1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Oceanian zone (OFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.

A total of 10 teams entered the competition. The Oceanian zone was allocated 0.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament.

There would be three rounds of play:

First Round: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tahiti, the four best ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each, namely the Melanesian Group and the Polynesian Group, based on geographical considerations. The teams played against each other once. The winner of the Melanesian Group would advance to the Second Round. The runner-up of the Melanesian Group and the winner of the Polynesian Group would advance to the First Round Play-off. In the Play-off, they played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the Second Round.
Second Round: The 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other twice. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the AFC / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

1 First round
2 Second round
- 2.1 Group 1
- 2.2 Group 2
3 Final round
4 External links

First round

Melanesian Group (Melanesia Cup 1996)

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Papua New Guinea	2	1	1	0	3	2	1	4
2	Solomon Islands	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
3	Vanuatu	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1	1

16 September 1996	Papua New Guinea	1 – 1	Solomon Islands	Lae, Papua New Guinea
	Richard Daniel 15'		Eddie Rukumana 71'	Lae, Papua New Guinea

18 September 1996	Solomon Islands	1 – 1	Vanuatu	Lae, Papua New Guinea
	Noel Berry 16'		Iau Tuan Naukoot 37'	Lae, Papua New Guinea

20 September 1996	Papua New Guinea	2 – 1	Vanuatu	Lae, Papua New Guinea
	Batman Furigi 88' Roy Karang 89'		Reginal Gare 27'	Lae, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea advanced to the Second Round. Solomon Islands advanced to the First Round Play-off.

Polynesian Group

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Tonga	2	2	0	3	0	3	6
2	Samoa	2	1	1	2	2	0	3
3	Cook Islands	2	0	2	1	4	-3	0

11 November 1996	Tonga	2 – 0	Cook Islands	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
	Timote Moleni 20' 67'			Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

13 November 1996	Samoa	2 – 1	Cook Islands	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
	T. Tapunuu 10' Michael Junior Palusami 20'		Mani Stenter 68'	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

15 November 1996	Tonga	1 – 0	Samoa	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
	Tolutau Vane 29'			Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

Tonga advanced to the First Round Play-off.

Play-off

15 February 1997	Tonga	0 – 4	Solomon Islands	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
			George Kiriau 34' Robert Seni 73' Noel Berry 85' Augustine Peli 87'	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

1 March 1997	Solomon Islands	9 – 0	Tonga	Honiara, Solomon Islands
	Noel Berry 3' 41' 57' Eddie Rukumana 12' Danny Wabo 37' Robert Seni 61' 63' George Kiriau 74'			Honiara, Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands advanced to the Second Round by the aggregate score of 13-0.

Second round

Group 1

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Australia	4	4	0	0	26	2	24	12
2	Solomon Islands	4	1	1	2	7	21	-14	4
3	Tahiti	4	0	1	3	2	12	-10	1

11 June 1997	Australia	13 – 0	Solomon Islands	Sydney, Australia
	Damian Mori 5 John Aloisi 5 Craig Foster Ernie Tapai Mark Bosnich (p)			Sydney, Australia

13 June 1997	Australia	5 – 0	Tahiti	Sydney, Australia
	Aurelio Vidmar Paul Trimboli 2 Graham Arnold Matthew Bingley			Sydney, Australia

15 June 1997	Solomon Islands	4 – 1	Tahiti	Sydney, Australia
	Robert Seni Noel Berry 2 Moses Toata		Jean Ludivion	Sydney, Australia

17 June 1997	Solomon Islands	2 – 6	Australia	Sydney, Australia
	Augustine Peli Batram Suri		Robbie Slater Graham Arnold Jimmy Kaierea (og) Ernie Tapai 2 Aurelio Vidmar (p)	Sydney, Australia

19 June 1997	Tahiti	0 – 2	Australia	Sydney, Australia
			Ned Zelic Paul Trimboli	Sydney, Australia

21 June 1997	Tahiti	1 – 1	Solomon Islands	Sydney, Australia
	Jean-Loup Rousseau		Jeffrey Kwaomae	Sydney, Australia

Australia advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	New Zealand	4	3	1	13	1	12	9
2	Fiji	4	2	2	4	7	-3	6
3	Papua New Guinea	4	1	3	2	11	-9	3

31 May 1997	Papua New Guinea	1 – 0	New Zealand	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
	Francis Niakuam			Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

7 June 1997	Fiji	0 – 1	New Zealand	Ba, Fiji
			Chris Jackson (p)	Ba, Fiji

11 June 1997	New Zealand	7 – 0	Papua New Guinea	Auckland, New Zealand
	Vaughan Coveny 3 Wynton Rufer 2 Simon Elliott David Stevens			Auckland, New Zealand

11 June 1997	Fiji	3 – 1	Papua New Guinea	Suva, Fiji
	Solome Pita Esala Masinisau Liuai Duguga		Wesley Waiwai	Suva, Fiji

18 June 1997	New Zealand	5 – 0	Fiji	Auckland, New Zealand
	Wynton Rufer 2 Vaughan Coveny Nicolas Viljoen Riki van Steeden			Auckland, New Zealand

21 June 1997	Papua New Guinea	0 – 1	Fiji	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
			Alivate Driu	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

New Zealand advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
New Zealand	0–5	Australia	0–3	0–2

28 June 1997	New Zealand	0 – 3	Australia	Auckland, New Zealand
			John Aloisi Aurelio Vidmar Craig Foster	Auckland, New Zealand

5 July 1997	Australia	2 – 0	New Zealand	Sydney, Australia
	Ned Zelic Graham Arnold			Sydney, Australia

Australia advanced to the AFC / OFC Intercontinental Play-off by the aggregate score of 5-0.

External links

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) at FIFA.com

1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

AFC	First Round · Final Round · Play-off

CAF	First Round · Final Round

CONCACAF	Preliminary Round · First Round · Second Round · Third Round · Final Round

CONMEBOL	Group Round

OFC	First Round · Second Round · Final Round

UEFA	Group 1 · Group 2 · Group 3 · Group 4 · Group 5 · Group 6 · Group 7 · Group 8 · Group 9 · Play-offs

Play-offs	AFC v OFC Intercontinential Play-off