The pathways of the participating teams in the OFC U-19 Championship 2022 will soon be revealed with the draw confirmed to be held at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, Fiji on Tuesday, July 19.
The draw will take place live at 1.00pm local time conducted by OFC Competitions Director Chris Kemp with the assistance of OFC Ambassador and Fijian striker Roy Krishna.
The competition was rescheduled from July to September this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Papeete, Tahiti confirmed as the host location.
It continues the exciting return to play for OFC Member Associations after two seasons of disruption, with the OFC Women’s Nations Cup 2022 being the first action for international women’s teams in the region.
The OFC U-19 Championship will be the first age grade tournament back as well, with high anticipation that the development of our youth players will be given the stage it deserves.
The top two teams will be eligible to qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023™ which is a key part of OFC’s Football Development Strategy 2019-2026.
The 2022 OFC U-19 Championship will see 11 teams compete, including seven-time champions New Zealand. They will be joined by Tahiti, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands and American Samoa.
Teams will be seeded based on their ranking at the OFC U-19 Championship 2018 and allocated into three pots.
Pot 3: Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands, American Samoa
Pot 2: Solomon Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu
Pot 1: New Zealand, Tahiti, New Caledonia
Teams drawn from each pot will be allocated to groups sequentially, the first (starting from Pot 3) will be placed in Group A, followed by Group B and Group C until the pots are emptied and all 11 teams have been drawn.
The result of the draw is new to the competition, which will see three groups (two with four teams and one with three teams). The top eight teams will qualify for a quarter-final.
Please click here to watch the draw for the OFC U-19 Championship live from 1.00pm local time.