2017 OFC U-17 Championship

2017 OFC U–17 Championship

Championnat d'Océanie de football des moins de 17 ans 2017
Tournament details
Host country	Samoa (preliminary stage)   Tahiti (final stage)
Dates	4–8 July 2016 (preliminary stage) 11–24 February 2017 (final stage)
Teams	8 (final stage) 11 (total) (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand (7th title)
Runners-up	New Caledonia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15
Goals scored	73 (4.87 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Charles Spragg (7 goals)
Best player(s)	Charles Spragg
Best goalkeeper	Zac Jones
Fair play award	New Zealand
← 2015 2018 →

The 2017 OFC U-17 Championship was the 17th edition of the OFC U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 17 and below. The tournament was held in Tahiti between 11 and 24 February 2017.

In March 2015, FIFA decided that the OFC gets two slots at every FIFA U-20 and U-17 World Cup. ^[1] So the top two teams qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

Format

The qualification structure is as follows: ^[1]

• First round: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga played a round-robin tournament in Samoa. The winner qualified for the tournament.
• Tournament (2017 OFC U-17 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 Tahiti. 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 2017 OFC U-17 Championship and the two teams that qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Teams

All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered qualification. It is only the third time all 11 OFC member associations have entered an Oceania competition since 2006.

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: 2017 OFC U-17 Championship squads

Venues

The final round of the tournament were played in two venues in Tahiti. ^[2]

Pirae	Mahina
Stade Pater	Stade Mahina
17°43′51″S168°18′56″E / 17.7308985°S 168.315498°E / -17.7308985; 168.315498 (Port Vila Municipal Stadium)
Capacity:11,700	Capacity:2,500
Pirae Mahina 2017 OFC U-17 Championship (Tahiti)

Match officials

Referees

• Salesh Chand
• Médéric Lacour
• Matt Conger
• Nelson Sogo
• Hamilton Siau
• George Time
• Norbert Hauata
• Kader Zitouni
• Roger Adams
• Arnold Tari

Assistant Referees

• John Pareanga
• Noah Kusunan
• Tevita Makasini
• Folio Moeaki
• Sione Teu
• Marc Sinyeue
• Gareth Sheehan
• Wase Bafinu
• Malaetala Sofe
• Denson Sale ^[3]

First round

The preliminary tournament was hosted by Samoa between 2 and 8 July 2016. Due to unforeseen circumstances, matchday one was postponed from 2 to 4 July, and matchday 2 was postponed from 5 to 6 July. ^[4] The winner qualified for the final tournament.

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

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

Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

4 July 2016 (2016-07-04)

16:30

Tonga	2–3	Cook Islands
Faivailo 45' Tokotaha 90+1' (pen.)	Report	Tomasi 19' (o.g.) Tiputoa 20' Ngametua 89'

J.S. Blatter Stadium, Apia

Attendance: 200 ^[5]

Referee: Averii Jacques (Tahiti)

4 July 2016 (2016-07-04)

19:00

Samoa	3–0	American Samoa
Sauiluma 4' Tumua 68', 73'	Report

J.S. Blatter Stadium, Apia

Attendance: 500 ^[6]

Referee: Amos Anio (Papua New Guinea)

---

6 July 2016 (2016-07-06)

16:30

American Samoa	1–3	Cook Islands
Pouli 29'	Report	Tiputoa 21', 25' Ngametua 90+3'

J.S. Blatter Stadium, Apia

Attendance: 300 ^[7]

Referee: Robinson Banga (Vanuatu)

6 July 2016 (2016-07-06)

19:00

Tonga	1–1	Samoa
Kau 71'	Report	Mano 3'

J.S. Blatter Stadium, Apia

Attendance: 350 ^[8]

Referee: Médéric Lacour (New Caledonia)

---

8 July 2016 (2016-07-08)

16:30

American Samoa	0–2	Tonga
	Report	Kau 11' Kite 32'

J.S. Blatter Stadium, Apia

Attendance: 200 ^[9]

Referee: Robinson Banga (Vanuatu)

8 July 2016 (2016-07-08)

19:00

Cook Islands	0–2	Samoa
	Report	Savelio 90+1' Sauiluma 90+4'

J.S. Blatter Stadium, Apia

Attendance: 300 ^[10]

Referee: Averii Jacques (Tahiti)

Second round

The final tournament was scheduled for 11–24 February 2017 (originally 15–29 January 2017). ^[11] Tahiti were announced as the host in December 2015. ^[12]

The draw was held on 18 July 2016. ^[13] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. There was no seeding, except that hosts Tahiti were assigned to position A1 in the draw. The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

All times are local, TAHT (UTC−10).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Caledonia	3	2	1	0	7	5	+2	7	Knockout stage
2	Papua New Guinea	3	1	1	1	7	7	0	4
3	Tahiti (H)	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	Vanuatu	3	0	1	2	5	7	−2	1

Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

11 February 2017 (2017-02-11)

16:00

New Caledonia	3–2	Papua New Guinea
Gope-Fenepej 5', 31' Iwa 90+3' (pen.)	Report	Kapai 35' Kerobin 64'

Stade Mahina, Mahina

Attendance: 900

Referee: George Time (Solomon Islands)

11 February 2017 (2017-02-11)

19:00

Tahiti	1–0	Vanuatu
Vivi 11'	Report

Stade Mahina, Mahina

Attendance: 1,600

Referee: Matthew Conger (New Zealand)

---

14 February 2017 (2017-02-14)

16:00

Papua New Guinea	3–3	Vanuatu
Pukue 16' Kerobin 45+4' (pen.), 81'	Report	Ngwele 25', 55' Maguekon 83'

Stade Mahina, Mahina

Attendance: 600

Referee: Hamilton Siau (Solomon Islands)

14 February 2017 (2017-02-14)

19:00

Tahiti	1–1	New Caledonia
Beaumert 45+3'	Report	Caihe 90+1'

Stade Mahina, Mahina

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Salesh Chand (Fiji)

---

Group A matches of matchday 3 were moved from Stade Mahina, Mahina to Stade Pater, Pirae due to adverse weather conditions. ^[14]

17 February 2017 (2017-02-17)

16:00

Vanuatu	2–3	New Caledonia
Tari 84' Napau 88' (pen.)	Report	Thahnaena 37' Gope-Fenepej 72' Iwa 75' (pen.)

Stade Pater, Pirae

Attendance: 500

Referee: George Time (Solomon Islands)

17 February 2017 (2017-02-17)

19:00

Papua New Guinea	2–1	Tahiti
J. Allen 71' Simongi 87'	Report	Kaspard 10'

Stade Pater, Pirae

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Matthew Conger (New Zealand)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	3	3	0	0	18	1	+17	9	Knockout stage
2	Solomon Islands	3	1	1	1	14	3	+11	4
3	Fiji	3	1	1	1	4	6	−2	4
4	Samoa	3	0	0	3	0	26	−26	0

Source: OFC

12 February 2017 (2017-02-12)

16:00

Samoa	0–11	New Zealand
	Report	Spragg 5', 20', 40', 90+4' Ebbinge 10' Sinclair 21' Palmer 67', 70', 90+3' Whyte 86' Mata 89'

Stade Pater, Pirae

Attendance: 527

Referee: Joel Hopkken (Vanuatu)

12 February 2017 (2017-02-12)

19:00

Fiji	1–1	Solomon Islands
Dau 4'	Report	Mana 52'

Stade Pater, Pirae

Attendance: 550

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)

---

15 February 2017 (2017-02-15)

16:00

New Zealand	2–1	Solomon Islands
Williams 3' Spragg 84'	Report	Kaoni 48'

Stade Pater, Pirae

Attendance: 500

Referee: Abdelkader Zitouni (Tahiti)

15 February 2017 (2017-02-15)

19:00

Fiji	3–0	Samoa
Matalau 9' Dau 17', 62'	Report

Stade Pater, Pirae

Attendance: 800

Referee: Arnold Tari (Vanuatu)

---

18 February 2017 (2017-02-18)

16:00

Solomon Islands	12–0	Samoa
Mekawir 9', 19', 30' Toata 29' Kaoni 45+4', 67', 80', 88' Keana 53', 65' Allen 57', 79'	Report

Stade Pater, Pirae

Attendance: 300

Referee: Joel Hopkken (Vanuatu)

18 February 2017 (2017-02-18)

19:00

New Zealand	5–0	Fiji
M. Jones 12', 90+1' Just 41' Mata 76' Spragg 90+4' (pen.)	Report

Stade Pater, Pirae

Attendance: 750

Referee: Médéric Lacour (New Caledonia)

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	21 February – Mahina
	New Caledonia	3
					24 February – Pirae
	Solomon Islands	2
					New Caledonia	0
	21 February – Mahina
					New Zealand	7
	New Zealand	2
	Papua New Guinea	1

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

21 February 2017 (2017-02-21)

16:00

New Caledonia	3–2	Solomon Islands
Bako 23' Jeno 68' Longue 80'	Report	Toata 62' Allen 90+4'

Stade Mahina, Mahina

Attendance: 400

Referee: Matthew Conger (New Zealand)

---

21 February 2017 (2017-02-21)

19:00

New Zealand	2–1	Papua New Guinea
Pukue 3' (o.g.) Whyte 90+3'	Report	Kerobin 34'

Stade Mahina, Mahina

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)

Final

24 February 2017 (2017-02-24)

19:00

New Caledonia	0–7	New Zealand
	Report	Just 33' Cacace 36' Mata 62', 68' Conroy 70' Spragg 72' Palmer 90+1'

Stade Pater, Pirae

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)

Goalscorers

7 goals

• Charles Spragg

5 goals

• Junior Kaoni

4 goals

• Barthy Kerobin
• Max Mata
• Matthew Palmer

3 goals

• Conroy Tiputoa
• Ratu Dau
• Paul Gope-Fenepej
• Junior Allen
• Ali Mekawir

2 goals

• Kimiora Ngametua
• Bernard Iwa
• Matthew Jones
• Elijah Just
• Oliver Whyte
• Willie Sauiluma
• Dilo Tumua
• Don Keana
• Steward Toata
• Tevita Kau
• Dilland Ngwele

1 goal

• Takai Pouli
• Semi Matalau
• Pierre Bako
• Robert Caihe
• Abiezer Jeno
• Vita Longue
• Lionel Thahnaena
• Liberato Cacace
• Matthew Conroy
• Willem Ebbinge
• Kingsley Sinclair
• Jake Williams
• Jonathan Allen
• Kimson Kapai
• Aben Pukue
• Emmanuel Simongi
• Lotial Mano
• Osa Savelio
• Elis Mana
• Kalahani Beaumert
• Eddy Kaspard
• Yann Vivi
• Kalakaua Faivailo
• Ofa Kite
• Petueli Tokotaha
• Zidane Maguekon
• Rhydley Napau
• Jayson Tari

1 own goal

• Aben Pukue (playing against New Zealand)
• Pesamino Tomasi (playing against Cook Islands)

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. ^[15]

Award	Recipient
Golden Ball	Charles Spragg
Golden Glove	Zac Jones
Golden Boot	Charles Spragg (7 goals)
Fair Play Award	New Zealand

Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following two teams from OFC qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. ^[16]

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in tournament 1
New Zealand	21 February 2017	7 (1997, 1999 , 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015)
New Caledonia	21 February 2017	0 (Debut)

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

References

1. "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
2. "Historic event on the cards". Oceania Football Confederation. 25 January 2017.
3. "OFC U-17 Championship Programme 2017". OFC (via issuu.com). Retrieved 12 February 2017.
4. "Circumstances prompt schedule change". Oceania Football Confederation. 1 July 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-07-16. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
5. "2016 OFC U-17 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Tonga – Cook Islands" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
6. "2016 OFC U-17 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Samoa – American Samoa" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
7. "2016 OFC U-17 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: American Samoa – Cook Islands" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-09.
8. "2016 OFC U-17 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Tonga – Samoa" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2016-07-07.
9. "2016 OFC U-17 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: American Samoa – Tonga" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
10. "2016 OFC U-17 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Cook Islands – Samoa" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
11. "OFC Executive Committee decisions". Oceania Football Confederation. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016.
12. "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
13. "Tough journey for U-17 hopefuls". Oceania Football Confederation. 19 July 2016.
14. "Pater to host Group A". Oceania Football Confederation. 18 February 2017.
15. "New Zealand defend U-17 crown". Oceania Football Confederation. 25 February 2017.
16. "New Caledonia, New Zealand bound for India". FIFA.com. 22 February 2017. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017.

External links

• 2017 OFC U-17 Championship Archived 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine , oceaniafootball.com
  • Results