| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Tonga (preliminary stage) Vanuatu (final stage) |
| Dates | 21–27 June 2016 (preliminary stage) 3–17 September 2016 (final stage) |
| Teams | 8 (final stage) 11 (total) (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  New Zealand (6th title) |
| Runners-up | Vanuatu |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 21 |
| Goals scored | 67 (3.19 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Dwayne TiputoaMyer Bevan(5 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Myer Bevan |
| Bestgoalkeeper | Michael Woud |
| Fair play award |  Solomon Islands |
←2014 2018 → | |
The2016 OFC U-20 Championship was the 21st edition of theOFC U-20 Championship, the biennial international youthfootball tournament organized by theOceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 19 and below (despite the name remaining as U-20 Championship). This year, the tournament was held inVanuatu for the first time by itself (second time overall).
Despite the name remaining as U-20 Championship, the age limit was reduced by a year to 19 years of age. So players who wanted to participate in the tournament needed to be born on or after 1 January 1997. At an OFC Executive Committee meeting held at itsAuckland headquarters in November 2013 the competition format was modified. The competition was brought forward a year and the age limit was lowered to 19 years of age. The changes were made in order to allow the winner of the competition plenty of time for preparation and player development for upcoming World Cups atUnder 20 level.[1]
In March 2015, FIFA decided that the OFC gets two slots at every FIFA U-20 and U-17 World Cup.[2] So the top two teams qualified for the2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup inSouth Korea.
The qualification structure is as follows:[2]
All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered qualification.
| Seeding | Teams | No. of teams |
|---|---|---|
| First round entrants | 4 | |
| Second round entrants | 7 |
Download coordinates as:
| Tonga | Vanuatu | |
|---|---|---|
| ‘Atele | Port Vila | Luganville |
| Loto-Tonga Soka Centre | Port Vila Municipal Stadium | Luganville Soccer City Stadium |
| Capacity:1,500 | Capacity:10,000 | Capacity:6,000 |
The preliminary tournament was hosted byTonga between 21 and 27 June 2016. The winner qualified for the tournament final.
Four referees and four assistant referees were named for the preliminary round of the tournament.
Referees
Salesh Chand Joel Hoppken Nelson Sogo Campbell-Kirk WaughAssistant referees
Ujwaal Mudliar Phul Singh Jeffery Solodia Isaac TrevisAll times are local, TOT (UTC+13).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cook Islands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 7 | Second round |
| 2 |  Samoa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 4 | |
| 3 | Tonga(H) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 |  American Samoa | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 | −10 | 1 |
| Tonga | 1–1 | Cook Islands |
|---|---|---|
Po'oi 51' | Report | C. Tiputoa 77' |
| Tonga | 1–1 | American Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Likiliki 10' | Report | Fiso 6' |
| Samoa | 0–1 | Cook Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Report | D. Tiputoa 85' |
| Cook Islands | 5–0 | American Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Wood 31' Samuela 38'D. Tiputoa 54',59',72' | Report |
The tournament final was scheduled for 3–17 September 2016 (originally 19–26 September 2016).[9] Vanuatu were announced as the host in December 2015.[10]
The draw was held on 22 June 2016.[11] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. There was no seeding, except that hosts Vanuatu were assigned to position A1 in the draw. The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
All times are local, VUT (UTC+11).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanuatu(H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 |  New Caledonia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | |
| 3 | Fiji | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 |  Papua New Guinea | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 1 |
| Papua New Guinea | 1–4 | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| Awi 34' | Report | Watrone 56' Gope-Fenepej 68' (pen.)Poma 82'Houala 90+4' |
| New Caledonia | 1–1 | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
| Gope-Fenepej 68' | Report | Jennings 25' |
| Fiji | 1–1 | Papua New Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Catarogo 71' | Report | Dabinyaba 35' |
| New Caledonia | 0–1 | Vanuatu |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Wilkins 90+1' (pen.) |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Solomon Islands | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 | |
| 3 |  Tahiti | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Cook Islands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 0 |
| New Zealand | 3–0 | Cook Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Bevan 30',76',90' | Report |
| Cook Islands | 0–3 | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Waita 54' Witney 56',83' |
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 13 September –Luganville | ||||||
| New Zealand | 3 | |||||
| 17 September –Port Vila | ||||||
| New Caledonia | 1 | |||||
| New Zealand | 5 | |||||
| 13 September –Port Vila | ||||||
| Vanuatu | 0 | |||||
| Vanuatu | 2 | |||||
| Solomon Islands | 1 | |||||
Winners qualified for2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
| New Zealand | 3–1 | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| Dyer 23',30' Cox 71' | Report | Nypie 19' |
| Vanuatu | 2–1 | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Tenene 36' Massing 90+4' | Report | Gise 21' |
| New Zealand | 5–0 | Vanuatu |
|---|---|---|
| Ashworth 13' Dyer 34'Bevan 76'Imrie 88',90' | Report Report (NZ Football) |
Dwayne TiputoaMyer BevanLucas ImrieAlbert WitneyHeirauarii Salem Hemaloto PoloviliThomas Gope-FenepejSamuelu Malo Godine TeneneRonaldo WilkinsSteven FisoKimiora SamuelaConroy Tiputoa Michael WoodFrance CatarogoLeroy JenningsWarren HoualaCyril NypiePothin PomaAlbert WatroneHunter AshworthReese CoxClayton LewisAlu AwiPeter Dabinyaba Jr.Gabby YanumTimothy HuntFrank MarinerJoe GiseRichard RaramoAugustine WaitaRayan PetitgasMarc SiejidrSandro Tau Anthony LikilikiTalatala Po'oiBong KaloFrederick MassingJason ThomasTheGolden Ball Award is awarded to the most outstanding player of the tournament. TheGolden Glove Award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. TheGolden Boot Award is awarded to the top scorer of the tournament. TheFair Play Award is awarded to the team with the best disciplinary record at the tournament.
| Award | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Golden Ball | Myer Bevan |
| Golden Glove | Michael Woud |
| Golden Boot | Myer Bevan |
| Fair Play Award | Solomon Islands |
The following two teams from OFC qualified for the2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[12]
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament1 |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 13 September 2016 | 4 (2007,2011,2013,2015) |
| Vanuatu | 13 September 2016 | 0 (Debut) |
