OFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2023

After a six-year hiatus, the OFC U-16 Women’s Championship returned in 2023 for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament doubled as qualification for the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic. It was hosted in Tahiti and was contested between eight nations.

Group A consisted of Tahiti, Tonga, New Caledonia and Solomon Islands. The hosts topped the group with two wins and draw, while Tonga was the surprise package, recording a resounding 5-1 win over Solomon Islands and a draw to New Caledonia to progress to the knockout stages for the second time in their history.

New Zealand were in red-hot form at the tournament, winning all three of their matches by significant margins to reach the semi-finals, including a 4-1 victory against Fiji who finished runners-up in the group.

Hosts Tahiti battled it out with Fiji in an entertaining semi-final, after 90 minutes and extra time the match remained 2-2, sending the game to penalties which Fiji won 3-2. In the later match, New Zealand beat Tonga 7-0 to reach their fifth OFC U-16 Women’s Championship final.

New Zealand were pushed hard in the final by first-time finalists Fiji but prevailed with an injury-time goal from Katie Pugh to win 1-0 at the Stade Pater in Pirae, claiming their fifth consecutive OFC U-16 Women’s Championship title. Hosts Tahiti recorded a 5-3 win over Tonga to claim third place.