2025 OFC U-16 Men's Championship

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The 2025 OFC U-16 Men's Championship was the 22nd edition of the OFC U-16/U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-16/under-17 national teams of Oceania. The final tournament was played in Honiara, Solomon Islands, from 17 to 30 August 2025.[1] Players born on or after 1 January 2009 are eligible to compete in the tournament.

Host countriesQualifying stage:
Tonga
Final tournament:
Solomon Islands
DatesQualifying stage:
3–9 May 2025
Final tournament:
17–30 August 2025
TeamsFinal tournament: 8
Total: 11 (from 1 confederation)
Venue2 (in 1 host city)
Quick facts Tournament details, Host countries ...
2025 OFC U-16 Men's Championship
Tournament details
Host countriesQualifying stage:
Tonga
Final tournament:
Solomon Islands
DatesQualifying stage:
3–9 May 2025
Final tournament:
17–30 August 2025
TeamsFinal tournament: 8
Total: 11 (from 1 confederation)
Venue2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions New Zealand (11th title)
Runners-up New Caledonia
Third place Fiji
Fourth place Papua New Guinea
Tournament statistics
Matches played18
Goals scored65 (3.61 per match)
Attendance11,954 (664 per match)
Top scorerNew Zealand Ben Perez Baldoni (6 goals)
Best playerNew Zealand Ethan Dyer
Best goalkeeperNew Caledonia Sylvain Ipeze
Fair play award Samoa and  Tahiti
← 2024
2026 →
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The top three teams of the tournament qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar as the OFC representatives.[2] New Zealand successfully defended the title from 2024.

Teams

All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered the tournament, but only 8 played in the final tournament [a]

Note: All appearance statistics include those in the qualifying stage (2016 and 2018).

More information Team, Appearance ...
Team Appearance Previous best performance
 American Samoa11thGroup stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2011, 2015, 2023)
 Cook Islands12thQuarter-finals (2023)
 Fiji20thRunners-up (1999, 2024)
 New Caledonia14thRunners-up (2003, 2013, 2017, 2023)
 New Zealand19thChampions (1997, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2024)
 Papua New Guinea11thSemi-finals (2017), Fourth place (1986)
 Samoa11thQuarter-finals (2023)
 Solomon Islands (hosts)11thRunners-up (1993, 2018)
 Tahiti16thRunners-up (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015)
 Tonga12thQuarter-finals (2023)
 Vanuatu17thRunners-up (2005)
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Venues

More information Honiara ...
Honiara
Lawson Tama StadiumNational Stadium
Capacity: 20,000Capacity: 10,000
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Qualifying stage

The draw for the group stage was held 20 March 2025.[3]

Tiebreakers

More information Tie-breaking criteria for group play [citation needed] ...
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Qualifying group

Main article: 2025 OFC U-16 Men's Championship qualification

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Papua New Guinea Tonga Vanuatu American Samoa
1  Papua New Guinea 3 2 1 0 12 2 +10 7 Qualify for Final tournament — 5–2 — —
2  Tonga (H) 3 1 1 1 9 8 +1 4 — — 2–2 5–1
3  Vanuatu 3 0 3 0 4 4 0 3 0–0 — — —
4  American Samoa 3 0 1 2 3 14 −11 1 0–7 — 2–2 —
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Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on 20 March with teams seeded into pots based upon their ranking at the 2024 OFC U-16 Men's Championship.[4]

More information Pot 1, Pot 2 ...
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3
 Fiji
 New Zealand		  Cook Islands
 New Caledonia
 Samoa
 Tahiti		  Solomon Islands
 Papua New Guinea[b]
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Group stage

All times are local, SBT (UTC+11).

Group A

More information Pos, Team ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Fiji 3 3 0 0 9 1 +8 9 Knockout stage
2  Papua New Guinea 3 1 1 1 7 4 +3 4
3  Tahiti 3 1 0 2 7 8 −1 3 5th place match
4  Cook Islands 3 0 1 2 1 11 −10 1 7th place match
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Source: OFC
More information Cook Islands, 1–1 ...
Cook Islands 1–1 Papua New Guinea
  • Rua 47'
 Report
  • Millis 76'
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Attendance: 787
Referee: Timothy Niu (Solomon Islands)
More information Fiji, 2–1 ...
Fiji 2–1 Tahiti
  • Chand 20'
  • Dau 70'
 Report
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Attendance: 1132
Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)
More information Papua New Guinea, 6–1 ...
Papua New Guinea 6–1 Tahiti
  • Tehio 45+2' (o.g.)
  • Yagum 46'
  • Enoch 50'
  • Tommy 67', 74' (pen.), 90'
 Report
  • Vauquelin 10'
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Attendance: 148
Referee: Cory Mills (New Zealand)
More information Fiji, 5–0 ...
Fiji 5–0 Cook Islands
  • Muatini 4', 45+1'
  • Dau 36' (pen.)
  • Archari 45+5', 70'
 Report
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Attendance: 233
Referee: Jarethy George (Vanuatu)
More information Tahiti, 5–0 ...
Tahiti 5–0 Cook Islands
  • Scheel 19' (o.g.)
  • Aroa. Bennett 21', 26' (pen.)
  • Vauquelin 41'
  • Aron. Bennett 71'
 Report
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Attendance: 83
Referee: Peter Olomaga (Samoa)
More information Papua New Guinea, 0–2 ...
Papua New Guinea 0–2 Fiji
Report
  • Dau 27', 83' (pen.)
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Attendance: 309
Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)

Group B

More information Pos, Team ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  New Zealand 3 2 1 0 13 0 +13 7 Knockout stage
2  New Caledonia 3 2 1 0 10 2 +8 7
3  Solomon Islands (H) 3 1 0 2 6 13 −7 3 5th place match
4  Samoa 3 0 0 3 0 14 −14 0 7th place match
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Source: OFC
(H) Hosts
More information New Zealand, 5–0 ...
New Zealand 5–0 Samoa
  • Baldoni 8', 45+2', 48'
  • Des Tombe 29'
  • Trenberth 68'
 Report
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Attendance: 536
Referee: Arnold Tari (Vanuatu)
More information New Caledonia, 5–2 ...
New Caledonia 5–2 Solomon Islands
  • Wetewea 8'
  • Menango 53', 90+7'
  • Wede 59', 69'
 Report
  • Sam 23' (pen.)
  • Ben 37'
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Attendance: 1494
Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)
More information New Zealand, 0–0 ...
New Zealand 0–0 New Caledonia
Report
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Attendance: 380
Referee: Kavitesh Behari (Fiji)
More information Solomon Islands, 4–0 ...
Solomon Islands 4–0 Samoa
  • Sam 57' (pen.), 80'
  • Daomae 63', 75'
 Report
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Attendance: 1009
Referee: Tellos Kaufusi (Tonga)
More information Samoa, 0–5 ...
Samoa 0–5 New Caledonia
Report
  • Hmaloko 30', 61'
  • Boere 41'
  • Wede 45+3'
  • Wanabo 45+3' (pen.)
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Attendance: 900
Referee: Arnold Tari (Vanuatu)
More information Solomon Islands, 0–8 ...
Solomon Islands 0–8 New Zealand
Report
  • Woldegiorgis 25', 43', 73'
  • Dyer 37'
  • Nuñez 41' (pen.)
  • Pietersen 44'
  • Baldoni 52'
  • Des Tombe 83'
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Attendance: 2368
Referee: Kavitesh Behari (Fiji)

7th place match

More information Cook Islands, 0–0 ...
Cook Islands 0–0 Samoa
Report
Penalties
 3–5
  • soccer ball with check mark Williams
  • soccer ball with check mark Kapisi
  • soccer ball with check mark Wilson
  • soccer ball with check mark Edward
  • soccer ball with check mark Blood
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Attendance: 86
Referee: Timothy Niu (Fiji)

5th place match

More information Tahiti, 3–2 ...
Tahiti 3–2 Solomon Islands
  • Vauquelin 16', 40'
  • Pita-Bourgues 45+4'
 Report
  • Sam 12'
  • Ufaria 75'
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Attendance: 228
Referee: Cory Mills (New Zealand)

Knockout stage

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
27 August – Honiara
 
 
 Fiji1 (4)
 
30 August – Honiara
 
 New Caledonia1 (5)
 
 New Caledonia0
 
27 August – Honiara
 
 New Zealand2
 
 New Zealand2
 
 
 Papua New Guinea0
 
Third place match
 
 
30 August – Honiara
 
 
 Fiji1
 
 
 Papua New Guinea0

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

More information Fiji, 1–1 ...
Fiji 1–1 New Caledonia
 Report
  • Wede 70'
Penalties
  • Dau soccer ball with check mark
  • Shah soccer ball with check mark
  • Gounder soccer ball with check mark
  • Chand soccer ball with red X
  • Vata soccer ball with check mark
  • Baselala soccer ball with red X
 4–5
  • soccer ball with check mark Nyikeine
  • soccer ball with check mark Andrew
  • soccer ball with red X Dupuis
  • soccer ball with check mark Huna
  • soccer ball with check mark Hmaloko
  • soccer ball with check mark Dreuko
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Attendance: 273
Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)
More information New Zealand, 2–0 ...
New Zealand 2–0 Papua New Guinea
  • Nuñez 62'
  • Baldoni 71' (pen.)
 Report
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Attendance: 438
Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)

Third place match

Winner qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

More information Fiji, 1–0 ...
Fiji 1–0 Papua New Guinea
  • Achari 20'
 Report
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Attendance: 500
Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)

Final

More information New Caledonia, 0–2 ...
New Caledonia 0–2 New Zealand
Report
  • Clegg 44'
  • Baldoni 90+5'
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Attendance: 1050
Referee: Kavitesh Behari (Fiji)

Broadcasting

All games will be streamed live and free on FIFA+.[5]

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[6]

More information Award, Player ...
Award Player
Golden Ball New Zealand Ethan Dyer
Golden Boot New Zealand Ben Perez Baldoni
Golden Gloves New Caledonia Sylvain Ipeze
Fair Play  Samoa and  Tahiti
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Goalscorers

There were 65 goals scored in 18 matches, for an average of 3.61 goals per match.

6 goals

  • New Zealand Ben Perez Baldoni

5 goals

  • Fiji Maikah Dau

4 goals

  • New Caledonia Lenddy Wede
  • Solomon Islands Junior Sam
  • French Polynesia Tiaitau Vauquelin

3 goals

  • Fiji Ryan Achari
  • New Zealand John Woldegiorgis
  • Papua New Guinea Boas Tommy

2 goals

  • Fiji Saula Muatini
  • New Caledonia Darryl Hmaloko
  • New Caledonia Andre Menango
  • New Zealand Willem Des Tombe
  • New Zealand Matías Nuñez
  • Solomon Islands Charles Daomae
  • French Polynesia Aroarii Bennett

1 goal

  • Cook Islands Joseph Rua
  • Fiji Arnav Chand
  • New Caledonia Alexandre Boere
  • New Caledonia Hnoija Wetewea
  • New Zealand Jack Clegg
  • New Zealand Ethan Dyer
  • New Zealand Cruz Pietersen
  • New Zealand Ben Trenberth
  • Papua New Guinea Leightan Enoch
  • Papua New Guinea John Millis
  • Papua New Guinea Peter Yagum
  • Solomon Islands Junior Ben
  • Solomon Islands Ajay Ufaria
  • French Polynesia Aronui Bennett
  • French Polynesia Kahi Morgant
  • French Polynesia Thomas Pita-Bourgues

Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following three teams from OFC qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.

More information Team, Qualified on ...
Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1
 New Zealand27 August 202511 (1997, 1999, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2023, 2025)
 New Caledonia3 (2017, 2023, 2025)
 Fiji30 August 20251 (2025)
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1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Notes

  1. [a]
    Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga and American Samoa participated only in the qualification stage for a chance to qualify to the tournament; the final winner was Papua New Guinea.
  2. [b]
    The identity of the qualifying winners was not known at the time of the final draw

References

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