2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)
Association football competition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Oceanian section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification process took place from 6 September 2024 to 24 March 2025.[1] The 2026 tournament was the 16th edition of Oceanian qualifiers and marked the first time Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) had a direct qualification slot into the FIFA World Cup.[2]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6 September 2024 – 24 March 2025 |
| Teams | 11 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 18 |
| Goals scored | 73 (4.06 per match) |
| Attendance | 77,489 (4,305 per match) |
| Top scorer |  Chris Wood (9 goals) |
← 2022 2030 → | |
On 24 March 2025, the Oceanian confederation qualification ended with New Zealand qualifying directly to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and New Caledonia qualifying for the inter-continental play-offs.
Format
The qualification structure was as follows:[1][3]
- First round: The four lowest-ranked teams in the FIFA Men's World Rankings played a three-match knockout round in September 2024. The winner advanced to the second round.
- Second round: The winning team from the first round joined the seven highest-ranked teams in two four-team groups in October and November 2024. The top two teams from each group advanced to the third round.
- Third round: The four teams advancing from the second round played a three-match knockout round in March 2025 with the winner qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and the runner-up advancing to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Entrants
All eleven eligible OFC nations entered qualification.
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.
| Round | Matchday | Date | Venue(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First round | Matchday 1 | 6 September 2024 |  Samoa |
| Matchday 2 | 9 September 2024 | ||
| Second round | Matchday 3 | 10–12 October 2024 |  Fiji and  Vanuatu |
| Matchday 4 | 14–15 November 2024 | New Zealand and  Papua New Guinea | |
| Matchday 5 | 17–18 November 2024 | ||
| Third round | Semi-finals | 21 March 2025 | New Zealand |
| Final | 24 March 2025 |
Draw
The draw for the first two rounds was held at FIFA headquarters in Switzerland on 18 July from 9:00 CEST (UTC+2).[1][4] Although announced prior to their official release, the seeding for the draw was based on the FIFA Men's World Rankings of 18 July 2024 (shown in parentheses below).
For the first round, the four lowest-ranked teams competed in a single-elimination play-off to determine which team advanced to the second round. The highest-ranked team faced the lowest-ranked team and the second-ranked team faced the third-ranked team in the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches faced each other in the final.
For the second round, each group contained one team from Pot 1, two from Pot 2 and one from Pot 3 (which also included a placeholder for the first round winner).
| Bye to second round | Competing in first round | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | |
|
|
|
|
Note: Teams in bold qualified for the third round. Teams in italics competed only in the first round.
- The first round winner was not known at the time of the draw.
First round
First round matches were played 6–9 September 2024 in Samoa.[6] The four lowest-ranked teams competed in a knockout series, and the winner advanced to join the seven highest-ranked teams in the second round.[1]
Bracket
| Matchday 1 | Matchday 2 (final) | |||||
| 6 September 2024 – Apia | ||||||
 Cook Islands | 1 | |||||
| 9 September 2024 – Apia | ||||||
 Tonga | 3 | |||||
| Tonga | 1 | |||||
| 6 September 2024 – Apia | ||||||
| Samoa (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||
 American Samoa | 0 | |||||
| Samoa | 2 | |||||
Matchday 1
Matchday 2
The winner advanced to the second round.
Second round
The second round took place from 10 October to 18 November 2024 with two groups of four teams playing each other once in a league format.[1] Matches were played in Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu.[13]
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
|
 |
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Caledonia |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 7 | Advance to the third round | — | — | — | 3–1 | |
| 2 | Fiji |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 | 1–1 | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | Solomon Islands |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | 2–3 | 0–1 | — | — | ||
| 4 | Papua New Guinea |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 1 | — | 3–3 | 1–2 | — |
| New Caledonia | 3–1 | Papua New Guinea |
|---|---|---|
|
FIFA[15] OFC[16] |
Semmy  78' |
| Solomon Islands | 0–1 | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
| FIFA[17] OFC[18] |
Krishna 13' |
| Solomon Islands | 2–3 | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
|
FIFA[19] OFC[20] |
| Papua New Guinea | 1–2 | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
|
FIFA[25] OFC[26] |
|
Group B
Third round
The third round took place in New Zealand on 21 and 24 March 2025.[1] The winner qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the runner-up advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.[13]
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 21 March 2025 – Wellington | ||||||
| New Caledonia | 3 | |||||
| 24 March 2025 – Auckland | ||||||
 Tahiti | 0 | |||||
| New Caledonia | 0 | |||||
| 21 March 2025 – Wellington | ||||||
| New Zealand | 3 | |||||
| New Zealand | 7 | |||||
| Fiji | 0 | |||||
Semi-finals
| New Caledonia | 3–0 | Tahiti |
|---|---|---|
|
FIFA[39] OFC[40] |
| New Zealand | 7–0 | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
|
FIFA[41] OFC[42] |
Final
The winner qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The loser advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
| New Caledonia | 0–3 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| FIFA[43] OFC[44] |
|
Inter-confederation play-offs
The runner-up from the third round, New Caledonia, joined Bolivia (from CONMEBOL), DR Congo (from CAF), Iraq (from AFC), Jamaica and Suriname (both from CONCACAF) in the inter-confederation play-offs.
The teams were ranked according to the November 2025 FIFA Men's World Ranking, with the four lowest-ranked teams playing in two single-elimination matches. The winners met the two highest-ranked teams in another set of single-elimination matches, with the winners of these matches qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[45]
| Semi-final | Final | |||||
| 31 March 2026 – Zapopan | ||||||
 DR Congo (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||
| 26 March 2026 – Zapopan | ||||||
 Jamaica | 0 | |||||
| New Caledonia | 0 | |||||
| Jamaica | 1 | |||||
Qualified teams
The following teams from OFC qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | Third round winners | 24 March 2025 | 2 (1982, 2010) |
Goalscorers
There were 73 goals scored in 18 matches, for an average of 4.06 goals per match.
9 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Taci Kumsuz
Thomas Dunn- Merrill Nand
Germain Haewegene- Jean-Jacques Katrawa
- Gérard Waia
- Lues Waya
Michael Boxall- Francis de Vries
- Matthew Garbett
- Tim Payne
- Marko Stamenić
Raymond Gunemba- Joseph Joe
- Ati Kepo
Jefferson Faamatau- Luke Salisbury
- Dilo Tumua
- Jarvis Vaai
- Nathan Viliamu
Javin Alick- Junior David
- Micah Lea'alafa
- Raphael Lea'i
Eddy Kaspard- Teaonui Tehau
Christopher Kefu- Hemaloto Polovili
- Ulafala Sonasi
- Viliami Tikoipau
Mitch Cooper- Bong Kalo
- Jordy Tasip
1 own goal
- Brian Kaltak (against New Zealand)
- Johnathan Spokeyjack (against Tahiti)
Discipline
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following infractions:[46]
- Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious infractions)
- Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches (yellow card suspensions are carried forward to further qualification rounds, but not the finals or any other future international matches)
The following suspensions were served during qualification:
| Team | Player | Infraction(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiji | Aporosa Yada |  vs Solomon Islands (10 October 2024) | vs Papua New Guinea (14 November 2024) vs New Caledonia (17 November 2024) |
| New Caledonia | Morgan Mathelon |  vs Papua New Guinea (10 October 2024) vs Tahiti (21 March 2025) | vs New Zealand (24 March 2025) |
| Samoa | Alton Leiataua | vs American Samoa (5 September 2024) | vs Tonga (9 September 2024) vs Vanuatu (12 October 2024) |
| Alex Malauulu | vs American Samoa (5 September 2024) vs Tonga (9 September 2024) | vs Vanuatu (12 October 2024) |