Photo Credit: OFC Media via Phototek
Fiji will be looking to make the most of home advantage on match day three when qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 26™ continues in Suva this month.
Coach Rob Sherman’s team is sure to be backed by a noisy and passionate home crowd at HFC Bank Stadium, with expectations high that they will advance to the semi-final stage in New Zealand in early 2025.
The increase from 32 to 48 teams for the FIFA World Cup 26™ means that there is a greater opportunity than ever before for those nations looking to make their debut on the biggest stage of international football.
Fiji’s 2022 qualifying campaign was a disappointment, finishing third in their group in Qatar. An opening match victory over New Caledonia gave Fiji hope but subsequent defeats to New Zealand and Papua New Guinea ended their World Cup dreams early.
Fiji’s OFC Men’s Nations Cup adventure this year proved more fruitful and will hopefully be a foundation on which Rob Sherman can build upon. Three wins from three saw them make the semi-final stage, before a narrow defeat to Vanuatu ended their run. They also missed out by the odd goal in the Playoff for 3rd place, going down 2-1 to Tahiti.
The coach has been fortunate to retain the much of the squad he worked with in June, which he hopes will stand them in good stead for their opening match in Suva.
“We had a couple of friendlies in the September window, so you know, we’ve worked with the team consistently really throughout the year.
“In terms of building up to the qualifiers, things have gone pretty well, so i‘m reasonably happy with the progress we’ve made,” Sherman said.
With two of their group opponents having recently changed coaches, there has been an added challenge for Sherman and his side as they work on what to expect come kick-off.
“Well, this is an element of the unknown because Josh [Smith] and Felipe [Vega-Arango] are new there. So ultimately you know, how they’ve played in the past might not be the case moving forward.
“We’ll prepare for that. We’ll prepare for the what-ifs. Obviously we do our analysis, but the game’s passed when those coaches might not have been in place, so it’s a little bit of the unknown, but it is what it is,” he said.
Fiji fixtures
FIFA World Cup 26™ Oceania Qualifiers
(kick-off times local)
Thursday, October 10
v Solomon Islands, 7:00pm, HFC Bank Stadium, Suva
Thursday, November 14
v Papua New Guinea, 4:00pm, PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby
Sunday, November 17
v New Caledonia, 1:00pm, PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby