OFC U-17 Championship 2017

The seventeenth edition of the OFC U-17 Championship took place in 2017 and doubled as qualification for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup™ in India. The tournament was held in Tahiti and was contested between eight nations, including qualifying stage winners Samoa.

Group A was tightly contested between hosts Tahiti, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. A 3-2 victory on the final match saw New Caledonia clinch top spot in the group, while PNG came from a goal against the hosts to record a 2-1 victory and claim a spot in the semifinals. Defending champions New Zealand had no problems in Group B, beating Samoa and Fiji by comfortable margins, before edging Solomon Islands 2-1.

The semi-final brought plenty of drama, first New Caledonia pulled off a 3-2 victory against Solomon Islands, then following that match a 93rd minute goal from Oliver Whyte help send New Zealand through to the final with a 2-1 win against Papua New Guinea. The final New Zealand put on an absolute clinic against New Caledonia scoring seven goals to claim a sixth consecutive and seventh OFC U-17 Championship title.

New Caledonia made their debut at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017. Drawn into a tricky pool, New Caledonia suffered two defeats in their first two matches, before recording a brilliant one-all draw against Japan in an admirable first appearance on the biggest stage.

In Group B, New Zealand opened their account with a one-all draw against Turkey, but couldn’t build on that good start, going down 4-2 to Paraguay despite lead the match and suffering a 3-1 defeat to Mali.