OFC U-20 Championship 1982

The fourth edition of the OFC U-20 Championship was held in 1982 and doubled as qualification for the intercontinental play-off for the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship™ in Mexico. The tournament was hosted by Papua New Guinea and was contested between four teams.

Australia and New Zealand qualified for the final after claiming dominant victories over Papua New Guinea and Fiji in the group stage. The final had it’s fair of drama, New Zealand went up 2-0 after 21 minutes, but as match entered the final quarter, two goals in five minutes saw Australia level the match and send it to extra time.

Australia carried that second-half momentum into the first bit of extra time scoring two goals in ten minutes to put one hand on the title. New Zealand made the last 10 minutes interesting with a goal in the 110th minute, however, Australia held on to claim a 4-3 victory and their second OFC U-20 Championship title.

As the OFC representative, Australia, played in the intercontinental play-off against Israel and Costa Rica. After finishing the tournament unbeaten with four wins in as many games, they qualified for the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship.

At the FIFA world Youth Championships, Australia opened the tournament with a draw against Mexico, before pulling off a 2-1 upset win against Scotland. Needing at least a draw to progress to the knockout stages, Australia suffered a 2-1 defeat to South Korea bundling them out at the group stages.