| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 31 August 2015 – 5 September 2017 |
| Teams | 11 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 35 |
| Goals scored | 106 (3.03 per match) |
| Attendance | 127,093 (3,631 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Chris Wood(8 goals) |
←2014 2022 → | |
| OFC Qualifiers |
|---|
The Oceanian section of the2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the2018 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Russia, for national teams which are members of theOceania Football Confederation (OFC). A total of 0.5 slots (i.e. 1 inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament was available for OFC teams.[1]
The2016 edition of theOFC Nations Cup once again doubled as the second round of the OFC qualifying competition for the 2018 FIFA World Cup (similar to the2012 OFC Nations Cup and theOFC qualifying competition for the 2014 FIFA World Cup).[2] Unlike in 2012, however, the team that won the qualifying competition and advanced to theintercontinental play-off, New Zealand, was the same team that also won the OFC Nations Cup and represented the OFC at the2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
The qualification structure was as follows:[2][3][4]
The OFC had considered different proposals of the qualifying tournament.[5] A previous proposal adopted by the OFC in October 2014 had the eight teams divided into two groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches in the second round, followed by the top two teams of each group advancing to the third round to play in a single group of home-and-away round-robin matches to decide the winner of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup which would both qualify to the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.[6] However, it was later reported in April 2015 that the OFC had reversed its decision, and the 2016 OFC Nations Cup will be played as a one-off tournament similar to the2012 OFC Nations Cup.[7]
All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered qualification.[8] The four lowest ranked teams (based onFIFA World Ranking and sporting reasons[further explanation needed]) entered the first round, while the other seven teams entered the second round.
| Bye to second round | Competing in first round |
|---|---|
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[5][9][2][3][10]
|
|
Theinter-confederation play-offs were scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017.[11]
The match schedule was revealed on 30 July 2015, following a draw held at OFC Headquarters inAuckland,New Zealand.[12]
| 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
|---|
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[13]
|
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samoa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 | Advance to2016 OFC Nations Cup and second round | — | 3–2 | — | — | |
| 2 | American Samoa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | — | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | Cook Islands | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | 1–0 | — | — | 3–0 | ||
| 4 | Tonga(H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 | 0–3 | — | — | — |
The draw for the second round was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace inStrelna,Saint Petersburg, Russia.[14]
| 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
|---|
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[15]
|
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Papua New Guinea(H) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 5 | Qualification toNations Cup knockout stage andWorld Cup qualifying third round | — | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | |
| 2 |  New Caledonia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 5 | — | — | — | 7–0 | ||
| 3 | Tahiti | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 5 | Qualification toWorld Cup qualifying third round | — | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | |
| 4 | Samoa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | −19 | 0 | 0–8 | — | — | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 9 | Qualification toNations Cup knockout stage andWorld Cup qualifying third round | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | — | |
| 2 | Solomon Islands | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 3 | — | — | 0–1 | — | ||
| 3 | Fiji | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 | Qualification toWorld Cup qualifying third round | — | — | — | 2–3 | |
| 4 | Vanuatu | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 3 | 0–5 | 0–1 | — | — |
While the results of the OFC Nations Cup knockout stage matches have no effect on the teams qualified for the third round of World Cup qualifying, for statistical purposes these matches are considered part of World Cup qualifying, with FIFA counting goalscorers in the qualifying statistics, and cards given may contribute to suspensions in the third round of World Cup qualifying (similar to the setup for2014 World Cup qualifying).
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 8 June –Port Moresby | ||||||
| New Zealand | 1 | |||||
| 11 June –Port Moresby | ||||||
| New Caledonia | 0 | |||||
| New Zealand(p) | 0 (4) | |||||
| 8 June –Port Moresby | ||||||
| Papua New Guinea | 0 (2) | |||||
| Papua New Guinea | 2 | |||||
| Solomon Islands | 1 | |||||
The draw for the third round was held on 8 July 2016, 11:00NZST (UTC+12), at the OFC headquarters inAuckland,New Zealand.[16]
| 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers |
|---|
In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):[17]
|
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 10 | Advance toOFC Final | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | New Caledonia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 5 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | Fiji | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Solomon Islands | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 9 | Advance toOFC Final | — | 1–0 | 3–2 | |
| 2 | Tahiti | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 6 | 3–0[a] | — | 1–2 | ||
| 3 | Papua New Guinea | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | — |
The draw for the final (which decided the order of legs) was held on 15 June 2017, 16:00NZST (UTC+12), at the OFC headquarters inAuckland,New Zealand.[19]
The winner of the final advanced tointer-confederation play-offs. Dates were set for the two-legged final as being between 28 August and 5 September 2017.[20]
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 8–3 | Solomon Islands | 6–1 | 2–2 |
New Zealand defeatedSolomon Islands 8-3 on aggregate and advanced to theOFC-CONMEBOL play-off
The draw for the inter-confederation play-offs was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace inStrelna,Saint Petersburg.[3] The first-placed team from OFC was drawn against the fifth-placed team from CONMEBOL, with the OFC team hosting the first leg.[21]
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 0–2 |  Peru | 0–0 | 0–2 |
There were 106 goals scored in 35 matches, for an average of 3.03 goals per match.
8 goals
7 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
Below are full goalscorer lists for each round: