OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2008

The second edition of the OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament took place in 2008 to decide the OFC representative for the women’s football tournament at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The qualification format involved two stages, the first saw nine teams participate in the first stage, held as part of the 2007 South Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa.

Fiji progressed through group stages unbeaten, with Papua New Guinea runners up in Group A, while Tahiti topped Group B, with Tonga finishing second. In the semi-finals Tonga upset Fiji 1-0 to book their place in the final,  joining them was PNG who thrashed Tahiti 5-1. Papua New Guinea would continue that form into the final, coming from behind to beat Tonga 3-1 in extra time, after the match finished 1-1 following 90 minutes.

The second stage was a play-off between New Zealand and the stage 1 winner, Papua New Guinea. Second-half goals from Renee Leota and Kirsty Yallop secured a 2-0 victory for New Zealand and qualification to the Olympic women’s football tournament for the first time.

It was a ‘bitter sweet’ Olympic debut for the Football Ferns when they squandered a 2-0 lead against higher-rated Japan to draw their Olympic Games opener 2-2 in Qinhuangdao. In their second-match, the difference between world number five Norway and New Zealand was a diving near post header by Melissa Wiik in the eighth minute, as she secured her side a 1-0 victory.

Looking for an against the odds win in Shenyang over the world’s best team and eventually gold medal winners, New Zealand were stunned by a brilliant United States 4-0, ending their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals.