OFC Nations Cup

OFC Nations Cup
Current season or competition:
2012 OFC Nations Cup

Logo OFC Nations Cup
Sport Association football
Founded 1996
Inaugural season 1973
No. of teams 11
Continent OFC (Oceania)
Most recent champion(s) New Zealand (4th title)
Most titles Australia
New Zealand (4 titles each)

The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name Oceania Nations Cup. No competition was held in 2006, but in the 2008 edition, which also acts as a qualification tournament for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and for a play-off for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the New Zealand All Whites emerged as winners.

Historically, a very large gulf separated Australia and New Zealand from the smaller island competitors, and little attention was paid to the tournament by the rest of the football world. In fact, after eight editions the trophy has been won only by two teams: Australia and New Zealand.

Australia ceased to be a member of the OFC on January 1, 2006, having elected to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and hence will no longer be involved in this tournament.

Contents

History

Early Times (1973-1980)

This tournament began in 1973 as the "Oceania Cup". This first edition, played in New Zealand, without qualifying round, was won by the host in the final match played in Auckland against Tahiti, with the result of 2-0, and was characterized by the absence of the Australian team and the presence of some teams not members of FIFA, such as New Hebrides, which became Vanuatu after gaining independence in 1980.

A second edition of the Oceania Cup took place in 1980 in New Caledonia, at that time not a FIFA member, and was won by Australia in the final match played in Nouméa against Tahiti, with the result of 4-2, and was characterized by a poor result for New Zealand: out in the Group Stage losing against Tahiti (3-1) and Fiji (4-0), however two years after they qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. These two editions were the only without qualifying rounds. After this edition the tournament was discontinued. So Australia maintained the Oceania Champion title for 16 years without play any tournament. Between the years of absence (1981–1995) the most important Oceanian tournament was the Trans-Tasman Cup played only between Australia and New Zealand.

Return Every Two Years (1996-2004)

In 1996, when OFC reached the official status of Confederation for FIFA, the tournament reappeared as the "Oceania Nations Cup" and served as a qualifier for the Confederations Cup. The 1996 edition, without an host nation but for the first time with a qualifying round, was contested with only four teams playing semifinals and final match on two legs both: Australia and New Zealand, who played the semifinal also for the Trans-Tasman Cup, and the second semifinal match between Tahiti as Polynesia Cup holders and Solomon Islands as Melanesia Cup holders. The Cup was won for the second time by the Australian side winning easily in the final match, on two legs, against Tahiti (6-0 and 5-0). The topscorer of this tournament, Kris Trajanovski, scored all his seven goals in the final match: four on the first leg in Papeete (Tahiti) and three on the second leg in Canberra (Australia). Thanks to this result, this Australian team, managed by the English Terry Venables and not by the Scottish Oceania Champion Eddie Thomson, took part to the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia, finishind second losing the final match against Brazil.

In the 1998 edition, played in Australia, six teams took part, dominated by giants Australia and New Zealand: in the final match, played in Brisbane, New Zealand beat the host Australia 1-0 with a goal by Mark Burton. In this edition the Australian player Damian Mori scored 10 goals, a record still alive today. He is also the overall Oceania Nations Cup top scorer with 14 goals, scored in three editions: one in 1996, ten in 1998 and three in 2002.

The fifth edition, played in Tahiti in 2000, the tournament structure was confirmed and yet again the tournament was dominated by Australia and New Zealand who reached the final match in Papeete. Australia won their third title by a score of 2-0, qualifying for the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. Fiji, who qualified for this edition, was forced to withdraw due to civil war and was replaced by Vanuatu, who impressed in the semifinal against Australia: the Socceroos, managed by Frank Farina, won 1-0 thanks only to a penalty kick by Kevin Muscat. Two years later the Australian team finished third in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Korea and Japan.

For the 2002 edition, played for the second time in New Zealand, eight teams participated, divided into two groups easily won by Australia and New Zealand. This set up their third consecutive final match. The Australian side won the semifinal against a brave Tahiti only after extra time. Soccer Australia was involved in financial problems: the non-existent financial contribution meant that the Australian players had to pay their own way to get to New Zealand, so Scott Chipperfield became the only one of Australia's large European contingent to answer the call and perform for his country in their time of need, resulting in a weak team for the tournament. So the final was won for the third time by the All Whites beating their historical rivals 1-0 in Auckland with a late Ryan Nelsen goal.

In the 2004 edition, which served also as the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification and was played in Australia, six nations took part playing each other in a unique group, with the first two playing a final match in two legs. During the group stage Vanuatu surprisingly beat New Zealand 4-2, but lost all their remaining matches. This and a draw with Australia (2-2) allowed Solomon Islands to claim second place and a berth in the final match against Australia. In the final, the Solomon Islands were beaten 5-1 on their home ground Honiara and 6-0 in Sydney. Moreover, this was the first, and until today the only time that a coach, Frank Farina, has won the Oceania Nations Cup trophy twice. Two years later, managed by Dutchman Guus Hiddink and composed of many 2004 Oceania Nations Cup scorers such as Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell, Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton, John Aloisi, Australia reached the Second Round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. However, this was the fourth and last OFC title for Australia: in 2006 they decided to join AFC, changing considerably the Oceania football scene.

A New Era (2006-Today)

Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation on 1 January 2006, ceasing to be a member of OFC, leaving only New Zealand as big power in the OFC. The new edition of the tournament was played in 2008, without a host nation and with four teams playing each other at home and away in one group. The tournament also served as part of the OFC's qualifying competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The 2007 South Pacific Games, won by New Caledonia, served as qualifying round for three teams and New Zealand qualified automatically. New Zealand emerged easily as winners for the fourth time ahead of New Caledonia winning five matches on six. Surprisingly, Fiji won the last match against New Zealand in Lautoka (Fiji) for 2-0 with two goals of Roy Krishna. The topscorer Shane Smeltz (New Zealand) scored eight goals: four against the runners up New Caledonia beaten 3-1 away and 3-0 at home.

A proposal to revive the OFC Nations Cup for 2012, which involved the All Whites and five of the Pacific Island nations, was deferred to 2015.[1]

Format

The first two editions were played without any qualifying round. For the successive three tournaments, Australia and New Zealand were seeded into the tournament automatically, while the remaining ten nations played to qualify. The Polynesian and Melanesian Cups, each played between five nations grouped on a geographical basis, served as qualifications via a round-robin tournament, with the highest ranked two teams in each competition qualifying for the actual OFC Nations Cup.

With the postponement and then cancellation of the Melanesian Cup, and a similar fate befalling its Polynesian equivalent, the format of the tournament changed in 2002. FIFA rankings determined the seedings of all twelve teams, and the lower six teams played a group stage for two qualifier positions into the main tournament. The 2002 Cup tournament proper was played with two groups of four teams (again in round-robin style), which led into a 4-way knockout stage, playing for the top four positions.

In 2004, the format changed once again, returning to a format similar to that of the 1996-2000 tournaments, with five teams each playing in two qualifying groups and Australia and New Zealand seeded to the actual tournament, played as a group stage of six, with a home and away Final played between the two highest-placed teams. This tournament doubled also as qualifying round for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

For the 2008 tournament, the format altered again. The 2007 South Pacific Games football tournament served as a qualification tournament, with the gold, silver and bronze winning nations progressing to the main, round-robin format, tournament, for which New Zealand qualified automatically. New Zealand emerged as winners of the 2008 OFC Nations Cup, ahead of New Caledonia, and thus qualified for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and a playoff with the fifth placed team from the AFC for a place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Results

Summaries

Year Host Final Third Place Match
Winner Score Runner-up 3rd Place Score 4th Place
1973
Details		  New Zealand
New Zealand		 2–0
Tahiti
New Caledonia		 2–1
New Hebrides
1980
Details		  New Caledonia
Australia		 4–2
Tahiti
New Caledonia		 2–1
Fiji
1996
Details		 no fixed venue
Australia		 6–0
5–0
Tahiti
New Zealand		 (shared)
Solomon Islands
1998
Details		  Australia
New Zealand		 1–0
Australia
Fiji		 4–2
Tahiti
2000
Details		  Tahiti
Australia		 2–0
New Zealand
Solomon Islands		 2–1
Vanuatu
2002
Details		  New Zealand
New Zealand		 1–0
Australia
Tahiti		 1–0
Vanuatu
2004
Details		  Australia[1]
Australia		 5–1
6–0
Solomon Islands
New Zealand		 (by table)
Fiji
2008
Details		 no fixed venue
New Zealand		 (by table)
New Caledonia
Fiji		 (by table)
Vanuatu
2012
Details		  Fiji TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD

Successful national teams

Team Champions Runners-up Third-place Fourth-place
 Australia 4 (1980, 1996, 2000, 2004) 2 (1998, 2002) - -
 New Zealand 4 (1973, 1998, 2002, 2008) 1 (2000) 2 (1996, 2004) -
 Tahiti - 3 (1973, 1980, 1996) 1 (2002) 1 (1998)
 New Caledonia - 1 (2008) 2 (1973, 1980) -
 Solomon Islands - 1 (2004) 2 (1996, 2000)
 Fiji - - 2 (1998, 2008) 2 (1980, 2004)
 Vanuatu - - - 4 (1973^, 2000, 2002, 2008)

^ This 1973 fourth place was achieved by Vanuatu under its former name New Hebrides.

Total hosts

Time(s) Nation Year(s)
2  Australia 1998, 2004
2  New Zealand 1973, 2002
1  Tahiti 2000
1  New Caledonia 1980
1  Fiji 2012
2 No Host 1996, 2008

Performances by host nations

Year Host nation Finish
1973  New Zealand Champions
1980  New Caledonia Third Place
1996 No Host
1998  Australia Second Place
2000  Tahiti Group Stage
2002  New Zealand Champions
2004  Australia Champions
2008 No Host
2012  Fiji

OFC Nations Cup winning managers

Year Head coach Champions
1973 Barrie Truman  New Zealand
1980 Rudi Gutendorf  Australia
1996 Eddie Thomson  Australia
1998 Ken Dugdale  New Zealand
2000 Frank Farina  Australia
2002 Mick Waitt  New Zealand
2004 Frank Farina  Australia
2008 Ricki Herbert  New Zealand

Records and statistics

Participation details

Team
1973
1980		 1996
1998
2000
2002
2004		 2008
2012		 Total
 New Zealand 1st 1R SF 1st 2nd 1st 3rd 1st Q 9
 Tahiti 2nd 2nd 2nd 4th 1R 3rd 5th DNQ Q 8
 Vanuatu1 4th 1R DNQ 1R 4th 4th 6th 4th Q 8
 Australia - 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st - - 6
 Fiji 5th 4th DNQ 3rd QW 1R 4th 3rd Q 7
 Solomon Islands - 1R SF DNQ 3rd 1R 2nd DNQ Q 6
 New Caledonia 3rd 3rd DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ 2nd Q 5
 Papua New Guinea - 1R DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ DSQ Q 3
 Cook Islands - - - 1R 1R - DNQ DNQ DNQ 2
 Samoa2 - - DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ Q 1
 Tonga - - DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0
 American Samoa - - DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0
Legend
Notes

General statistics

Team P W D L GF GA GDif
1  New Zealand 34 25 2 7 92 31 +61
2  Australia 28 24 2 2 142 13 +129
3  Tahiti 29 12 3 14 54 73 -19
4  New Caledonia 18 8 2 8 37 42 -5
5  Fiji 26 8 2 16 34 59 -25
6  Vanuatu 30 6 2 22 30 69 -39
7  Solomon Islands 19 5 2 12 24 60 -36
8  Papua New Guinea 6 1 1 4 8 34 -26

Top scorers

Year Player Goals
1973 Segin Wayewol
Alan Marley
Erroll Bennett		 3
1980 Ian Hunter
Eddie Krnčević		 5
1996 Kris Trajanovski 7
1998 Damian Mori 10
2000 Craig Foster
Clayton Zane		 5
2002 Joel Porter 6
2004 Tim Cahill
Vaughan Coveny		 6
2008 Shane Smeltz 8

Teams that failed to qualify

Year Teams eliminated in the qualifying tournament Number of teams progressing from qualifying tournament Total teams in final tournament
1973 no qualifying tournament
1980
1996  Fiji,  Papua New Guinea,  Vanuatu,  New Caledonia,  Tonga,  Samoa,  American Samoa 2 4
1998  Solomon Islands,  Papua New Guinea,  New Caledonia,  Tonga,  Samoa,  American Samoa 4 6
2000  Papua New Guinea,  New Caledonia,  Tonga,  Samoa,  American Samoa,  Fiji^ 4 6
2002  Tonga,  Samoa,  American Samoa 2 8
2004  Papua New Guinea,  New Caledonia,  Tonga,  Samoa,  American Samoa,  Cook Islands 4 6
2008  Tahiti,  Tonga,  Samoa,  American Samoa,  Cook Islands,  Solomon Islands,  Tuvalu^^ 3 4
2012  Cook Islands,  Tonga,  American Samoa 1 8
^ Qualified but then withdrew.
^^ OFC associate member.

References

  1. ^ "Outcomes of OFC Executive Committee meeting". http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc/News/ViewArticle/tabid/125/Article/31c9b594-fb59-4e94-a81e-d888beefe0b5/language/en-US/Default.aspx. 

External links

OFC Nations Cup
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1973 · 1980 · 1996 · 1998 · 2000 · 2002 · 2004 · 2008 · 2012
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See also International women's football.