Entrants
All eleven eligible OFC nations have entered qualification.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6 September 2024 – March 2025 |
| Teams | 11 (from 1 confederation) |
| OFC Qualifiers |
|---|
The Oceanian section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification process is expected to take place from September 2024 to March 2025. [1] The 2026 tournament is the 16th edition of Oceanian qualifiers and marks the first time OFC has a direct qualification slot into the FIFA World Cup. [2]
The qualification structure is as follows: [1] [3]
All eleven eligible OFC nations have entered qualification.
The schedule of the competition is as follows.
| Round | Matchday | Date | Venue(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First round | Matchday 1 | 6 September 2024 |  Samoa |
| Matchday 2 | 9 September 2024 | ||
| Second round | Matchday 3 | 10–12 October 2024 |  Fiji and  Vanuatu |
| Matchday 4 | 14–18 November 2024 |  New Zealand and  Papua New Guinea | |
| Matchday 5 | |||
| Third round | Semi-finals | March 2025 | New Zealand |
| Final | March 2025 |
The inter-confederation play-offs will be scheduled to be played in March 2026.
The draw for the first two rounds was held at FIFA headquarters in Switzerland on 18 July from 9:00 CEST (UTC+2). [1] [4] Although announced prior to their official release, the seeding for the draw was based on the FIFA Men's World Rankings of 18 July 2024 (shown in parentheses below).
For the first round, the four lowest-ranked teams will compete in a single-elimination play-off to determine which team advances to the second round. The highest-ranked team will face the lowest-ranked team and the second-ranked team will face the third-ranked team in the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches will face each other in the final.
For the second round, each group contains one team from Pot 1, two from Pot 2 and one from Pot 3 (which also included a placeholder for the first round winner).
| Bye to second round | Competing in first round | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | |
|
|
|
|
First round matches will be played 6–9 September 2024 in Samoa. [6] The four lowest-ranked teams will compete in a knockout series, and the winner will advance to join the seven highest-ranked teams in the second round. [1]
| Matchday 1 | Matchday 2 | |||||
| 6 September 2024 – Apia | ||||||
 Cook Islands | ||||||
| 9 September 2024 – Apia | ||||||
 Tonga | ||||||
| Winner Match 1 | ||||||
| 6 September 2024 – Apia | ||||||
| Winner Match 2 | ||||||
 American Samoa | ||||||
| Samoa | ||||||
| Cook Islands | v | Tonga |
|---|---|---|
| [7] |
| American Samoa | v | Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| [8] |
The winner advances to the second round.
| Winner Match 1 | v | Winner Match 2 |
|---|---|---|
| [9] |
The second round will take place from 10 October to 18 November 2024 with two groups of four teams playing each other once in a league format. [1] Matches will be played in Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu. [10]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  | |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Solomon Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to the third round | — | 10 Oct | 14 Nov | — | |
| 2 | Fiji (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 Nov | — | ||
| 3 | New Caledonia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 Oct | ||
| 4 | Papua New Guinea (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 Nov | 14 Nov | — | — |
| New Caledonia | v | Papua New Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| [11] |
| Solomon Islands | v | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
| [12] |
| Solomon Islands | v | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| [13] |
| Papua New Guinea | v | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
| [14] |
| Fiji | v | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| [15] |
| Papua New Guinea | v | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
| [16] |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |  | |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to the third round | — | 11 Oct | 15 Nov | — | |
| 2 | Tahiti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 Nov | — | ||
| 3 | Vanuatu (H) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 Oct | ||
| 4 | First round winner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 Nov | 15 Nov | — | — |
| New Zealand | v | Tahiti |
|---|---|---|
| [17] |
| Vanuatu | v | First round winner |
|---|---|---|
| [18] |
| First round winner | v | Tahiti |
|---|---|---|
| [19] |
| New Zealand | v | Vanuatu |
|---|---|---|
| [20] |
| Tahiti | v | Vanuatu |
|---|---|---|
| [21] |
| First round winner | v | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| [22] |
The third round is scheduled to take place in New Zealand in March 2025. [1] The winner will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the runner-up will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs. [10]
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| March 2025 | ||||||
| Winner Group A | ||||||
| March 2025 | ||||||
| Runner-up Group B | ||||||
| Winner Semi-final 1 | ||||||
| March 2025 | ||||||
| Winner Semi-final 2 | ||||||
| Winner Group B | ||||||
| Runner-up Group A | ||||||
| Winner Group A | v | Runner-up Group B |
|---|---|---|
| Winner Group B | v | Runner-up Group A |
|---|---|---|
The winner qualifies for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The loser advances to the inter-confederation play-offs.
| Winner Semi-final 1 | v | Winner Semi-final 2 |
|---|---|---|
The runner up team will join one team each from AFC, CAF, and CONMEBOL and two from CONCACAF in the inter-confederation play-offs. The teams will be ranked according to the FIFA Men's World Ranking, with the four lowest-ranked teams playing in two single-elimination matches. The winners will meet the two highest-ranked teams in another set of single-elimination matches, with the winners of these matches qualifying for the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. [23]
The following teams from OFC qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| TBD | Third round winners | March 2025 |
The Papua New Guinea women's national soccer team is controlled by the Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA). Its nickname is the Lakatois, which is a Motuan sailing vessel. Their home ground is the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium, located in Port Moresby and their current manager is Peter Gunemba. Deslyn Siniu is the team's most capped player and top scorer.
The 2008 OFC Nations Cup was the eighth edition of the OFC Nations Cup and the first under a new format. It took place as a series of as a home-and-away round-robin tournament on FIFA match dates in 2007 and 2008. Doubling as the qualification tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the tournament was substantially different from earlier editions: 2004 champions Australia did not compete after leaving the Oceania Football Confederation for the Asian Football Confederation and for the first time since the 1996 OFC Nations Cup, no fixed venue was used. Unlike the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, which had featured six teams from the Oceania Football Confederation, the 2008 tournament had just four.
The 2008–09 OFC Champions League was the 8th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 3rd season under the current OFC Champions League name. The competition consisted of a home and away group stage, followed by a knockout round. It took place from 2 November 2008 until 3 May 2009.
The 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 2011–12 OFC Champions League, also known as the 2012 O-League, was the 11th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 6th season under the current OFC Champions League name. It was contested by eight teams from seven countries. The teams were split into two four-team pools, the winner of each pool contesting the title of O-League Champion and the right to represent the OFC at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup.
The New Zealand men's national football team has competed in all eleven editions of the OFC Men's Nations Cup, and have won six times, the most recent coming in the 2024 tournament.
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 2016 OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament was the 4th edition of the OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the quadrennial international football competition organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) to determine which women's national teams from Oceania qualify for the Olympic football tournament.
The third round of OFC matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification began on 7 November 2016 and ended on 5 September 2017.
The 2016 OFC Nations Cup Final was a football match that took place on 11 June 2016 at the Sir John Guise Stadium, Port Moresby. It was the final match of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, the 10th edition of the OFC Nations Cup, a competition for national teams in Oceania.
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 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.
Group A of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup took place from 29 May to 5 June 2016. The group consisted of New Caledonia, hosts Papua New Guinea, Samoa and defending champions Tahiti.
The knockout stage of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup began on 8 June with the semi-finals and end on 11 June 2016 with the final at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby.
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 2023 OFC Champions League was the 22nd edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 17th season under the current OFC Champions League name.
The 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup was the 11th edition of the OFC Men's Nations Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Oceania organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The tournament was played between 15 and 30 June 2024 in Fiji and Vanuatu. The defending champions were New Zealand from the 2016 edition; the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New Caledonia withdrew a few days before the start of the competition citing riots in the country, and the tournament played with seven teams.
The 2024 OFC Champions League was the 23rd edition of the Oceanian club championship. Organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), it is Oceania's premier club football tournament. The 2024 edition of the tournament was the 18th season under the current OFC Champions League name.
The 2024 OFC U-19 Men's Championship was the 24th 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 Tahiti national football team has competed in ten editions of the OFC Men's Nations Cup, and won the title in 2012. The team is considered one of the best in Oceania. Tahiti also finished as runners-up three times, and is the only team other than Australia or New Zealand to win the continental trophy.