2016 OFC U-20 Championship

2016 OFC U-20 Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Tonga (preliminary stage)   Vanuatu (final stage)
Dates	21–27 June 2016 (preliminary stage) 3–17 September 2016 (final stage)
Teams	8 (final stage) 11 (total) (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand (6th title)
Runners-up	Vanuatu
Tournament statistics
Matches played	21
Goals scored	67 (3.19 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Dwayne Tiputoa Myer Bevan (5 goals each)
Best player(s)	Myer Bevan
Best goalkeeper	Michael Woud
Fair play award	Solomon Islands
← 2014 2018 →

The 2016 OFC U-20 Championship was the 21st edition of the OFC U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 19 and below (despite the name remaining as U-20 Championship). This year, the tournament was held in Vanuatu for the first time by itself (second time overall).

Despite the name remaining as U-20 Championship, the age limit was reduced by a year to 19 years of age. So players who wanted to participate in the tournament needed to be born on or after 1 January 1997. At an OFC Executive Committee meeting held at its Auckland headquarters in November 2013 the competition format was modified. The competition was brought forward a year and the age limit was lowered to 19 years of age. The changes were made in order to allow the winner of the competition plenty of time for preparation and player development for upcoming World Cups at Under 20 level. ^[1]

In March 2015, FIFA decided that the OFC gets two slots at every FIFA U-20 and U-17 World Cup. ^[2] So the top two teams qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea.

Format

The qualification structure is as follows: ^[2]

• First round: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga played a round-robin tournament in Tonga. The winner qualified for the tournament.
• Tournament (2016 OFC U-20 Championship): A total of eight teams (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, and the first round winner) played the tournament in Vanuatu. For the group stage, they were divided into two groups of four teams. The top two teams of each group advanced to the knockout stage (semi-finals and final) to decide the winner of the 2016 OFC U-20 Championship and the two teams that qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Teams

All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered qualification.

Seeding	Teams	No. of teams
First round entrants	American Samoa   Cook Islands   Samoa   Tonga	4
Second round entrants	Fiji   New Caledonia   New Zealand   Papua New Guinea   Solomon Islands   Tahiti   Vanuatu	7

Squads

Main article: 2016 OFC U-20 Championship squads

Venues

Tonga	Vanuatu
‘Atele	Port Vila	Luganville
Loto-Tonga Soka Centre	Port Vila Municipal Stadium	Luganville Soccer City Stadium
Capacity: 1,500	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 6,000
‘Atele	Port Vila Luganville

First round

The preliminary tournament was hosted by Tonga between 21 and 27 June 2016. The winner qualified for the tournament final.

Four referees and four assistant referees were named for the preliminary round of the tournament.

Referees

• Salesh Chand
• Joel Hoppken
• Nelson Sogo
• Campbell-Kirk Waugh

Assistant referees

• Ujwaal Mudliar
• Phul Singh
• Jeffery Solodia
• Isaac Trevis

All times are local, TOT (UTC+13).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cook Islands	3	2	1	0	7	1	+6	7	Second round
2	Samoa	3	1	1	1	8	4	+4	4
3	Tonga (H)	3	0	3	0	5	5	0	3
4	American Samoa	3	0	1	2	1	11	−10	1

Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

21 June 2016 (2016-06-21)

12:00

Tonga	1–1	Cook Islands
Po'oi 51'	Report	C. Tiputoa 77'

Loto-Tonga Soka Centre, ‘Atele

Attendance: 250 ^[3]

Referee: Joel Hopkken (Vanuatu)

21 June 2016 (2016-06-21)

15:00

American Samoa	0–5	Samoa
	Report	Mariner 12' Malo 30' Hunt 48' Tunupopo 64', 75'

Loto-Tonga Soka Centre, ‘Atele

Attendance: 250 ^[4]

Referee: Nelson Sogo (Solomon Islands)

---

24 June 2016 (2016-06-24)

12:00

Tonga	1–1	American Samoa
Likiliki 10'	Report	Fiso 6'

Loto-Tonga Soka Centre, ‘Atele

Attendance: 200 ^[5]

Referee: Salesh Chand (Fiji)

24 June 2016 (2016-06-24)

15:00

Samoa	0–1	Cook Islands
	Report	D. Tiputoa 85'

Loto-Tonga Soka Centre, ‘Atele

Attendance: 200 ^[6]

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Waugh (New Zealand)

---

27 June 2016 (2016-06-27)

12:00

Cook Islands	5–0	American Samoa
Wood 31' Samuela 38' D. Tiputoa 54', 59', 72'	Report

Loto-Tonga Soka Centre, ‘Atele

Attendance: 200 ^[7]

Referee: Joel Hopkken (Vanuatu)

27 June 2016 (2016-06-27)

15:00

Samoa	3–3	Tonga
Tunupopo 66', 70' Malo 80'	Report	Polovili 10', 40', 73'

Loto-Tonga Soka Centre, ‘Atele

Attendance: 300 ^[8]

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Waugh (New Zealand)

Second round

The tournament final was scheduled for 3–17 September 2016 (originally 19–26 September 2016). ^[9] Vanuatu were announced as the host in December 2015. ^[10]

The draw was held on 22 June 2016. ^[11] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. There was no seeding, except that hosts Vanuatu were assigned to position A1 in the draw. The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

All times are local, VUT (UTC+11).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Vanuatu (H)	3	3	0	0	5	1	+4	9	Knockout stage
2	New Caledonia	3	1	1	1	5	3	+2	4
3	Fiji	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
4	Papua New Guinea	3	0	1	2	3	8	−5	1

Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

3 September 2016 (2016-09-03)

12:00

Papua New Guinea	1–4	New Caledonia
Awi 34'	Report	Watrone 56' Gope-Fenepej 68' (pen.) Poma 82' Houala 90+4'

Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila

Referee: Kader Zitouni (Tahiti)

3 September 2016 (2016-09-03)

15:00

Vanuatu	1–0	Fiji
Tenene 61'	Report

Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila

Referee: Nick Waldron (New Zealand)

---

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

12:00

New Caledonia	1–1	Fiji
Gope-Fenepej 68'	Report	Jennings 25'

Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila

Referee: George Time (Solomon Islands)

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

15:00

Vanuatu	3–1	Papua New Guinea
Wilkins 50' (pen.) Kalo 56' Thomas 81'	Report	Yanum 77'

Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Waugh (New Zealand)

---

10 September 2016 (2016-09-10)

12:00

Fiji	1–1	Papua New Guinea
Catarogo 71'	Report	Dabinyaba 35'

Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila

Referee: Nelson Sogo (Solomon Islands)

10 September 2016 (2016-09-10)

15:00

New Caledonia	0–1	Vanuatu
	Report	Wilkins 90+1' (pen.)

Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila

Referee: Nick Waldron (New Zealand)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	3	2	1	0	7	1	+6	7	Knockout stage
2	Solomon Islands	3	1	2	0	5	2	+3	5
3	Tahiti	3	1	1	1	6	7	−1	4
4	Cook Islands	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	0

Source: OFC

3 September 2016 (2016-09-03)

12:00

New Zealand	3–0	Cook Islands
Bevan 30', 76', 90'	Report

Luganville Soccer City Stadium, Luganville

Referee: Salesh Chand (Fiji)

3 September 2016 (2016-09-03)

15:00

Tahiti	2–2	Solomon Islands
Siejidr 13' Salem 34'	Report	Witney 50' Raramo 65'

Luganville Soccer City Stadium, Luganville

Referee: Joel Hopkken (Vanuatu)

---

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

12:00

Cook Islands	0–3	Solomon Islands
	Report	Waita 54' Witney 56', 83'

Luganville Soccer City Stadium, Luganville

Referee: Robinson Banga (Vanuatu)

6 September 2016 (2016-09-06)

15:00

Tahiti	1–4	New Zealand
Petitgas 27'	Report	Dyer 39' (pen.) Lewis 61' Imrie 65' Bevan 87'

Luganville Soccer City Stadium, Luganville

Referee: Médéric Lacour (New Caledonia)

---

10 September 2016 (2016-09-10)

12:00

Solomon Islands	0–0	New Zealand
	Report

Luganville Soccer City Stadium, Luganville

Referee: Médéric Lacour (New Caledonia)

10 September 2016 (2016-09-10)

15:00

Cook Islands	1–3	Tahiti
D. Tiputoa 83' (pen.)	Report	Salem 45+2', 55' Tau 87'

Luganville Soccer City Stadium, Luganville

Referee: Joel Hopkken (Vanuatu)

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	13 September – Luganville
	New Zealand	3
					17 September – Port Vila
	New Caledonia	1
					New Zealand	5
	13 September – Port Vila
					Vanuatu	0
	Vanuatu	2
	Solomon Islands	1

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

13 September 2016 (2016-09-13)

11:00

New Zealand	3–1	New Caledonia
Dyer 23', 30' Cox 71'	Report	Nypie 19'

Luganville Soccer City Stadium, Luganville

Referee: Kader Zitouni (Tahiti)

---

13 September 2016 (2016-09-13)

14:30

Vanuatu	2–1	Solomon Islands
Tenene 36' Massing 90+4'	Report	Gise 21'

Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila

Referee: Nick Waldron (New Zealand)

Final

17 September 2016 (2016-09-17)

14:30

New Zealand	5–0	Vanuatu
Ashworth 13' Dyer 34' Bevan 76' Imrie 88', 90'	Report Report (NZ Football)

Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila

Referee: Kader Zitouni (Tahiti)

Goalscorers

5 goals

• Dwayne Tiputoa
• Myer Bevan

4 goals

• Moses Dyer
• Pago Tunupopo

3 goals

• Lucas Imrie
• Albert Witney
• Heirauarii Salem
• Hemaloto Polovili

2 goals

• Thomas Gope-Fenepej
• Samuelu Malo
• Godine Tenene
• Ronaldo Wilkins

1 goal

• Steven Fiso
• Kimiora Samuela
• Conroy Tiputoa
• Michael Wood
• France Catarogo
• Leroy Jennings
• Warren Houala
• Cyril Nypie
• Pothin Poma
• Albert Watrone
• Hunter Ashworth
• Reese Cox
• Clayton Lewis
• Alu Awi
• Peter Dabinyaba Jr.
• Gabby Yanum
• Timothy Hunt
• Frank Mariner
• Joe Gise
• Richard Raramo
• Augustine Waita
• Rayan Petitgas
• Marc Siejidr
• Sandro Tau
• Anthony Likiliki
• Talatala Po'oi
• Bong Kalo
• Frederick Massing
• Jason Thomas

Awards

The Golden Ball Award is awarded to the most outstanding player of the tournament. The Golden Glove Award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. The Golden Boot Award is awarded to the top scorer of the tournament. The Fair Play Award is awarded to the team with the best disciplinary record at the tournament.

Award	Recipient
Golden Ball	Myer Bevan
Golden Glove	Michael Woud
Golden Boot	Myer Bevan
Fair Play Award	Solomon Islands

Qualified teams for FIFA U-20 World Cup

The following two teams from OFC qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. ^[12]

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament 1
New Zealand	13 September 2016	4 (2007, 2011, 2013, 2015 )
Vanuatu	13 September 2016	0 (Debut)

¹Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

References

1. "OFC Executive meeting outcomes announced". Oceania Football Confederation. 23 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
2. "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
3. "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Tonga - Cook Islands" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05.
4. "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: American Samoa - Samoa" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05.
5. "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Tonga - American Samoa" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-06.
6. "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Samoa - Cook Islands" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-06.
7. "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Cook Islands - American Samoa" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-07.
8. "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Samoa - Tonga" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-07.
9. "OFC Executive Committee decisions". Oceania Football Confederation. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
10. "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
11. "U-20 journey outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 22 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
12. "History-making Vanuatu join New Zealand on world stage". FIFA.com. 13 September 2016. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016.