Vanuatu’s determined to build on their remarkable performance at the OFC Men’s Nations Cup in June as they prepare to kick off their FIFA World Cup 2026™ Oceania Qualifiers campaign.
Under the guidance of head coach Juliano Schmeling, Vanuatu will play their first match at the VFF Freshwater Stadium on October 12 against Samoa, followed by challenging fixtures against New Zealand in Hamilton (November 15) and Tahiti in Auckland (November 18).
Three months ago, Vanuatu reached the OFC Nations Cup final for the first time, a historic achievement celebrated by passionate home supporters.
“We are very excited about starting our World Cup campaign at home,” Schmeling said, reflecting on the team’s journey since the Nations Cup.
“The atmosphere in Port Vila will be electric, and we’re focused on delivering a strong performance against Samoa.”
While Samoa coach Jess Ibrom said all the pressure is on the home side, Schmeling emphasised the importance of managing that pressure.
“We need to ensure our players focus on the game and not the weight of expectations. It’s all about preparation and taking it one step at a time.”
Looking back on the Nations Cup campaign, Schmeling recognised the lessons learned from their 3-0 defeat against New Zealand in the final.
“We’ve gained valuable insights about each other as players and as a team. It’s crucial we channel that experience into our upcoming matches, starting with Samoa.”
His immediate objective is fairly straight forward.
“90 minutes is different. We need to score one goal and not concede any goal. So that’s the main goal for us.
And we need to understand that it’s one game and we need to prepare.”
Schmeling had the benefit of assessing a wider pool of local players in two international friendlies against the Australian U-23 squad in Port Vila last month.
He believes his Vanuatu side will be better than it was at the Nations Cup. He had only spent a few weeks with the team before that campaign and “we know a little bit more about each other. I know them more as players and they know me as a coach. I think that helps.”
“We’re working on our physical conditioning and enhancing our goalkeeping capabilities,” Schmeling explained.
“It’s essential to build a strong squad as we move forward in the qualifiers.”
The Brazilian coach has worked with an extended squad of 30 players in the buildup to next month’s match and will whittle it down to 23 next week.
Schmeling is a realist and believes his side will most likely be battling Samoa and Tahiti for the second spot in the Group behind Darren Bazeley’s New Zealanders.
With that in mind and a tight turnaround from the New Zealand game in Hamilton to playing Tahiti three days later in Auckland, the coach admitted he could potentially rest key players for the All-Whites match.
“It could be that’s the way, save some energy against New Zealand and play the full strength against Tahiti.
“But we have a few more weeks, more than a month for us to see what’s the best for the November matches. Our main goal is to qualify for the semi-finals, so we need to assess our options as the games unfold.” Schmeling admitted.
Since moving from New Zealand to Vanuatu in May, Schmeling has worked closely with the local clubs to identify talent and monitor players.
“I don’t have the players full time with me, but they are training with the clubs and training and play every week, every day. So that’s the one thing that I feel, and I want to keep doing is being closer to the clubs, support the clubs, support the head coach, support the training. And the more I support the clubs, I believe the better players we will have for national teams.”