OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament 1996

The third edition of the OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament took place in 1996. The winner would then face runners-up from the CONCACAF region in a play-off for the 1996 men’s football tournament at the Olympic Games in the USA. The tournament was held in Adelaide, Australia, and contested between five nations in a round-robin format.

Two-time defending champions Australia didn’t have it quite as easy this time. Suffering a 2-0 defeat to the Solomon Islands, Australia had originally won the match 4-0 but were penalised for fielding an ineligible player. They also suffered a 1-0 loss to New Zealand. However, they still managed to top the group but only by the skin of their teeth finishing level with New Zealand on eighteen points. A shock defeat 2-1 loss at the start of the tournament to Fiji all but ruined New Zealand’s chance of reaching the play-off.

Australia ended up progressing past Canada 7-2 on aggregate in the play-off, qualifying for their third consecutive men’s football tournament at the 1996 Olympic Games in the US. In Group B was Australia, Spain, France and Saudi Arabia. Their first match saw them take on 1984 Gold Medallists France, who narrowly edged Australia 2-0. In the second match, Australia pulled off a 2-1 victory against Saudi Arabia to keep their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals alive.

Up against Spain in their final group match, Australia shot out to a surprise 2-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes. However, fought back with three goals in the second-half, with Real Madrid legend Raul netting a 90th minute winner.