2023 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup

2023 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup

2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup OFC qualifier
Tournament details
Host country	Tahiti
City	Papeete
Dates	22–26 August
Teams	4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Tahiti (3rd title)
Runners-up	Solomon Islands
Third place	Fiji
Fourth place	Tonga
Tournament statistics
Matches played	8
Goals scored	120 (15 per match)
Attendance	4,500 (563 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Gabiriele Matanisiga (12 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Jonathan Torohia
Fair play award	Fiji  Tahiti
← 2021 2019 2024 →

The 2023 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup was the seventh edition of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup, the top beach soccer competition contested by Oceanian men's national beach soccer teams. The tournament was organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).

The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in June, but was subsequently pushed back to take place from 22 to 26 August 2023^[1] in Tahiti.^[2][3]

The tournament doubled as qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in the United Arab Emirates; the champions qualified.^[4]

Teams

Four of the eleven OFC-affiliated members entered the tournament.

Team	Appearance	Previous best performance
Fiji[5]	3rd	Third place (2011)
Solomon Islands[6]	7th	Champions (2006, 2007, 2009, 2013)
Tahiti (hosts; title-holders)	6th	Champions (2011, 2019)
Tonga[2]	2nd	5th place (2019)

Venue

The tournament was held in Papeete at Aorai Tini Hau stadium, with an approximate capacity of 1,080.^[4]

Group stage

All times are local, TAHT (GMT−10).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Tahiti (H)	3	3	0	0	0	41	9	+32	9	Final
2	Solomon Islands	3	2	0	0	1	24	16	+8	6
3	Fiji	3	1	0	0	2	27	14	+13	3	Third Place Match
4	Tonga	3	0	0	0	3	9	62	−53	0

Source: OFC
(H) Host

Fiji vs Solomon Islands

22 August 2023 (2023-08-22)

14:00

Fiji	3–6	Solomon Islands
Singh 7' Matanisiga 14' Pal 31'	Report	Matanisiga 1' (o.g.) Amasia 15', 25' Fa'ari 18' Bobby 23' Naka 24'

Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete

Attendance: 500

Referee: Aurelien Planchais-Godefroy (France)

4 Gabiriele Matanisiga 7 Rusiate Matarerega 10 Tevita Waranaivalu 11 Madhwan Gounder GK 15 Simione Tamanisau (c) Substitutions: 2 Rajneel Singh 3 Meli Cordo 5 Ronish Singh 6 Ravneel Pal 8 Bruce Hughes 9 Merrill Nand GK 12 Jovilisi Borisi Man of the match: Thomas Amasia (Solomon Islands)[7]

Tahiti vs Tonga

22 August 2023 (2023-08-22)

16:00

Tahiti	26–3	Tonga
Li Fung Kuee 1' Tepa 2', 4', 13', 13', 19', 22' Tetauira 3', 26' Tehau 7' Torohia 8', 31' Salem 9', 20', 21', 25', 27', 30' Labaste 9' Tinirauarii 20' Taiarui 22', 34' Tze-Yu 23', 26', 29' Tavanae 28'	Report	Tutone 19', 21' H. Ulavalu 36'

Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete

Attendance: 800

Referee: Hugo Pado (Solomon Islands)

Man of the match: Heirauarii Salem (Tahiti)^[7]

---

Tonga vs Fiji

23 August 2023 (2023-08-23)

14:00

Tonga	3–21	Fiji
Toetu'u 19' Tutone 24' M. Ulavalu 36'	Report	Pal 1', 28' Waranaivalu 4', 6', 17', 27', 34' Hughes 5', 9' Matarerega 7', 22', 27', 30' Matanisiga 12', 13', 15', 26', 32' Nand 21' Singh 24' Gounder 28'

Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete

Attendance: 400

Referee: Malkom Mayoho (Vanuatu)

Man of the match: Gabiriele Matanisiga (Fiji)^[8]

Solomon Islands vs Tahiti

23 August 2023 (2023-08-23)

16:00

Solomon Islands	3–10	Tahiti
Amasia 3', 30' Fa’ari 28'	Report	Salem 8', 25', 36' Tehau 9' Tepa 17' Tetauira 19', 31' Li Fung Kuee 26' Tavanae 27' Tinirauarii 29'

Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Turki Al Sahli (Oman)

Man of the match: Jonathan Torohia (Tahiti)^[8]

---

Solomon Islands vs Tonga

24 August 2023 (2023-08-24)

14:00

Solomon Islands	15–3	Tonga
Naka 1', 15', 34' Bobby 2', 10' Fa’ari 4', 11', 21', 23', 35', 36' Peter 13', 28', 30' Suekai 20'	Report	Toetu'u 3', 24' Bobby 3' (o.g.)

Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete

Attendance: 100

Referee: Abdullah Abdulaziz (Kuwait)

Man of the match: Thompson Peter (Solomon Islands)^[9]

Tahiti vs Fiji

24 August 2023 (2023-08-24)

16:00

Tahiti	5–3	Fiji
Tze-Yu 2', 23' Tehau 16', 33' Tetauira 29'	Report	Nand 18' Matarerega 25', 29'

Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete

Attendance: 500

Referee: Turki Al Sahli (Oman)

Man of the match: Heimanu Taiarui (Tahiti)^[9]

Play-offs

Third place match

26 August 2023 (2023-08-26)

14:00

Fiji	12–0	Tonga
Matarerega 4', 31' Matanisiga 5', 27', 28', 29', 35', 36' Hughes 6', 8' Nand 14' Gounder 20'	Report

Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete

Attendance: 120

Referee: Hugo Pado (Solomon Islands)

Man of the match: Gabiriele Matanisiga (Fiji)^[10]

Final

26 August 2023 (2023-08-26)

16:00

Tahiti	7–0	Solomon Islands
Salem 1', 5' Tetauira 4' Tze-Yu 14' Labaste 18' Tehau 19', 23'	Report

Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete

Attendance: 1,080

Referee: Turki Al Sahli (Oman)

Man of the match: Jonathan Torohia (Tahiti)^[10]

Qualified teams for FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

The champion of the 2023 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup qualified for the 2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup^1 only FIFA era (since 2005)
Tahiti	26 August 2023	6 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Goalscorers

There have been 120 goals scored in 8 matches, for an average of 15 goals per match (as of 25 August 2023).

8 goals

• Max Fa'ari

7 goals

• Heirauarii Salem
• Patrick Tepa
• Rainui Tze-Yu

6 goals

• Gabiriele Matanisiga
• Rusiate Matarerega

5 goals

• Tevita Waranaivalu
• Tamatoa Tetauira

4 goals

• James Naka
• Thomas Amasia

3 goals

• Ravneel Pal
• Albert Bobby
• Thompson Peter
• Roonui Tinirauarii
• Teaonui Tehau
• Justin Toetu'u
• Sione Tutone

2 goals

• Bruce Hughes
• Merrill Nand
• Rajneel Singh
• Heiarii Tavanae
• Heimanu Taiarui
• Jonathan Torohia
• Raimana Li Fung Kuee

1 goal

• Madhwan Gounder
• Benbasi Suekai
• Tearii Labaste
• Harlen Ulavalu
• Mosese Ulavalu

Broadcasting

All matches were broadcast live on the OFC and TNTV official Facebook channels.^[11]

References

1. "NEW DATES CONFIRMED FOR OFC BEACH SOCCER NATIONS CUP IN TAHITI". Retrieved 17 April 2023.
2. "Beach Soccer expert's visit a boost for Tautahi as they prepare for OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup 2023". Tonga Football. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
3. "OFC Competitions 2023 Calendar confirmed 1/01/2023" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
4. "Tahiti crowned the kings of Oceania Beach Soccer once again". Oceania Football Confederation. 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023. In front of a capacity crowd
5. Romena, Romenka (11 February 2023). "Fiji to participate in OFC beach comp". FijiLive. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
6. Abana, Simon (4 July 2023). "Honiara Titans claim SIFF Invitational Beach Soccer Championship title". Solomon Islands Football Federation. Retrieved 5 July 2023. The Championship also served to select a national beach soccer team known commonly as the Biliki ahead of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup
7. "Congratulations to Solomon Islands' Thomas Amasia and Tahiti's Heirauarii Salem..." Oceania Football Confederation via Twitter. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
8. "Congratulations to our players of the match on day two of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup in Tahiti". Oceania Football Confederation via Twitter. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
9. "Congratulations to Thompson Peter of the Solomon Islands and Tahiti's Heimanu Taiarui..." Oceania Football Confederation via Twitter. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
10. "Well done to Fiji's Gabiriele Matanisiga and Tahiti's Jonathan Torohia". Oceania Football Confederation via Twitter. 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
11. "HOW TO WATCH | OFC BEACH SOCCER NATIONS CUP 2023". Oceania Football. Retrieved 17 August 2023.