The first round of OFC matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (and 2016 OFC Nations Cup qualification) was played from 31 August to 4 September 2015 in Tonga. [1] [2]
In this round, four teams, as determined by the OFC in March 2014, [3] played a single round-robin tournament held in a single country which was later decided to be in Tonga. [1] All matches were held at the Loto-Tonga Soka Centre in Nuku'alofa.
Samoa, the winner, advanced to the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, held from 28 May – 12 June 2016, to join the other seven teams which received a bye into the group stage. The winner of the OFC Nations Cup, New Zealand, represented the OFC at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Moreover, the OFC Nations Cup served as the second round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, with the top six teams advancing to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualifying. [4]
In April 2014 the OFC announced its executive's decision on the teams to compete in the tournament. The four lowest ranked teams (based on FIFA World Ranking and sporting reasons) among the 11 OFC entrants entered the first round: [3]
Note: Bolded team qualified for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.
| Team | FIFA ranking at start of event [5] |
|---|---|
 American Samoa | 200 |
 Cook Islands | 206 |
 Samoa | 197 |
 Tonga | 198 |
All matches were held at the Loto-Tonga Soka Centre in Nuku'alofa
| Loto-Tonga Soka Centre |
| Nuku'alofa, Tonga |
|---|
| 21°8′S175°12′W / 21.133°S 175.200°W |
| Capacity: 1,500 |
| 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
|---|
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7): [6]
|
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samoa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 | Advance to 2016 OFC Nations Cup/second round | — | 3–2 | — | — | |
| 2 | American Samoa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | — | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | Cook Islands | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | 1–0 | — | — | 3–0 | ||
| 4 | Tonga (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 | 0–3 | — | — | — |
The match schedule was revealed on 30 July 2015, following a draw held at OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand. [7] All times are local, UTC+13.
| Cook Islands | 3–0 | Tonga |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (OFC) |
| Samoa | 3–2 | American Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (OFC) |
|
There were 17 goals scored in 6 matches, for an average of 2.83 goals per match.
4 goals
2 goals
Demetrius Beauchamp Justin Manao Johnny Hall Andrew Mobberley 1 goal
Ryan Aloali'i Mitchell Ramin Ott Desmond Fa'aiuaso Faitalia Hamilton-Pama Sione UhatahiThe 2012 OFC Nations Cup was the ninth edition of the OFC Nations Cup organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The group stage of the tournament also doubled as the second round of the OFC qualification tournament for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The four semi-finalists advanced to the final round of OFC qualifying, where they would compete for the OFC spot in the inter-confederation play-offs. The qualifying tournament was to be the football competition at the 2011 Pacific Games in Nouméa, New Caledonia. However, in June 2011 the format was amended, and the Pacific Games were no longer part of the qualification process. The new structure saw four of the lowest ranked entrants play a single round-robin tournament from 22 to 26 November 2011 in Samoa. The winner of this qualifying stage joined the other seven teams that received a bye to the Nations Cup proper.
The 2010 OFC Women's Championship of women's association football took place in Auckland, New Zealand between 29 September and 8 October. It was the ninth edition of the tournament. For the first time, eight teams participated in the tournament, and a total of sixteen matches were played.
2012 OFC Women's Pre-Olympic Football Tournament was the qualifying tournament to the football competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London for the member nations of the Oceania Football Confederation. It was the third edition of the OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Four nations participated in a preliminary tournament based on a league system with two advancing to a final. The winner of this preliminary stage played New Zealand in a home-and-away play-off for a place at the Olympics.
The 2012–13 OFC Champions League was the 12th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 7th season under the current OFC Champions League name.
The 2014–15 OFC Champions League was the 14th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 9th season under the current OFC Champions League name.
The 2013 OFC U-17 Championship was the 15th edition of the OFC's Under 17 championship, the biennial football championship of the Oceanian Confederation. All matches took place at Chapuis stadium, Luganville in Vanuatu from 17 to 27 April. 6 teams contested the final round of the Championship after the Solomon Islands Football Federation withdrew, as it could only financially support its Beach Soccer and Fustal sides in national competition.
The 2016 OFC Nations Cup was the tenth edition of the OFC Nations Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Oceania organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The tournament was played between 28 May and 11 June 2016 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The winner qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.
The third round of OFC matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification began on 7 November 2016 and ended on 5 September 2017.
The 2015 Pacific Games men's football tournament was the 14th edition of the Pacific Games men's football tournament. The men's football tournament was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea between 3–17 July 2015 as part of the 2015 Pacific Games. The tournament was age-restricted and open to men's under-23 national teams only.
The 2015 OFC U-20 Women's Championship was the 7th edition of the OFC U-20 Women's Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the women's under-20 national teams of Oceania. The tournament was held in Tonga between 1–10 October 2015. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held between 16–30 January 2016.
The Loto-Tonga Soka Centre was a football facility in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga. It was funded by FIFA through the world football body's Goal Programme and was opened in 2001. It hosted matches of the first round of the OFC 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The main office of the Tonga Football Association was also located within the venue. It had a capacity of 1,500 and was home to the Tonga national football team and Veitongo FC. The facility was closed and the land was redeveloped for the construction of the Tonga Football Association Stadium.
The 2016 OFC U-17 Women's Championship was the 3rd edition of the OFC U-17 Women's Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the women's under-17 national teams of Oceania. The tournament was held in the Cook Islands between 13 and 23 January 2016. The tournament, which returned after the previous edition in 2014 was cancelled, was originally scheduled to be held between 13 and 28 September 2015.
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. This year, the tournament was held in Vanuatu for the first time by itself.
The 2017 OFC Champions League was the 16th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 11th season under the current OFC Champions League name.
The 2018 OFC U-16 Championship was the 18th edition of the OFC U-16/U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-16/under-17 national teams of Oceania. The qualifying stage was held in Tonga between 14 and 20 July 2018, and the final tournament was held in the Solomon Islands between 9–22 September 2018.
The 2018 OFC Women's Nations Cup qualification tournament was a football competition that took place from 24 to 30 August 2018 in Lautoka, Fiji to determine the final women's national team which joined the seven automatically qualified teams in the 2018 OFC Women's Nations Cup final tournament in New Caledonia.
The Oceanian section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar, for national teams which are members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). A total of 0.5 slots in the final tournament were available for OFC teams, which equated to one inter-confederation play-off slot.
The 2022 OFC Women's Nations Cup was the 12th edition of the OFC Women's Nations Cup, the quadrennial international football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the women's national teams of the Oceanian region. It was originally scheduled from July to August 2022, but was moved to January and February to accommodate changes to the FIFA Women's International Match Calendar. The OFC announced on 4 March 2021 that it was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and on 29 April 2022 announced that Fiji would host the tournament from 13 to 30 July.
The 2022 OFC U-19 Championship was the 23rd edition of the OFC U-19/U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-19/under-20 national teams of Oceania.
The 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup qualifying round served as qualification for the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup. This tournament marks the first time since 2002 that qualification for the OFC Nations Cup has not been held in conjunction with the FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for OFC.
