2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup
International football competition
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The 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup was the 11th edition of the OFC Men's Nations Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Oceania organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The tournament was played between 15 and 30 June 2024 in Fiji and Vanuatu.[1] The defending champions were New Zealand from the 2016 edition; the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] New Caledonia withdrew a few days before the start of the competition citing riots in the country, and the tournament played with seven teams.
Vanuatu
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Fiji Vanuatu |
| Dates | 15–30 June |
| Teams | 7 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venues | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  New Zealand (6th title) |
| Runners-up |  Vanuatu |
| Third place |  Tahiti |
| Fourth place |  Fiji |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Goals scored | 46 (3.54 per match) |
| Attendance | 41,400 (3,185 per match) |
| Top scorer | Roy Krishna (5 goals) |
| Best player | Liberato Cacace |
| Best young player | Finn Surman |
| Best goalkeeper | Max Crocombe |
| Fair play award | New Zealand |
2028 → | |
A total of 13 matches were played, in which 46 goals were scored, at an average of 3.54 goals per match. Attendance at all stages of the tournament reached 41,400, averaging 3,185 viewers per match. The biggest score recorded in the tournament was 9–1 when Fiji defeated Samoa on the second day of Group B.[3][4]
New Zealand won the title for the record-extending sixth time in their history, after beating co-hosts Vanuatu in the final match with a score of 3–0,[5] so the All Whites successfully defended their title.[6] Tahiti secured third place after beating Fiji in the third place match, which placed them fourth. Fijian Roy Krishna finished the tournament as top scorer with five goals.[7] New Zealander Liberato Cacace also won the best player award,[8] while his compatriot Max Crocombe won the best goalkeeper award.[9] New Zealand also won the fair play award.[10]
Host selection
Although New Zealand was selected as host for the final tournament in 2020 before it was eventually cancelled, in December 2023 it was announced that the 2024 edition of the tournament would be held in Vanuatu.[11][12]
In May 2024, following uncertainty around flight schedules, matches due to be played at the Luganville Soccer Stadium in Luganville, Vanuatu were moved to the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, Fiji and the VFF Freshwater Stadium in Port Vila, Vanuatu.[13]
Venues
Since it was announced in December 2023, Vanuatu is set to host the entire tournament at Luganville Soccer Stadium in Luganville and VFF Freshwater Stadium in Port Vila. Following uncertainty over flight schedules, matches scheduled to be held at Luganville Soccer Stadium in Loganville, Vanuatu have been moved to HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, Fiji.
| Vanuatu |
Fiji |
|---|---|
| Port Vila | Suva |
| VFF Freshwater Stadium | HFC Bank Stadium |
| Capacity: 6,500 | Capacity: 4,300 |
 |
 |
Teams
Qualification
The four lowest ranked teams originally entered for qualification were played in a single group tournament, as in previous editions in 2012 and 2016. Tuvalu and Kiribati were not full members of the OFC and were therefore excluded from participation. American Samoa did not register before qualifying.
In the qualifying tournament, the three lowest-ranked teams in the last edition of the tournament in 2016 (because American Samoa did not register), competed in a Round robin format in a single round, which was held in a single venue in Tonga, where the winner qualified for the final tournament.[11] On 5 June 2024, New Caledonia announced their withdrawal from the tournament due to the serious crisis in the country.[14]
Qualified teams
| Team | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA ranking at the start of the tournament |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanuatu[A] | Co-hosts | 1 December 2023 | 10th | 2016 | Fourth place (1973, 2000, 2002, 2008) | 172 |
| Fiji | 24 January 2024 | 9th | 2016 | Third place (1998, 2008) | 168 | |
 New Caledonia | Automatic qualification | 7th | 2016 | Runners-up (2008, 2012) | 158 | |
| New Zealand | 24 January 2024 | 11th | 2016 | Champions (1973, 1998, 2002, 2008, 2016) | 104 | |
 Papua New Guinea | 24 January 2024 | 5th | 2016 | Runners-up (2016) | 166 | |
 Solomon Islands | 24 January 2024 | 8th | 2016 | Runners-up (2004) | 132 | |
| Tahiti | 24 January 2024 | 10th | 2016 | Champions (2012) | 162 | |
 Samoa | Qualifying tournament winners | 23 March 2024 | 3rd | 2016 | Group stage (2012, 2016) | 181 |
- New Caledonia withdrew from the tournament on 5 June 2024 due to the social unrest in the country.[14]
Squads
Match officials
- Referees
Veer Singh
Calvin Berg- Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh
David Yareboinen
Ben Aukwai- Shama Maemae
Teremoana Roihau
- Assistant referees
- Avinesh Narayan
- Mark Rule
- Isaac Trevis
Malaetala Salanoa- Natalia Lumukana
- Bernard Mutukera
- Jeffery Solodia
- Vaihina Teura
Folio Moeaki
Jeremy Garae
Format
The tournament followed the previous system of a preliminary qualification round followed by an eight-team (eventually seven) group stage, in which the top two places in each advanced to the semi-finals. In these, the two losers of each will compete in the play-off for third place, while the winners of these will compete in the final to determine the tournament champion.[15]
Draw
The draw was held on 24 January 2024 at OFC Home of Football in Auckland, New Zealand. The teams were divided into two groups of four each, with the three initial pots determined based on the final ranking of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, listed below.[16][17]
| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| New Zealand |
1 |
| Papua New Guinea |
2 |
| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| New Caledonia |
3 |
| Solomon Islands |
4 |
| Tahiti |
5 |
| Fiji |
6 |
- Withdrew after the official draw.
- Qualifying tournament winners, team not determined at the time of the draw.
Group stage
Winners Runners-up |
Third place Fourth place |
Group stage |
All times are local, UTC+11 (Group A) and UTC+12 (Group B).
Tiebreakers
Tie-breaking criteria for group play[18]
The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:
- Total points;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Head-to-head result between tied teams;
- Points in matches among the tied teams;
- Goal difference in matches among the tied teams;
- Goals scored in matches among the tied teams;
- Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction per player, per match):
- One yellow card: −1 point;
- Two yellow cards (indirect red card): −3 points;
- Direct red card: −4 points;
- Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
- Drawing of lots.
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Vanuatu (H) |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 3 | |
| 3 | Solomon Islands |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 | |
| 4 | New Caledonia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
| New Zealand | Cancelled | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 3–0 | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Vanuatu | Cancelled | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiji (H) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Tahiti |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Papua New Guinea |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 | |
| 4 | Samoa |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 13 | −11 | 0 |
| Papua New Guinea | 1–5 | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Papua New Guinea | 1–1 | Tahiti |
|---|---|---|
Paul  25' |
Report | Degrumelle 15' |
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out.[18]
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 27 June – Port Vila | ||||||
| New Zealand | 5 | |||||
| 30 June – Port Vila | ||||||
| Tahiti | 0 | |||||
| New Zealand | 3 | |||||
| 27 June – Port Vila | ||||||
| Vanuatu | 0 | |||||
| Fiji | 1 | |||||
| Vanuatu | 2 | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| 30 June – Port Vila | ||||||
| Tahiti | 2 | |||||
| Fiji | 1 | |||||
Semi-finals
| New Zealand | 5–0 | Tahiti |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Third place play-off
Final
Statistics
Goalscorers
There were 46 goals scored in 13 matches, for an average of 3.54 goals per match.
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
- Nabil Begg
- Etonia Dogalau
- Setareki Hughes
- Max Mata
- Tommy Semmy
- Matéo Degrumelle
1 goal
- Filipe Baravilala
- Sitiveni Cavuilagi
- Cameron Howieson
- Elijah Just
- Ben Old
- Jesse Randall
- Finn Surman
- Ati Kepo
- Pala Paul
- Luke Salisbury
- Pharrell Trainor
- Johnathan Spokeyjack
- Kensi Tangis
- Jason Thomas
1 own goal
- Alwin Komolong (against Fiji)
- Brian Kaltak (against New Zealand)
Awards
| Award[32] | Player/Team |
|---|---|
| Golden Ball | |
| Golden Boot | |
| Best Young Player | Finn Surman |
| Golden Glove | Max Crocombe |
| Fair Play Award | New Zealand |
Man of the match
| Match | Round | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Man of the match | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | ||||||
| 1 | Group A | Solomon Islands |
0–1 | Vanuatu |
Brian Kaltak |
[33] |
| 3 | Group B | Tahiti |
2–0 | Samoa |
Teaonui Tehau |
[34] |
| 2 | Group B | Papua New Guinea |
1–5 | Fiji |
Thomas Dunn |
[35] |
| 4 | Group A | New Zealand |
3–0 | Solomon Islands |
Alex Rufer |
[36] |
| 5 | Group B | Papua New Guinea |
1–1 | Tahiti |
Ati Kepo |
[37] |
| 6 | Group B | Samoa |
1–9 | Fiji |
Setareki Hughes |
[38] |
| 7 | Group A | Vanuatu |
0–4 | New Zealand |
Elijah Just |
[39] |
| 8 | Group B | Samoa |
1–2 | Papua New Guinea |
Alwin Komolong |
[40] |
| 9 | Group B | Fiji |
1–0 | Tahiti |
Pothin Poma |
[41] |
| Knockout stage | ||||||
| 10 | Semi-finals | New Zealand |
5–0 | Tahiti |
Liberato Cacace |
[42] |
| 11 | Semi-finals | Fiji |
1–2 | Vanuatu |
Johnathan Spokeyjack |
[43] |
| 12 | Third place play-off | Tahiti |
2–1 | Fiji |
Teaonui Tehau |
[44] |
| 13 | Final | New Zealand |
3–0 | Vanuatu |
Liberato Cacace |
[45] |
Discipline
Records
Marketing
Broadcasting rights
On 28 February 2024, Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) announced that all OFC competitions in the 2024–2025 season, including the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, would be streamed by FIFA+.[46]