Oceania Football Confederation
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football recognised under the FIFA banner.
The OFC’s members consist of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and several Pacific Island countries. It promotes the game in Oceania and is in charge of holding qualifiers through which the member nations qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
OFC is predominantly made up of island nations where association football is not the most popular sport. Consequently, the OFC has little influence in the wider football world, either in terms of international competition or as a source of players for high-profile club competitions.
OFC is the only confederation to have not had at least one international title, with the best result being Australia making the final of the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup.
In 2006, the OFC’s largest and most successful nation, Australia, left to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), leaving New Zealand as the largest federation within the OFC.
Member Nations
American Samoa
The American Samoa national football team is controlled by the Football Federation American Samoa, the governing body of the sport in the territory.
American Samoa’s home ground is the Pago Park Soccer Stadium in Pago Pago.
Nicky Salapu is the nation’s most capped player and Ramin Ott is the all-time leading goal scorer.
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands national football team is the men’s football team that represents the Cook Islands in international competition since 1971. It is governed by the Cook Islands Football Association which is a member of FIFA.
The nation has participated in six FIFA World Cup qualification tournaments since their first attempt back in 1994. They have qualified for the OFC Nations Cup twice in 1998 and 2000 OFC Nations Cup with both appearances seeing no wins from their four games that they have played.
Tony Jamieson is the most-capped player while Taylor Saghabi is the all-time leading goal scorer.
Fiji
The Fiji national football team is controlled by the governing body of football in Fiji, the Fiji Football Association. The team plays most of their home games at the ANZ National Stadium in Suva.
Fiji first participated in FIFA World Cup qualification in 1982. Since 1990, Fiji has attempted to qualify for each World Cup without success. Their best result was a final round appearance in 2010.
The national team also represents Fiji at the OFC Nations Cup having appeared in eight out of the ten previous tournaments. Fiji’s best result is a third-place finish at the 1998 and 2008 editions.
They have won the Melanesia Cup five times and competed in the Pacific Games from 1963 until 2015 when the competition became an under-23 tournament.
Esala Masi is Fiji’s greatest ever player with the most caps and goals to his name.
New Caledonia
The New Caledonia national football team is the national team of New Caledonia and is controlled by the Fédération Calédonienne de Football.
Although they were only admitted to FIFA in 2004, they have been participating in the OFC Nations Cup since its inception. They have been one of this relatively small region’s strongest teams, finishing second in 2008 and 2012, and third in 1973 and 1980.
They were the top-ranked OFC nation at number 95 in September 2008, making them only the fourth country from the OFC to have reached the global top 100.
Bertrand Kaï is the greatest ever footballer for the nation. He has the most goals and assists.
New Zealand
The New Zealand national football team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), which is currently a member of FIFA and Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).
The team’s official nickname is the All Whites. New Zealand is a five-time OFC champion.
The team represented New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup tournaments in 1982 and 2010, and the FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments in 1999, 2003, 2009 and 2017.
Since most New Zealand football clubs are semi-professional rather than fully professional, most professional New Zealand footballers play for clubs in English-speaking countries such as England, the United States and Australia.
Vaughan Coveny has netted the most goals for the Kiwis while Ivan Vicelich is the most capped player.
Papua New Guinea
The Papua New Guinea national football team is controlled by the Papua New Guinea Football Association. Its nickname is the Kapuls, which is Tok Pisin for Cuscus.
Papua New Guinea’s highest ever FIFA ranking was 153, in June 2017. Papua New Guinea had previously left the FIFA rankings, having not competed in a match between July 2007 and August 2011.
Their matches at the 2015 Pacific Games saw them return to the rankings, and they competed in the 2016 OFC Nations Cup in June 2016. Amazingly, they reached the final but lost to New Zealand 4–2 on penalties after the game ended 0-0 after extra time.
Michael Foster is the country’s most capped player while Reggie Davani is the most capped player. The team plays its home games at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in Port Moresby.
Samoa
The Samoa national association football team is controlled by the Football Federation Samoa, the governing body for football in Samoa.
Samoa’s home ground is Toleafoa J.S Blatter Soccer Stadium in Apia. It was known as the Western Samoa national football team until 1997. Samoa is a part of the FIFA Goal project.
Desmond Fa’aiuaso is the most-capped player and has the most goals for his country.
Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands national football team is the national football team of the Solomon Islands and is administered by the Solomon Islands Football Federation.
The Solomon Islands national football team was founded in 1978. They were officially recognised by FIFA a decade later, in 1988.
The national team plays its home games at the Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara. Henry Fa’arodo has the most appearances for the team while Commins Menapi has the most goals for the Bonitos.
Tahiti
The Tahiti national football team represents French Polynesia and is controlled by the Fédération Tahitienne de Football. The team consists of a selection of players from French Polynesia, not just Tahiti, and has competed in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) since 1990.
Tahiti is traditionally one of the stronger footballing nations of the Pacific Islands, with the second-best record at the football section of the South Pacific Games, with five victories. They were runners-up in the first three instalments of the Nations Cup (1973, 1980 and 1996).
The nation went through a period of less success, but showed promise when it qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt. This success was followed up with the title of 2012 OFC Nations Cup, becoming the first team other than Australia and New Zealand to win the competition.
Angelo Tchen is the team’s most capped player and Teaonui Tehau is the all-time leading goal scorer. Stade Pater Te Hono Nui in Pirae is the home ground for the football team.
Tonga
The Tonga national football team is controlled by the Tonga Football Association, which is a part of the Oceania Football Confederation.
Kilifi Uele is the most capped player for the country and Unaloto Feao is the leading goal scorer. The team plays its home games at the Loto-Tonga Soka Centre in Nuku’alofa.
Vanuatu
The Vanuatu national football team is the national team of Vanuatu and is controlled by the Vanuatu Football Federation.
Richard Iwai is the country’s most successful player having the most goals and caps. The national team plays its home games at the Port Vila Municipal Stadium in Port Vila.