International football competition
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.[ 1] The winner (New Zealand) qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia .
Similar to the previous edition in 2012 , the group stage of the tournament also doubled as the second round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament for the Oceania region . The top six teams of this tournament (i.e. the top three teams of each group in the group stage) advanced to the third round of World Cup qualifying , to be played between March and October 2017, with the winners of the third round proceeding to the inter-confederation play-offs in November 2017.[ 2] [ 3] [ 4] This meant that once again, the team that won the qualifying competition and advanced to the intercontinental play-off could be different from the team that won the OFC Nations Cup and represented the OFC at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup .
The defending champions Tahiti , who had won their first title at the 2012 OFC Nations Cup ,[ 5] were eliminated in the group stage.
Host selection
Tahiti, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand were expected to bid to host the event.[ 6] On 16 October 2015, OFC President David Chung confirmed that Papua New Guinea was the only member association to present a bid to host the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.[ 7] The OFC confirmed Papua New Guinea as hosts on 30 October 2015.[ 1]
Teams
All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from OFC entered the OFC Nations Cup.[ 8] [ 9] The seven highest ranked teams (based on FIFA World Ranking and sporting reasons) among the 11 OFC entrants automatically qualified.
The 4 teams which competed in the qualification round of the 2012 tournament – American Samoa , Cook Islands , Samoa and Tonga – once again competed in a preliminary round . This was a round-robin tournament , held in one location (Tonga).[ 9] The winners of the tournament, Samoa , qualified to compete alongside the remaining 7 Oceania nations.
Qualified teams
Team
Method of qualification
Date of qualification
Finals appearance
Last appearance
Previous best performance
FIFA ranking at start of event[ 10]
Fiji
Automatic
29 March 2014
8th
2012
3rd (1998 , 2008 )
183
New Caledonia
Automatic
29 March 2014
6th
2012
2nd (2008 , 2012 )
191
New Zealand
Automatic
29 March 2014
10th
2012
Winners (1973 , 1998 , 2002 , 2008 )
161
Papua New Guinea
Automatic
29 March 2014
4th
2012
R1 (1980 , 2002 , 2012 )
198
Solomon Islands
Automatic
29 March 2014
7th
2012
2nd (2004 )
192
Tahiti
Automatic
29 March 2014
9th
2012
Winners (2012 )
196
Vanuatu
Automatic
29 March 2014
9th
2012
4th (1973 , 2000 , 2002 , 2008 )
181
Samoa
Qualifying winner
4 September 2015
2nd
2012
R1 (2012 )
170
The format of the OFC Nations Cup was as follows:
Group stage : The eight teams were divided into two groups of four teams. The top two teams of each group advanced to the knockout stage. Moreover, the top three teams of each group advanced to the third round of 2018 World Cup qualifying.
Knockout stage : The four teams played a single-elimination tournament (semi-finals and final) to decide the champions of the OFC Nations Cup.
The OFC had considered different proposals of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.[ 9] A previous proposal adopted by the OFC in October 2014 had the eight teams divided into two groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches in the second round, followed by the top two teams of each group advancing to the third round to play in a single group of home-and-away round-robin matches to decide the winner of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup which would both qualify to the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.[ 11] However, it was later reported in April 2015 that the OFC had reversed its decision, and the 2016 OFC Nations Cup will be played as a one-off tournament similar to the 2012 OFC Nations Cup .[ 6]
Venues
The tournament was played at a single venue in Port Moresby .
Squads
Officials
10 referees and 12 assistant referees were named for the tournament.[ 12]
Draw
The draw for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3 ), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna , Saint Petersburg , Russia.[ 13] [ 14]
The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of July 2015 (shown in parentheses).[ 13] [ 15] The eight teams were seeded into two pots:
Pot 1 contained the direct qualifiers ranked 1–4.
Pot 2 contained the direct qualifiers ranked 5–7 and the first round winner.
Each group contained two teams from Pot 1 and two teams from Pot 2. As the draw was held before the first round was played, the identity of the first round winner was not known at the time of the draw. The fixtures of each group were decided based on the draw position of each team (teams in Pot 1 drawn to position 1 or 2, teams in Pot 2 drawn to position 3 or 4).
Note: Bolded teams qualified for the World Cup qualifying third round .
Group stage
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):[ 16]
Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
Overall goal difference
Overall goals scored
Points in matches between tied teams
Goal difference in matches between tied teams
Goals scored in matches between tied teams
Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
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
Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee
All times are local, UTC+10 .
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
If tied after regulation, extra time and, if necessary, penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner. All times are local, UTC+10 .
Bracket
Semi-finals
Final
Winners
Goalscorers
There were 48 goals scored in 15 matches, for an average of 3.2 goals per match.
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Awards
Broadcasting rights
References
^ a b "Prestigious honour for Papua New Guinea" . Oceania Football Confederation. 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
^ "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup confederation slots maintained" . FIFA.com. 30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015.
^ "Preliminary competition format outlined" . Oceania Football Confederation. 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015 .
^ "Preliminary Draw procedures outlined" . FIFA.com. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015 .
^ "Tahiti wins 2012 Oceania Nations Cup" . Goal.com . Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2014 .
^ a b "Football: Heat goes on NZ after switch" . New Zealand Herald . 12 April 2015.
^ "Stakeholders confident moving forward" . Oceania Football Confederation. 16 October 2015. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015.
^ "Road to Russia with new milestone" . FIFA.com. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015.
^ a b c "OFC Executive Committee decisions" . OFC. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2014 .
^ "FIFA Men's Ranking – May 2016 (OFC)" . FIFA.com. 5 May 2016. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016.
^ "OFC Executive Committee outcomes" . Oceania Football Confederation. 20 October 2014. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015.
^ "Officials confirmed for OFC Nations Cup" . Oceania Football Confederation . 15 May 2016.
^ a b "Draw Procedures – Oceanian Zone" (PDF) . FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2015.
^ "World Cup path laid out for Oceania" . OFC. 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
^ "FIFA Men's Ranking – July 2015 (OFC)" . FIFA.com. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015.
^ "Regulations – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia" (PDF) . FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016.
^ "Match Summary, Group A: Papua New Guinea – New Caledonia" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 29 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Group A: Tahiti – Samoa" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 29 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Group A: Papua New Guinea – Tahiti" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 1 June 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Group A: New Caledonia – Samoa" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 1 June 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Group A: Samoa – Papua New Guinea" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 5 June 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Group A: Tahiti – New Caledonia" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 5 June 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Report, Round 2: New Zealand – Fiji" . FIFA . Fédération Internationale de Football Association . 28 May 2016. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Group B: Vanuatu – Solomon Islands" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 28 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Group B: Vanuatu – New Zealand" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 31 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Group B: Solomon Islands – Fiji" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 31 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Report, Round 2: Fiji – Vanuatu" . FIFA . Fédération Internationale de Football Association . 4 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Report, Round 2: New Zealand – Solomon Islands" . FIFA . Fédération Internationale de Football Association . 4 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Semi-finals: New Zealand – New Caledonia" . Oceania Football Confederation . 8 June 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Semi-finals: Papua New Guinea – Solomon Islands" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 8 June 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "Match Summary, Final: New Zealand – Papua New Guinea" (PDF) . Oceania Football Confederation . 11 June 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2019 .
^ "New Zealand triumphant" . Oceania Football Confederation. 11 June 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016.
^ "OFC Nations Cup Live Streaming" . oceaniafootball.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016 .
^ a b c d e f g h "OFC Nations Cup Programme by OFC Football" . oceaniafootball.com.
^ "High hopes for OFC Nations Cup" . fbc.com.fj. Archived from the original on 18 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016 .
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