The OFC qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup will see teams competing for places at the finals in Brazil.
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The initial format was scheduled to begin in August 2011 at the 2011 Pacific Games in Noumea, New Caledonia, where the men's football tournament was to double as the first stage of the OFC World Cup qualifying competition.[1]
However, in June 2011 the format was amended, and the Pacific Games were no longer part of the qualification process.[2] The new structure sees the four lowest ranked entrants play a single round-robin tournament from 22–26 November 2011 in Samoa. The top team in this tournament will then join the other seven teams in the 2012 OFC Nations Cup, scheduled for Fiji from 1–12 June 2012. The four semi-finalists from that tournament will advance to Round Three.
Round Three, consisting of a double round-robin held on a home-and-away basis, would take place between 7 September 2012 and 26 March 2013. The Round Three winners will compete in the intercontinental play-offs with CONCACAF's fourth-placed team, which was chosen through a random draw,[3] rather than being decided by FIFA beforehand as in previous tournaments (e.g., 2010 against a team from AFC, 2006 against a team from CONMEBOL).
An early proposal to allow the qualifying winner to the final group stage of AFC qualification was submitted by New Zealand Football to FIFA. This proposal, supported by OFC, would have replaced the intercontinental play-off that has been used in recent qualification tournaments,[4] but was not adopted.
The July 2011 FIFA Ranking is shown in brackets.
| Bye to second round (Ranked 1st to 6th + PNG) |
Competing in first round (Ranked 7th to 10th) |
|---|---|
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Based on FIFA ranks and other sporting considerations, the first round will feature American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga[5] and consist of a single round-robin tournament in Samoa. The winner of the group will then proceed to the second round.
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The winner of the first round will join the remaining seven OFC teams in the 2012 OFC Nations Cup, where two groups of four will play in Fiji from 3–7 June 2012. The four semi-finalists (the top two teams from each group) will advance to the third round. The groups were drawn at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 30 July 2011.
The teams were seeded into two pots of 4 based on the July 2011 FIFA World Rankings - with the first round winner automatically seeded eighth. Each group consists of two teams from each pot.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
|---|---|
† First round winner whose identity was not known at the time of the draw.
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The four remaining teams will play a double round-robin between 7 September 2012 and 26 March 2013, with the top team advancing to the intercontinental play-off.
Note that – unlike the previously announced format – this means the team that advances to the intercontinental play-off may be different from the team that wins the OFC Nations Cup, and represents the OFC at the 2013 Confederations Cup.
The draw date and location for Round Three will be confirmed by the end of Round Two by the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014.[6]
The matches are foreseen to take place in the period from 7 September 2012 to 26 March 2013.[6]
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The winner of the OFC qualification tournament will play with the CONCACAF's fourth-placed team in a home-and-away play-off. The winner of this play-off qualifies for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4th Place CONCACAF | – | 1st Place OFC | – | – |
As of 26 November 2011, there have been 16 goals scored in 6 games, for an average of 2.67 goals per game. Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.
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