8||3
|<ref name="nft"/>
|-
|rowspan="6"|[[FC Zürich]]
|[[1982–83 Nationalliga A|1982–83]]
|rowspan="5"|[[Swiss Super League|Nationalliga A]]
|23||9||4||2||7||1||colspan="2"|–||34||12
|<ref name="dbFCZ">{{cite web |title=Wynton Rufer |url=https://www.dbfcz.ch/spieler.php?spieler_id=3703 |website=dbFCZ |access-date=20 July 2018 |language=de}}</ref>
|-
|[[1983–84 Nationalliga A|1983–84]]
|22||8||4||2||3||1||colspan="2"|–||29||11
|<ref name="dbFCZ"/>
|-
|[[1984–85 Nationalliga A|1984–85]]
|22||10||3||3||5||1||colspan="2"|–||30||14
|<ref name="dbFCZ"/>
|-
|[[1985–86 Nationalliga A|1985–86]]
|28||14||1||1||5||1||colspan="2"|–||34||16
|<ref name="dbFCZ"/>
|-
|[[1986–87 Nationalliga A|1986–87]]
|5||2||0||0||4||2||colspan="2"|–||9||4
|<ref name="dbFCZ"/>
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!100!!43!!12!!8!!24!!6!!0!!0!!136!!57
!–
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[FC Aarau]]
|[[1986–87 Nationalliga A|1986–87]]
|rowspan="2"|Nationalliga A
|15||7||||||0||0||4||3||19||10
|<ref name="wf">{{cite web |title=Wynton Rufer » Club matches |url=http://www.worldfootball.net/player_summary/wynton-rufer/2/ |website=worldfootball.net |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref>
|-
|[[1987–88 Nationalliga A|1987–88]]
|22||11||||||0||0||14||9||36||20
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!37!!18!!!!!!0!!0!!18!!12!!55!!30
!–
|-
|[[Grasshopper Club Zürich|Grasshoppers]]
|[[1988–89 Nationalliga A|1988–89]]
|Nationalliga A
|22||12||||||2||0||14||6||38||18
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
|rowspan="7"|[[SV Werder Bremen|Werder Bremen]]
|[[1989–90 Bundesliga|1989–90]]
|rowspan="6"|[[Bundesliga]]
|34||10||5||5||10||4||0||0||49||19
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
|[[1990–91 Bundesliga|1990–91]]
|33||15||6||4||0||0||0||0||39||19
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
|[[1991–92 SV Werder Bremen season|1991–92]]
|29||5||4||1||8||4||2{{efn|Two appearances, two goals in [[DFL-Supercup|German Super Cup]]}}||2||43||12
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
|[[1992–93 Bundesliga|1992–93]]
|32||17||5||5||4||4||1{{efn|One appearance, one goal in [[UEFA Super Cup]]}}||1||42||27
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
|[[1993–94 Bundesliga|1993–94]]
|33||10||6||5||10||8||1{{efn|One appearance, one goal in [[DFL-Supercup|German Super Cup]]}}||1||50||24
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
|[[1994–95 Bundesliga|1994–95]]
|13||2||3||0||1||0||1{{efn|One appearance, one goal in [[DFL-Supercup|German Super Cup]]}}||1||18||3
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!174!!59!!29!!20!!33!!20!!5!!5!!241!!104
!–
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[JEF United Chiba|JEF United]]
|[[1995 JEF United Ichihara season|1995]]<ref name="J1995S">{{Cite book|title=J.LEAGUE OFFICIAL GUIDE 1995 Suntory series|isbn=4-09-102318-5}}</ref><ref name="J1995N">{{Cite book|title=J.LEAGUE OFFICIAL GUIDE 1995 NICOS series|date=1995 |publisher=小学館 |isbn=4-09-102321-5}}</ref>
|rowspan="2"|[[J.League]]
|39||21||1||1||colspan=2|–||colspan=2|–||40||22
|<ref name="nft"/>
|-
|[[1996 JEF United Ichihara season|1996]]<ref name="J1996">{{Cite book|title=J.LEAGUE OFFICIAL GUIDE 1996|date=1996 |publisher=小学館 |isbn=4-09-102324-X}}</ref>
|10||4||colspan=2|–||colspan=2|–|||2{{efn|Two appearances in [[J.League Cup]]}}||0|||12||4
|<ref name="nft"/>
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!49!!25!!1!!1!!0!!0!!2!!0!!52!!26
!–
|-
|[[1. FC Kaiserslautern]]
|[[1996–97 2. Bundesliga|1996–97]]
|[[2. Bundesliga]]
|14||4||0||0||0||0||0||0||14||4
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
|[[Central United F.C.|Central United]]
|[[1996–97 National Summer Soccer League|1996–97]]
|National Soccer League
|30||12||||||colspan=2|–||||||30||12
|
|-
|[[North Shore United]]
|[[1997–98 National Summer Soccer League|1997–98]]
|National Soccer League
|11||3||||||colspan=2|–||||||11||3
|
|-
|rowspan="4"|[[Football Kingz FC|Auckland Kingz]]
|{{nowrap|[[1999–2000 National Soccer League|1999–2000]]}}
|rowspan="3"|[[National Soccer League]]
|25||6||colspan=2|–||colspan=2|–||colspan=2|–||25||6
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
|[[2000–01 National Soccer League|2000–01]]
|18||6||colspan=2|–||colspan=2|–||colspan=2|–||18||6
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
|[[2001–02 National Soccer League|2001–02]]
|5||0||colspan=2|–||colspan=2|–||colspan=2|–||5||0
|<ref name="wf"/>
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!103!!31!!!!!!!!!!!!!!103!!31
!–
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!536!!217!!41!!28!!59!!26!!37!!23!!673!!294
!–
|}

{{notelist}}

===International===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="18"|[[New Zealand men's national football team|New Zealand]]<ref name="nft"/>
|1980||4||0
|-
|1981||2||3
|-
|1982||6||2
|-
|1983||0||0
|-
|1984||0||0
|-
|1985||3||1
|-
|1986||0||0
|-
|1987||0||0
|-
|1988||1||0
|-
|1989||1||0
|-
|1990||0||0
|-
|1991||0||0
|-
|1992||0||0
|-
|1993||0||0
|-
|1994||0||0
|-
|1995||0||0
|-
|1996||3||2
|-
|1997||3||4
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!23!!12
|}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Key
!{{double dagger|alt=Penalty}}
|Indicates goal was scored from a [[Penalty kick (association football)|penalty kick]]
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Wynton Rufer
|-
! scope="col" | {{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Venue
! scope="col" | Opponent
! scope="col" | Score
! scope="col" | Result
! scope="col" | Competition
|-
!align="center"|1
|10 October 1981||[[Mount Smart Stadium]], Auckland, New Zealand||{{fb|Kuwait}}||align="center"|1–0||align="center"|1–2||rowspan=4|[[1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)|1982 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|-
!align="center"|2
|rowspan=2|19 December 1981||rowspan=2|[[Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium]], Riyadh, Saudi Arabia||rowspan=2|{{fb|KSA}}||align="center"|2–0||align="center" rowspan=2|5–0
|-
!align="center"|3
|align="center"|5–0
|-
!align="center"|4
|10 January 1982||[[National Stadium, Singapore|National Stadium]], Singapore||{{fb|CHN}}||align="center"|2–0||align="center"|2–1
|-
!align="center"|5
|10 January 1982||[[Queen Elizabeth II Park]], Christchurch, New Zealand||{{fb|HUN}}||align="center"|1–1||align="center"|1–2||Friendly
|-
!align="center"|6
|26 October 1985||Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand||{{fb|ISR}}||align="center"|1–0||align="center"|3–1||[[1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)|1986 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|-
!align="center"|7
|rowspan=2|5 October 1996||rowspan=2|Doha, Qatar||rowspan=2|{{fb|QAT}}||align="center"|?–?||align="center" rowspan=2|2–3||rowspan=2|Friendly
|-
!align="center"|8
|align="center"|?–?
|-
!align="center"|9
|rowspan=2|11 June 1997||rowspan=2|North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand||rowspan=2|{{fb|PNG}}||align="center"|3–0||align="center" rowspan=2|7–0||rowspan=4|[[1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|-
!align="center"|10
|align="center"|4–0
|-
!align="center"|11
|rowspan=2|18 June 1997||rowspan=2|North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand||rowspan=2|{{fb|FIJ}}||align="center"|1–0||align="center" rowspan=2|5–0
|-
!align="center"|12
|align="center"|3–0
|}

==Honours==
'''Grasshoppers'''<ref name = "club honours">{{cite web|url=http://www.wynrs.co.nz/#!wynton-rufer/zihvp|title=Wynton Rufer|publisher=wynrs.co.nz|access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref>
* [[Swiss Cup]]: 1988–89
* [[Swiss Super Cup]]: 1989<ref>{{cite news 
|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesz/zwitsupcuphist.html
|title=Switzerland Super Cup Finals
|website=[[RSSSF]]
|access-date=22 February 2022}}</ref>

'''Werder Bremen'''<ref name="club honours"/>
* [[Bundesliga]]: [[1992–93 Bundesliga|1992–93]]
* [[DFB-Pokal]]: [[1990–91 DFB-Pokal|1990–91]], [[1993–94 DFB-Pokal|1993–94]]
* [[DFL-Supercup|DFB-Supercup]]: 1993, [[1994 DFB-Supercup|1994]]
* [[UEFA Cup Winners Cup]]: [[1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup|1991–92]]

'''1. FC Kaiserslautern'''
* [[2. Bundesliga]]: [[1996–97 2. Bundesliga|1996–97]]

'''Central United'''
* [[Chatham Cup]]: [[1997 Chatham Cup|1997]]

'''Individual'''
* New Zealand Young Player of the Year: 1981 and 1982<ref>{{cite web |title=Wynton Rufer |url=https://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id820.htm |website=Ultimatenzsoccer |access-date=28 December 2019}}</ref>
* [[Oceania Footballer of the Year]]: 1989, 1990, 1992<ref name="FIFA"/><ref name="Oceania Player of the Year"/>
* FIFA Oceania Footballer of the Century<ref name="club honours"/>
* [[List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League top scorers#Top scorers by season|UEFA Champions League Top-scorer]]: [[1993–94 UEFA Champions League#Top goalscorers|1993–94]]<ref name="Herald"/>
* [[Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to soccer, in the [[2008 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|2008 Queen's Birthday Honours]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2008 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2008 |date=2 June 2008 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=1 February 2020}}</ref>
* New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame: [[New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame#Soccer|Inducted in 2005]]<ref name="club honours"/>
* Maori Sports Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2007<ref name="club honours"/>
* Rufer is a member of the [[FIFA]] Football Committee, with [[Franz Beckenbauer]], [[Michel Platini]] and [[Bobby Charlton]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=82361.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121019041132/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=82361.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 19 October 2012 | title = The greatest honour for any footballer | publisher = FIFA.com | date = 24 May 2002 | access-date = 11 May 2013}}</ref> He is also involved with the FIFA Ambassadors Against Racism Committee.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/footballforhope/news/newsid=518207.html |title=FIFA Ambassadors against Racism |publisher=FIFA.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302191754/http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/footballforhope/news/newsid%3D518207.html |archive-date=2 March 2009}}</ref>
* [[IFFHS]] Legends<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iffhs.de/iffhs-has-announced-the-48-football-legend-players/|title=IFFHS announce the 48 football legend players|publisher=IFFHS|date=25 January 2016|access-date=14 September 2016}}</ref>
*[[International Federation of Football History & Statistics|IFFHS]] Oceania Men's Team of All Time: 2021<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iffhs.com/posts/1150 |title=IFFHS ALL TIME OCEANIA MEN'S DREAM TEAM |publisher=IFFHS |date=14 June 2021 |access-date=23 December 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Fussballdaten|ruferwynton}}
* [http://igang3.ch/dbfcz/spieler.php?spieler_id=3703 FC Zürich stats] {{in lang|de}}
* [http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id820.htm Ultimate NZSoccer profile and biography]
* [http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/rufer.htm Norwich City archives]
* [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/ROS.html#WyntonRufer Wynton Rufer] at Aussie Footballers
* {{NFT player|4424}}
* {{FIFA player|57199}}
* {{J.League player}}
* [http://www.wynrs.co.nz/ The official WYNRS site]

{{Oceania Footballer of the Year}}
{{UEFA Champions League top scorers}}
{{German Cup top scorers}}
{{New Zealand squad 1982 FIFA World Cup}}
{{Papua New Guinea national football team managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rufer, Wynton}}
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