.......the national team will play full internationals against Thailand and either Iraq or Hong Kong at the King’s Cup tournament in Thailand in September.
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is proud to announce the extension of its partnership with Team Up, the Australian Government’s sport-for-development programme funded through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is proud to announce the extension of its partnership with Team Up, the Australian Government’s sport-for-development programme funded through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
But Oceania & the Asian confederations are two seperate Confederations. If you allow one to go one way, you have to ensure it goes both ways (directions)
Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!
Fiji lost their first game to Thailand 3-0. Then got absolutely demolished in the 3rd/4th playoff match 8-0 by Hong Kong (HK). Caveat being Fiji went down to 10 men at 14 mins, and then 9 men at 22 mins.
Graham Arnold's Iraq beat HK 2-1 (half Kiwi Matt Orr the pen for HK), and then 1-0 winners over Thailand in the final. No Mo Al-Taay for Iraq
The Fiji Football Association will provide counselling for two players after an ill-disciplined performance in a match at this month’s King’s Cup in Thailand.
Fiji were thrashed 8-0 by Hong Kong with two early dismissals, leaving their hopes of a result against the Asian side in tatters.
After just 14 minutes, captain Ratu Waranaivalu was dismissed for an off-the-ball elbow to the face of a Hong Kong player.
About eight minutes later, Ilisoni Logaivau was red-carded after elbowing the same opponent.
Hong Kong were a goal up before the second dismissal and went on the rampage to lead 5-0 by half-time.
“It was unfortunate to receive two red cards early on as playing with nine men for almost 75 minutes of the match is a tough ask against a team like Hong Kong who have been actively involved in the recent FIFA windows leading up to the tournament,” national teams administrator Kartik Reddy told Friends of Football.
“The area of discipline, especially for both incidents being non-football related challenges, has called on us to impose tough sanctions and rules to avoid similar incidents in the future.
“However, we will be meeting with the players to provide necessary counselling and find out issues which instigate those types of behaviours.”
Reddy said they will also implement mandatory workshops, which will involve psychologist sessions and a referee’s presentation, which all squad players will attend.
A year ago, Fiji drew 1-1 with Hong Kong at a three-nations series in Lautoka.
In their first match at the King’s Cup in Kanchanaburi, they performed better in a 3-0 loss against the 102-ranked Thailand.
The defeats meant Fiji finished fourth of four teams, with Iraq winning the trophy after beating Thailand 1-0 in the final.
Former Phoenix striker Roy Krishna was not available for the tournament.
They were beaten 2-0 by Panama their other warm up game a couple of days back.
In all honestly, pretty credible results for an island nation. Hoping they keep things respectable when the World Cup proper kicks off in a few days, although they do have France, USA & South Africa in their group...
New Caledonia under 19 women are through to the final after beating Fiji 2 nil. And they've qualified for th WC in Poland next year. Congratulations to them
Men’s and women’s Pacific teams gather in PNG for international tournament
The MSG Prime Minister’s Cup will finally host a women’s tournament when it kicks off in Papua New Guinea on Saturday.
The event was known as the Melanesia Cup from 1988 to 2000 and was given its current title when it was revived in 2022.
Each edition so far has been restricted to men’s teams.
The tournament features the best Pacific teams outside of New Zealand and Tahiti, with the host country, Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu all competing.
With the FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers taking place in February and March, the cup offers a good opportunity for teams to prepare ahead of those play-offs.
MSG secretariat’s programme manager for sports, Henry Bill, says the MSG Prime Minister’s Cup is focused on developing the next generation of players.
“Platforms like this can help young people showcase their skills, avoid social issues, and even open doors for overseas contracts. From past tournaments, we’ve seen some of our young players scouted and are now playing for overseas clubs.”
The Fijian men’s team will be without two players, captain Ratu Waranaivalu and Ilisoni Logaivau, who were both red-carded within minutes of each other against Hong Kong in last month’s King’s Cup in Thailand. Both players are due to receive counselling to tackle their indiscipline.
However, an appearance is unlikely by Fiji’s most capped player, ex-Wellington Phoenix star striker Roy Krishna.
The Fiji FA says he is contracted to his new Indian club, Malappuram FC, till December and may not be available.
The Melanesia Spearhead Group is looking to expand the Cup with Henry Bill stating they are looking to invite outside teams, including some from Africa.
While officials look overseas, there remains an elephant in the room with one part of Melanesia not contesting the event, West Papua.
The territory has been subject to brutal Indonesian occupation since the late 1960s, but unlike New Caledonia is unable to compete in its own right in official sporting competitions.
In August 2023, West Papua played unrecognised nation Tibet in the Netherlands, where the Football Association West Papua is based, winning 5-2.
The tournament, which went into abeyance for 22 years due to a lack of funding, was revived by the Vanuatu government and FIFA under its new name three years ago.
It is a FIFA tier-one tournament and thus counts towards points in the FIFA world rankings.
Plans were already being formed in 2022 for a women’s tournament with the PNG Sports Foundation executive director Albert Veratau saying his country was pushing for women’s football to be included in the future to promote gender balance and boost women’s football throughout Melanesia.
Papua New Guinea is defending the men’s title it won in Honiara in December 2024.
Been furiously trying to find highlights to the game, but no luck thus far. Great win for them, though tbf they were favourites in many people's opinions (including my own). Looks like a close game with the second goal only arriving in injury time
• 80 shots • 29 shots on target • 18 big chances • 106 touches in the opposition box • 4 perfect Sofascore Ratings
Just three days after losing to Portugal 6–0, Morocco laid revenge on their counterparts from New Caledonia at the #FIFAU17WC! 😳 pic.twitter.com/NFot6pdKVl
Three Oceania footballers have been nominated for consideration in The Best FIFA Women's 11 football award.
Papua New Guinea midfielder Ramona Padio, Solomon Islands goalkeeper Zainab Donga, and New Zealand defender Rebekah Stott have been nominated alongside 88 of the world's best.
Players are picked for consideration based on performances between 11 August 2024 and 2 August 2025, and football fans then decide the best 11 by voting on the FIFA website.
New Caledonia qualified for the intercontinental play-offs — to be staged in March 2026 — when they finished runners-up to New Zealand at this year’s FIFA Men’s World Cup Oceania qualifiers.
They and South America’s Bolivia will join teams from the AFC, CAF and Concacaf confederations in the six-team tournament.
The remaining qualifiers for the play-off series will be determined during the November international window, after which the play-offs draw will be made at FIFA’s Zurich headquarters on Friday November 21, 2025 (NZT).
Papua New Guinea have made history in Port Moresby by lifting the first-ever women’s MSG Prime Minister’s Cup with an upset win over Fiji.
The Lakatois’ 3-0 success came despite driving rain the night before that threatened to curtail both the women’s and men’s finals, but on the day both games were played with the slippery pitch posing some challenges.
In the men’s final, Vanuatu won the competition for the first time after dethroning the defending champion PNG Kapuls 5-4 on penalties after the game ended 2-2 after extra time.
Vanuatu coach Lars Hopp praised the team’s patience and discipline under pressure. “This victory belongs to every player who believed, even when the crowd roared against us,” he said.
The German added that the win will boost the side as they look to the Oceania Pro League and beyond. “Everyone who was in the tournament will have collected valuable information and experience and it’s a good step to the future.”
With New Caledonia withdrawing to focus on the FIFA Men’s World Cup intercontinental play-offs and the FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers early next year, Papua New Guinea fielded two teams, with Solomon Islands also competing.
