The 10 nations who will compete to be crowned Oceania’s best U-17 team have learned their group stage opponents following today’s draw for the OFC U-17 Championship 2023.
The latest edition of the tournament will be hosted in Fiji from January 11-28, 2023.
Not only will teams be hunting for regional glory but also global recognition with the two finalists qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup™ in Peru next year.
It is the first time the tournament is being played since 2018 due to the COVID-19 pandemic with fixtures taking place at the Ba Academy in Ba and Suva’s HFC Bank Stadium.
Four teams will contest Group A, host nation Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
Group B consists of reigning champions New Zealand, New Caledonia, and American Samoa.
In Group C, Tahiti, Vanuatu, and the Cook Islands will battle for a place in the quarter-finals.
Each team will play each other once in their respective groups. The winners, runners-up and the two highest-ranked 3rd placed teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals on January 21 and 22.
The semi-finals will take place on January 25 with the tournament final set for HFC Bank Stadium on January 28.
The opening game of the OFC U-17 Championship 2023 will be New Zealand v New Caledonia on January 11 from the Ba Academy, Ba with a full match schedule available soon on the OFC website.