2025 MSG Prime Minister's Cup – Men's tournament
International football competition
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The 2025 MSG Prime Minister's Cup men's tournament was held from 11–23 November. Papua New Guinea hosted the competition and were the defending champions from 2024, but lost in the final against Vanuatu. For the first time, a women's tournament was held in addition to the men's tournament.[1][2]
| |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Papua New Guinea |
| City | Port Moresby |
| Dates | 11–23 November |
| Teams | 4 + 1 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 2 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Vanuatu (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Papua New Guinea |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 8 |
| Goals scored | 17 (2.13 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Raymond Gunemba Pala Paul Alex Saniel
(2 Goals) |
← 2024 2026 → | |
The Host Organising committee confirmed that no MSG Prime Minister's Cup games would be played at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae, after the venue failed to meet FIFA standards.
New Caledonia withdrew from the competition before the first match.[3] Papua New Guinea was represented by both its senior national team, "PNG Gold", and a development team, "PNG Red".[4]
History
Papua New Guinea offered to host the 2025 edition of the Prime Minister's Cup at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Sport Committee Meeting in September 2022 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the country's independence. Papua New Guinea confirmed its desire to host at the committee's meeting in December 2024.[5][6] The official host agreement was signed by the nation and MSG on 10 April 2025.[7][8] The dates for the tournament were set as 4–18 October by summer 2025. The MSG Secretariat’s Programme Manager for Sports, Bill Henry, stated at that time that the group was looking to expand the teams in the competition and that it could feature teams from other confederations, notably the Confederation of African Football (CAF).[9]
Squad
2025 MSG Prime Minister's Cup – Men's team squads
Group Stage
All times given as local time (UTC+10)
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Papua New Guinea Gold (H) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | Semifinals |
| 2 |  Solomon Islands |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanuatu |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4 | Semifinals |
| 2 |  Fiji |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Papua New Guinea Red (H) |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 1 |
| Papua New Guinea Red | 1–1 | Vanuatu |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Knockout Stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||||
| 20 November – Port Moresby | ||||||||
| Papua New Guinea Gold | 2 | |||||||
| 23 November – Port Moresby | ||||||||
| Fiji | 0 | |||||||
| Papua New Guinea Gold | 2 (4) | |||||||
| 20 November – Port Moresby | ||||||||
| Vanuatu (p) | 2 (5) | |||||||
| Vanuatu | 2 | |||||||
| Solomon Islands | 1 | |||||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||||
| 22 November - Port Moresby | ||||||||
| Fiji | 1 | |||||||
| Solomon Islands | 1 | |||||||
Semi-finals
| Papua New Guinea Gold | 2–0 | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Vanuatu | 2–1 | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|