OFC U-16 Championship 2018

The eighteenth edition of the OFC U-16 Championship took place in 2018 and doubled as qualification for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup™ in Brazil. The tournament was held in the Solomon Islands and was contested between eight nations, including qualifying stage winners Samoa.

In Group A, hosts Solomon Islands got the better of New Zealand to top the group, thrashing the Kiwi side 5-0 as they had to settle for second after pulling off a 4-3 victory of Papua New Guinea on the final match day to advance to the semi-finals. Three wins for Tahiti saw them top Group B with Fiji runners up.

The semi-finals were one sided with the Solomon Islands recording a 3-1 victory over Fiji, while New Zealand thumped Tahiti 4-1, to set up a rematch against the hosts in the final. Both teams couldn’t be separated after 90 minutes and extra time, meaning the winner would be decided in a penalty shootout. New Zealand held their composure to win 5-4 on penalties and deny the home side their first title. It was New Zealand’s seventh consecutive and eighth OFC U-17 Championship title overall.

Solomon Islands Raphael Le’ai was crowned the golden ball and boot winner after scoring eight goals in the tournament, he eventually become the first Solomon Islands player to play professional football in Europe.

At the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil, New Zealand lost their opening match against Angola, after fighting back to level the scores at one-all, an own goal by Harry Bark saw them fall 2-1. A 3-0 defeat to hosts and eventual champions Brazil in their second match, bundled the New Zealand out of the tournament with one match left to play. In their final game they recorded a 1-0 victory over Canada the team’s first win at a World Cup since 2015.

As for the Solomon Islands they were drawn into tough pool alongside Italy, tournament runners-up Mexico and Paraguay, losing all three matches in their tournament debut. New Zealand finished 17th at the World Cup while the Solomon’s finished 24th.