Photo Credit: OFC Media via Kirk Corrie
Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands will begin their FIFA World Cup 26™ qualifying adventure in Suva tomorrow, as the group stage gets underway at HFC Bank Stadium.
For the first time in FIFA World Cup™ history, the Oceania region has one guaranteed qualification spot available, with an additional place in the FIFA Intercontinental Playoff also up for grabs.
It means that the stakes have never been higher for the very best in Pacific football, with the prospect of representing their nation on the very biggest stage slowly coming into view.
With Match Day 3 in Group A being held in Suva, before the group moves to Papua New Guinea in November for Match Days 4 and 5, hosts Fiji know the chance to play in front of a passionate home crowd should provide ideal motivation to hit the ground running.
“It would be great if a big crowd turns up to get behind the lads,” coach Rob Sherman said.
That passionate home crowd will be needed to give Fiji a boost when they take on a Solomon Islands side that has proven to be a difficult challenge in recent months.
“It’s always a very close encounter and I don’t think it will be any different when we play them tomorrow and ultimately on the day, the better team will win,” Sherman said.
Their opponents on Thursday, have – alongside Papua New Guinea – made a recent coaching change in a bid to give their qualification hopes a boost.
The new man in charge is Australian Josh Smith, who – despite limited preparation time – is confident his side can make an impact.
“I think with the pool of players that Solomon Islands has, we’re very blessed, to have a good strong group of players to pick from.
“We’ve been able to bring in some new players into camp, see how they get on, see how they react. We’ve also been able to include a couple of players on this trip that haven’t been here before,” Smith explained.
In the day’s afternoon fixture, new Papua New Guinea coach Felipe Vega-Arango is only focused on Match Day 3 in Suva, as he tries to put the second and third group stage matches to the back of mind for now.
Much like Fiji this week, Papua New Guinea will enjoy home advantage when qualifying continues in Port Moresby in November.
“Those matches [Match day 4 & 5] are too far away. In football, everything can change really quick – you can pick up injuries, players can get sick, anything can happen, so we’re only focused on this first game tomorrow.
“This is a new starting point for us. We need to be strong, we need to be humble and the fans need to understand that there is a process, it’s not just one game,” Vega-Arango said.
New Caledonia head into their qualifying campaign with preparations hampered by a lack of game time. They withdrew from the OFC Men’s Nations Cup in June, meaning their successful Pacific Games showing late last year was their most recent sustained run of fixtures.
Despite the challenges however, coach Johann Sidaner believes it won’t take his side much time to get up to speed.
“The preparation hasn’t been at the level we would have liked. We weren’t here for the OFC Men’s Nations Cup but now we are here and ready to take part.
“We’ve had difficulties getting the squad together, with some players playing in France, but we’re ready to get going in tomorrow’s match,” Sidaner said.
FIFA World Cup 26™ Oceania Qualifiers
Match Day 3
Thursday, October 10 (kick-off times local)
New Caledonia v Papua New Guinea, 4pm
Solomon Islands v Fiji, 7pm