Contents

2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup

2024 OFC Nations Cup

Coupe d'Océanie des nations 2024 2024 ओएफसी नेशंस कप
Tournament details
Host countries	Fiji Vanuatu
Dates	15–30 June
Teams	7 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	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(s)	Roy Krishna (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Liberato Cacace
Best young player	Finn Surman
Best goalkeeper	Max Crocombe
Fair play award	New Zealand
← 2020 2016 2028 →

International football competition

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 Suva, Fiji and Port Vila, 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.

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 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]

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 StadiuminLuganville, Vanuatu were moved to the HFC Bank StadiuminSuva, Fiji and the VFF Freshwater StadiuminPort Vila, Vanuatu.^[13]

200km 124miles 2 1    Venues of the 2024 Men's OFC Nations Cup Vanuatu 1 Port Vila Fiji 2 Suva
Suva	Port Vila
HFC Bank Stadium	VFF Freshwater Stadium
Capacity: 4,300	Capacity: 6,500

The 4 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]

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA ranking at start of event
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[B]	Automatic qualification	24 January 2024	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 winner	23 March 2024	3rd	2016	Group stage (2012, 2016)	181

Referees

Calvin Berg

Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh

David Yareboinen

Ben Aukwai

Shama Maemae

Teremoana Roihau

Assistant referees

Mark Rule

Isaac Trevis

Malaetala Salanoa

Natalia Lumukana

Bernard Mutukera

Jeffery Solodia

Vaihina Teura

Folio Moeaki

Jeremy Garae

The tournament followed the previous system of a preliminary qualification round followed by an eight-team (eventually seven-team) group stage advancing to semi-finals.^[15]

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]

Pot 1

Team	Rank
New Zealand	1
Papua New Guinea	2

Pot 2

Team	Rank
New Caledonia[a]	3
Solomon Islands	4
Tahiti	5
Fiji	6

Pot 3

Team	Rank
Vanuatu	7
Samoa[b]	8

All times are local, UTC+11 (Group A) and UTC+12 (Group B).

Tie-breaking criteria for group play^[18]

The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:

1. Total points;
2. Goal difference in all group matches;
3. Goals scored in all group matches;
4. Head-to-head result between tied teams;
   1. Points in matches among the tied teams;
   2. Goal difference in matches among the tied teams;
   3. Goals scored in matches among the tied teams;
5. 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;
6. Drawing of lots.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7	6	Advance to semi-finals
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

Solomon Islands	0–1	Vanuatu
	Report	Tangis 72'

Attendance: 5,000^[19]

Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)

New Zealand	3–0	Solomon Islands
Waine 6', 11' Barbarouses 45+4'	Report

Attendance: 3,000^[20]

Referee: David Yareboinen (Papua New Guinea)

Vanuatu	Cancelled	New Caledonia

New Caledonia	Cancelled	Solomon Islands

Vanuatu	0–4	New Zealand
	Report	Mata 10' Kaltak 27' (o.g.) Just 63' Old 78'

Attendance: 7,200^[21]

Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Fiji (H)	3	3	0	0	15	2	+13	9	Advance to semi-finals
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

Tahiti	2–0	Samoa
Degrumelle 4' T. Tehau 28'	Report

Attendance: 500^[22]

Referee: Ben Aukwai (Solomon Islands)

Papua New Guinea	1–5	Fiji
Semmy 88'	Report	Begg 2' Dunn 43', 52' A. Komolong 55' (o.g.) Krishna 64'

Attendance: 1,700^[23]

Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)

Papua New Guinea	1–1	Tahiti
Paul 25'	Report	Degrumelle 15'

Attendance: 500^[24]

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)

Samoa	1–9	Fiji
Salisbury 47'	Report	Hughes 3', 61' Dunn 38' Krishna 45+3' (pen.), 53' (pen.) Baravilala 64' Begg 67' Dogalau 83', 89'

Attendance: 1,300^[25]

Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)

Samoa	1–2	Papua New Guinea
Trainor 67'	Report	Semmy 26' Kepo 47'

Attendance: 500^[26]

Referee: Ben Aukwai (Solomon Islands)

Fiji	1–0	Tahiti
Krishna 26' (pen.)	Report

Attendance: 1,500^[27]

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)

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]

	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

New Zealand	5–0	Tahiti
Surman 7' Waine 45', 53' Barbarouses 45+3', 72'	Report

Attendance: 2,000^[28]

Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)

Fiji	1–2	Vanuatu
Cavuilagi 46'	Report	Spokeyjack 12' Thomas 56'

Attendance: 5,200^[29]

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)

Tahiti	2–1	Fiji
T. Tehau 72', 83'	Report	Krishna 58'

Attendance: 3,000^[30]

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)

New Zealand	3–0	Vanuatu
Howieson 2' Randall 83' Mata 90+1'	Report

Attendance: 10,000^[31]

Referee: Ben Aukwai (Solomon Islands)

There were 46 goals scored in 13 matches, for an average of 3.54 goals per match.

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

Kosta Barbarouses

Teaonui Tehau

2 goals

Etonia Dogalau

Setareki Hughes

Max Mata

Tommy Semmy

Matéo Degrumelle

1 goal

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

Brian Kaltak (against New Zealand)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
1	New Zealand	4	4	0	0	15	0	+15	12	Champion
2	Vanuatu (H)	4	2	0	2	3	8	−5	6	Runner up
3	Tahiti	5	2	1	2	5	8	−3	7	3rd place
4	Fiji (H)	5	3	0	2	17	6	+11	9	4th place
5	Papua New Guinea	3	1	1	1	4	7	−3	4	Eliminated in the group stage
6	Solomon Islands	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	0
7	Samoa	3	0	0	3	2	13	−11	0

Award[32]	Player/Team
Golden Ball	Liberato Cacace Kosta Barbarouses Kensi Tangis
Golden Boot	Roy Krishna Ben Waine Kosta Barbarouses
Best Young Player	Finn Surman
Golden Glove	Max Crocombe
Fair Play Award	New Zealand

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]

On 28 February 2024, Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) announced that all OFC competitions in the 2024–2025 season, including the 2024 OFC Nations Cup, would be streamed by FIFA+.^[46]

• OFC official website