2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – OFC first round

Last updated

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]

Contents

Format

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]

Participating teams

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]
Flag of American Samoa.svg  American Samoa 200
Flag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands 206
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 197
Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 198

Venue

All matches were held at the Loto-Tonga Soka Centre in Nuku'alofa

Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga
‘Atele
Loto-Tonga Soka Centre
Capacity: 1,500

Standings

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]
  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
  2. Overall goal difference
  3. Overall goals scored
  4. Points in matches between tied teams
  5. Goal difference in matches between tied teams
  6. Goals scored in matches between tied teams
  7. Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
  8. Fair play points
    • first yellow card: minus 1 point
    • indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points
    • direct red card: minus 4 points
    • yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points
  9. Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationFlag of Samoa.svgFlag of American Samoa.svgFlag of the Cook Islands.svgFlag of Tonga.svg
1Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 320163+36Advance to 2016 OFC Nations Cup and second round— 3–2 ——
2Flag of American Samoa.svg  American Samoa 320164+26—— 2–0 2–1
3Flag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands 320142+26 1–0 —— 3–0
4Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga (H)300318−70 0–3 ———
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Matches

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  Flag of the Cook Islands.svg3–0Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga
  • Saghabi Soccerball shade.svg38', 53', 59'
 Report (FIFA)
Report (OFC)
Loto-Tonga Soka Centre (Field 1), ‘Atele
Attendance: 300
Referee: Ravitesh Behari (Fiji)
Samoa  Flag of Samoa.svg3–2Flag of American Samoa.svg  American Samoa
Report (FIFA)
Report (OFC)
Loto-Tonga Soka Centre (Field 1), ‘Atele
Attendance: 100
Referee: Nelson Sogo (Solomon Islands)
Cook Islands  Flag of the Cook Islands.svg1–0Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa
Report (FIFA)
Report (OFC)
Loto-Tonga Soka Centre (Field 1), ‘Atele
Attendance: 150
Referee: Robinson Banga (Vanuatu)
American Samoa  Flag of American Samoa.svg2–1Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga
Report (FIFA)
Report (OFC)
Loto-Tonga Soka Centre (Field 1), ‘Atele
Attendance: 200
Referee: Salesh Chand (Fiji)
Tonga  Flag of Tonga.svg0–3Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa
Report (FIFA)
Report (OFC)
Loto-Tonga Soka Centre (Field 2), ‘Atele
Attendance: 250
Referee: Averii Jacques (Tahiti)
American Samoa  Flag of American Samoa.svg2–0Flag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands
Report (FIFA)
Report (OFC)
Loto-Tonga Soka Centre (Field 1), ‘Atele
Attendance: 250
Referee: Ravitesh Behari (Fiji)

Goalscorers

There were 17 goals scored in 6 matches, for an average of 2.83 goals per match.

4 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Notes

  1. 1 2 The final round matches were originally scheduled to be played simultaneously at 15:00, but were changed by the OFC to be played consecutively one day before the matches. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Preliminary Draw procedures outlined". FIFA.com. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on July 12, 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Draw Procedures – Oceanian Zone" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "OFC Executive Committee decisions". OFC. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Preliminary competition format outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking – August 2015 (CAF)". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 6 August 2015. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "Stage 1 draw revealed". OFC. 30 July 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  8. ↑ "Kick-off changes for MD3". Oceania Football Confederation. 3 September 2015. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.