OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup

OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup

Organiser(s)	OFC
Founded	2006;19 years ago (2006)
Region	Oceania
Teams	4
Current champions	Tahiti (4th title)
Most championships	Solomon Islands   Tahiti (4 titles each)
Website	OFC
2024 OFC Beach Soccer Men's Nations Cup

The OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup is the main championship for beach soccer in Oceania, ^[1] contested between the senior men's national teams of the members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It is the sport's version of the better known OFC Nations Cup in association football.

The winners of the championship are crowned continental champions; the tournament also acts as the qualification route for Oceanian nations to the upcoming edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup ^[2] and is therefore also known as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup OFC qualifier. ^[3] Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2009; the World Cup then became biennial, and as its supplementary qualification event, the championship followed suit. ^[2]

The championship was established in 2006 after FIFA made it a requirement for all confederations to begin holding qualification tournaments to determine the best national team(s) in their region and hence those who would proceed to represent their continent in the upcoming World Cup (previously, nations were simply invited to play). ^[4] FIFA currently allocate Oceania one berth at the World Cup ^[5] and hence only the winners qualify to the World Cup finals. ^[2]

Oceania's governing body for football, the OFC, organise the championship. ^[6] Cooperation has also come from Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), particularly in the initial tournaments. ^[7] The competition was held under the title of the OFC Beach Soccer Championship until 2019 when the name was changed to OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup, bringing it in line with the naming of other OFC senior national tournaments. ^[2]

The Solomon Islands and Tahiti are the most successful nation with four titles each. ^[8] Tahiti also are the current champions. These two nations are the only teams to qualify to the World Cup thus far. ^[2]

Results

There have been seven editions of the championship as of 2023. For all tournaments, the winners qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Year	Location		Final				Third place match
			Champions	Score	Runners-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place
OFC Beach Soccer Championship
2006 details	Tema'e, Tahiti		Solomon Islands	6–2	Vanuatu		Tahiti	12–4	Cook Islands
2007 details	Auckland, New Zealand		Solomon Islands	5–3	Vanuatu		New Zealand	5–3	Tahiti
2009 details	Tema'e, Tahiti		Solomon Islands	1–0	Vanuatu		Tahiti	6–3	Fiji
2011 details	Papeete, Tahiti		Tahiti	4–3	Solomon Islands		Fiji	—
2013 details	Nouméa, New Caledonia [a]		Solomon Islands	[round-robin]	New Caledonia		Vanuatu	—
OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup
2019 details	Papeete, Tahiti		Tahiti	4–3	Solomon Islands		New Caledonia	8–7 ( a.e.t. )	Vanuatu
2023 details	Papeete, Tahiti		Tahiti	7–0	Solomon Islands		Fiji	12–0	Tonga
2024 details	Honiara, Solomon Islands [9]		Tahiti	3–2	Solomon Islands		Fiji	4–0	Papua New Guinea

Notes:

a. ^ The 2013 edition was originally set to take place in Papeete, Tahiti. However, despite being defending champions, Tahiti were unable to compete due to a pre-arranged tour of Europe to play against higher level opposition in preparation as host nation of the upcoming World Cup. Hence the competition was relocated to New Caledonia. ^[10]

Round-robin ^ Indicates this edition was played as a round-robin tournament. There was no final or third place match.

Unrealised editions:

In addition to the above tournaments, a further four editions were scheduled but ultimately did not take place as follows:

1. 2008: The OFC was unable to organise the 2008 edition in time, due to a late calendar change bringing the 2008 World Cup forward from November to July. Hence, on the back of their two previous titles, the Solomon Islands were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup. ^[6]
2. 2015: The 2015 edition was originally set to take place in Papeete, Tahiti. ^[11] Due to undisclosed circumstances, the tournament was cancelled. Tahiti were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup. ^[12]
3. 2017: The 2017 edition was originally set to take place in February. ^[11] Due to undisclosed circumstances, the tournament was cancelled. Tahiti were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup. ^[13]
4. 2021: The 2021 edition was originally set to take place in January in Tahiti. ^[14] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was initially postponed ^[15] and subsequently cancelled entirely. Tahiti were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup, based on being the highest ranked Oceanian nation in the then current release of the BSWW World Rankings and being reigning regional champions. ^[16]

Performance

Successful nations

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third place
Solomon Islands	4 (2006, 2007, 2009, 2013)	3 (2011, 2019, 2023)	–
Tahiti	4 (2011*, 2019*, 2023*, 2024)	–	2 (2006*, 2009*)
Vanuatu	–	3 (2006, 2007, 2009)	1 (2013)
New Caledonia	–	1 (2013*)	1 (2019)
Fiji	–	–	2 (2011, 2023)
New Zealand	–	–	1 (2007*)

* = Hosts

Awards

Year	Top goalscorer(s)	Gls	Best player	Best goalkeeper	Fair play	Ref.
2006	Teiva Izal	11	Teiva Izal	Chikau Mansale	Cook Islands
2007	Teva Zaveroni	11	James Naka	Chikau Mansale	New Zealand
2009	James Naka	7	James Naka	Chikau Mansale	Vanuatu
2011	James Naka Ratu Dugucagi Robert Laua	4	James Naka	Jonathan Torohia	Fiji
2013	Joe Luwi	5	Samson Takayama	Fred Hale	not awarded
2019	Patrick Tepa	12	Heimanu Taiarui	Jonathan Torohia	Solomon Islands
2023	Gabiriele Matanisiga	12	Heirauarii Salem	Jonathan Torohia	Fiji   Tahiti

All-time top goalscorers

As of 2023

The following table shows the all-time top goalscorers (minimum 10 goals).

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	James Naka	Solomon Islands	34
2	Patrick Tepa	Tahiti	21
3	Teva Zaveroni	Tahiti	18
4	Raimana Li Fung Kuee	Tahiti	17
5	Seule Soromon	Vanuatu	15
6	Teva Izal	Tahiti	14
	Henry Koto	Solomon Islands
8	Max Fa'ari	Solomon Islands	12
	Gabiriele Matanisiga	Fiji
10	Loic Boulet	Vanuatu	11
	Tearii Labaste	Tahiti
	Heirauarii Salem	Tahiti
13	Fenedy Masauvakalo	Vanuatu	10
	Heimanu Taiarui	Tahiti

Sources:

2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013: (a, b, c), 2019, 2023: ( a, b, c)

All-time table

As of 2023

Pos	Team	App	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Solomon Islands	7	26	19	0	0	7	136	86	+50	57
2	Tahiti	6	24	16	0	0	8	179	88	+91	48
3	Vanuatu	5	19	9	2	0	8	117	90	+27	31
4	New Caledonia	2	7	2	1	0	4	32	46	–14	8
5	Fiji	3	10	2	0	0	8	62	61	+1	6
6	New Zealand	1	4	1	0	0	3	21	26	–5	3
7	Cook Islands	1	4	0	0	0	4	6	49	–43	0
8	Tonga	2	8	0	0	0	8	15	129	–114	0

Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points

Appearances & performance timeline

The following is a performance timeline of the teams who have appeared in the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup and how many appearances they each have made.

Legend

1st – Champions 2nd – Runners-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place 5th – Fifth place

× – Did not enter •• – Entered but withdrew     – Hosts Apps – No. of appearances

Timeline

Year Team	2006 (4)	2007 (4)	2009 (4)	2011 (3)	2013 (3)	2019 (5)	2023 (4)	2024 (4)		Apps ⁄8
Cook Islands	4th	×	×	×	×	×	×	×		1
Fiji	×	×	4th	3rd	×	×	3rd	Q		4
New Caledonia	×	×	×	×	2nd	3rd	×	×		2
New Zealand	×	3rd	×	×	×	×	×	×		1
Papua New Guinea	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	Q		1
Solomon Islands	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	2nd	Q		8
Tahiti	3rd	4th	3rd	1st	••	1st	1st	Q		7
Tonga	×	×	×	×	×	5th	4th	×		2
Vanuatu	2nd	2nd	2nd	••	3rd	4th	×	×		5

Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup

Main article: FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup records and statistics

The following is a performance timeline of the OFC teams who have gone on to appear in the World Cup, having qualified from the above events (including the years when the event did not take place and instead the qualifying team was handpicked by the OFC, being 2008, 2015, 2017 and 2021).

Legend

1st – Champions 2nd – Runners-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place    – Hosts

QF – Quarter-finals R1 – Round 1 (group stage) q – Qualified for upcoming tournament Total – Total times qualified for World Cup

Timeline

Year Team	2006	2007	2008	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	2021	2023	2025	Total
Solomon Islands	R1	R1	R1	R1		R1							5
Tahiti					R1	4th	2nd	2nd	R1	QF	QF		7
Total no. of unique qualifiers													2

References

1. "BEACH SOCCER > TOURNAMENTS". Oceania Football Confederation . Retrieved 11 October 2020.
2. "History of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup". Oceania Football Confederation. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
3. "Solomons edge closer to Tahiti". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
4. "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 qualifiers to start in Brazil on 5 March". FIFA. 3 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
5. "World Cup gets bigger". FIFA. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
6. oceaniafootball (31 July 2009). "OFC Beach Soccer Championship 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
7. oceaniafootball (2006). "OFC Beach Soccer Championship 2006" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
8. "Mexico claim the 2019 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship". CONCACAF. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
9. "OFC competitions calendar confirmed for 2024". Oceania Football Confederation. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
10. "Sport: Oceania Beach Soccer qualifier moved to New Caledonia". RNZ International. 6 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-09-03.
11. "OFC Executive Committee decisions". oceaniafootball.com. 2014-04-23. Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
12. "Teams". FIFA.com. 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-10-08.
13. "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016.
14. "OFC tournaments update". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 July 2020.
15. "OFC announces schedule changes for early 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 5 November 2020.
16. "OFC cancels upcoming Beach Soccer Nations Cup". Oceania Football Confederation. 6 May 2021.

External links

• OFC, official website