OFC U-16 Men’s Championship 2024
The OFC U-16 Men’s Championship 2024 was hosted in Papeete, Tahiti and marked the first time in OFC tournament history that the top three teams would earn qualification for a FIFA World Cup.
World Football’s governing body announced earlier in the year that from the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup to be hosted by Qatar for five years, the tournament would expand to 48 teams with Oceania granted three spots.
Eight teams competed in two Groups with Group A involving New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu and Cook Islands playing their Group games at Stade Fautaua and Group B featuring hosts Tahiti, New Caledonia, Samoa and Qualifying winner Solomon Islands playing their matches at Stade Pater, which was also the venue for the semi-finals, 3rd /4th playoff and the final.
New Zealand stamped their mark on the tournament with three emphatic wins, scoring 22 goals to qualify top of Group A for the semi-finals. They were joined by Fiji who had to come from behind to score a last-minute winner against Cook Islands and then beat Vanuatu to secure the runner up spot in the Group.
Group B proved to be a ‘Group of Death’ with Tahiti winning the Group and New Caledonia who had no points going into the final match day, sneaking into the runner-up spot ahead of Samoa who had caused the upset of the tournament by beating New Caledonia 2-0 in their opening match. New Caledonia scored some late goals to beat Solomon Islands 6-2, but it wasn’t until Tahiti scored the winner 12 minutes from time to ultimately crush Samoa’s hopes that New Caledonia could celebrate.
New Zealand proved too powerful in the first semi-final beating New Caledonia 5-0 while Fiji caused a big upset, toppling the hosts 2-1 in the other semi. Both winners booked their tickets to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar next year.
In the battle for the minor placings, Samoa edged Cook Islands 1-0 to finish fifth with both teams achieving their best results at this level while Solomon Islands edged Vanuatu to claim 7th.
There was agony and ecstasy on the final day with New Caledonia defeating Tahiti 5-4 on penalties to grab the third Oceania spot at next year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar alongside New Zealand and Fiji.
New Zealand completed a dominant tournament with a 3-1 win over Fiji in the final to claim their 9th title.
New Zealand’s Aaron Cartwright won the Golden Boot with seven goals and was also awarded the Golden Ball for Player of the Tournament. New Caledonia’s Nicolas Kutran won the Golden Gloves for best goalkeeper while Tahiti won the fair play award.
