Samoa, Oceania teams in tough World Cup pools
Photo:
phototek.nz
Oceania football will feature in three junior World Cup football events being held this year.
Draws held over the last week have also revealed the Oceania teams will not have easy runs at their respective events, with the best of the world in the different age-groups coming together to compete.
In women's football, Samoa will compete for the first time in any FIFA World Cup, having
qualified for the Under-17 Women's World Cup
in Rabat, Morocco.
The side finished second to New Zealand at the Oceania Under-16 qualifiers, and won the right to play amongst and against the world's best.
The Samoans have been drawn in group D alongside Canada, France, and Nigeria.
Oceania Football said it is an exciting and challenging assignment for the Pacific Island nation in their debut appearance on the world stage.
Oceania winners New Zealand have been drawn in group F and will play Japan, Paraguay, and Zambia.
The draw, held at the Mohammed VI Football Academy, revealed the group-stage matchups for the 24 qualified nations taking part in the tournament, which will run from 17 October to 8 November in the Moroccan capital.
OFC said this year's edition of the tournament marks the first time the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will feature 24 teams, up from 16, and it is also the first-ever FIFA women's tournament to be held on African soil.
FIFA chief women's football officer, Sarai Bareman, who has Samoan roots and once captained the Samoa national women's team, featured in the draw ceremony.
The tournament now presents an unprecedented opportunity for the young Samoan squad to represent their country, region, and culture on the global stage.
The Samoa team were in Dallas, USA in April and competed at the Dallas Cup event, becoming the first-ever Pacific Island team to reach the semi-finals at the tournament.
Head coach Juan Chang Urrea told the
Samoa Observer
then that taking part at the Dallas Cup was part of their preparation for the Under-17 World Cup.
"This level of preparation is unheard of in the Pacific Islands," Chang Urrea told the newspaper.
"We are all working together in the federation to give our team the best preparation possible to make our country and the Oceania region proud at the World Cup."
They are scheduled for another camp in the States this June, with more warm up matches planned, before they move to Morocco.
New Caledonia and New Zealand will feature in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Chile.
OFC champions New Zealand will face hosts Chile, Japan and Egypt in group A.
New Caledonia, also making their tournament debut, is pitted against USA, France and South Africa in group E.
The tournament will be staged from 27 September to 19 October, across four host cities: Santiago, Valparaíso, Rancagua and Talca.
This year's FIFA Under-20 World Cup will be the 24th edition of the tournament and will feature 52 matches.
Photo:
RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony
Fiji, New Caledonia and New Zealand are all in the FIFA under-17 men's World Cup, to be played in Qatar in November.
OFC champions New Zealand have been drawn in group L alongside Mali, Austria, and Saudi Arabia.
Martin Bullock's side defeated Fiji in the final of the OFC under-16 Men's Championship in Tahiti last year.
Fiji, coached by Sunil Kumar, has been handed a difficult draw, which see them pitted against South American powerhouse Argentina, European giants Belgium and north African side Tunisia in group D.
New Caledonia, who finished third at the Oceania qualifiers, are in group B, alongside Asian giants Japan, Morocco and European starlets Portugal.
OFC said the tournament has been expanded to 48 teams with 12 groups of four.
The top two teams in each group, along with the eight best third-placed sides, will qualify for the round of 32.
From the round of 32 onwards, the tournament will be played in a knockout format.
The tournament runs from 3-27 November.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Black Ferns pioneer Anna Richards: 'We had to start somewhere'
Black Ferns Anna Richards scores a try at the semi-final of the Women's Rugby World Cup between New Zealand and France at Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton, Canada on 12 September, 2006. Photo: Paul Seiser Anna Richards remembers her first Rugby World Cup well, even if most people didn't know about or want to acknowledge its existence. The media didn't cover it. The International Rugby Board refused to sanction it. The players had to fund themselves. And just 3000 fans turned up to watch the final at Cardiff Arms Park. "Back then it was really tough for anybody to actually know what was happening because the media had no interest. The media was a massive problem. They weren't interested and people back then were big newspaper readers. So if it wasn't in the paper, no-one knew about it." Known as the "Gal Blacks", New Zealand and the other competing nations were forced to fund their own way to Wales, and weren't exactly given VIP treatment upon arrival, with substandard training facilities and changing rooms. "We played our pool games out at Llanharan which is a little town, so crowds weren't massive, but we were lucky it was in Wales, because they're massive rugby lovers. Once people heard what was going on, they were really supportive." The women were even forced to bring their next tournament forward to 1994 so as not to clash with the men. Though the lack of fanfare was a tough pill to swallow, Richards takes great pride in seeing the rise of today's game. Ferns celebration Anna Richards during the Womens Rugby World Cup Final at the between New Zealand and England at Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada on 17 September 2006. Photo: Paul Seiser "It's always disappointing, but it's no surprise because we were just a fledgling sport and you've got to start somewhere and it was cool to be part of the very first World Cup that the woman had." Things have come a long way in 34 years. This year's Rugby World Cup in England is already setting new records, with tens of thousands of tickets sold before the tournament even kicks off. "Now it's so widely covered by the media, there's live coverage around the world, it's just incredible. And every World Cup gets bigger than the last." Richards, a four-time World Cup winner, credits the success of today's game to the visionaries who organised that first tournament, Deborah Griffin, Sue Dorrington, Alice Cooper, and Mary Forsyth, as well as the women brave enough to take part. "It's great to be a pioneer and be there at the start, but it's also wonderful to see where it is now." Sisters Anna & Fionna Richards celebrate with the trophy after winning the 1998 Womens Rugby World Cup. Photo: ALAN_LEE Women's Rugby World Cup History: Winners Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Oli Sail moves to third A-League club after Europe hopes dashed
Goalkeeper Oli Sail will play for his hometown in the A-League after stops in Wellington and Perth. Photo: Photosport Auckland FC goalkeeper Oli Sail's homecoming has happened sooner than he expected but after a couple of off-shore moves did not work out he is grateful for an opportunity to get his career back on track. It has been 13 years since Sail last lived in Auckland, when he left there was no professional football side in the city. Until a few days ago he was based a six-hour flight away from his Auckland-based family in Perth. But it was not long ago that he had dreams of being on the other side of the world. "It wasn't something I envisioned probably this early," Sail said of the return to the City of Sails. "I was hoping to pursue European opportunities only a couple of years ago. But it feels like the right move to me now." At this stage of Sail's career he wants to be a starting goalkeeper but he is aware that will not be a given in Auckland especially as he is a late-comer that got the call due to an injury crisis in the keeping ranks. A move down to the capital resulted in his first professional contract when he signed with the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League. He made his debut in March 2018 after first getting on the bench nearly a year earlier. After seeing out the last four games of the 2017/18 season between the sticks he spent the majority of the following season on the bench - making only four appearances in the Phoenix's 27 games. Between late April 2019 and February 2021 Sail was riding the pine or out of the Phoenix squad all together. On February 21 2021 he made the Phoenix goalkeeping position his own playing 25 games in a row, across the end of one season and the start of the next, before injury saw him miss two matches. He came back and played 17 of the next 18 games. Sail played every game of the 2022/23 season for Wellington before moving to Perth Glory for the last two seasons. Oli Sail of Perth Glory FC, playing against his new club Auckland FC in April this year. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ The move to Western Australia did not play out how Sail hoped as he was in and out a side that was at the bottom of the A-League table and was on the outer with the All Whites. He said with the FIFA World Cup less than a year away "every decision is important". "The last two years have been difficult for myself in terms of football the move hasn't gone at all the way I planned and in terms of putting my hand up the selection for that World Cup, I felt like this would give me the best platform and opportunity. "I'm very grateful for Perth for allowing me to pursue this, because they didn't have to. I was coming to the final year of my contract and they're going through a tough situation and they're looking to have a positive build on a rough couple of years. "So they could easily have asked me to stay and play there but they were good enough to let me pursue this." Sail was named in the All Whites squad for next month's two matches against Australia but that might be the first competitive game he has played since last turning out for Glory in the Australia Cup in July - when Perth lost on penalties to the Phoenix. Because he has already played for Perth in this year's Cup competition he can not play for Auckland for the remainder of that competition. Oli Sail of Perth Glory FC and Guillermo May of Auckland FC Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ Auckland play fellow A-League side Sydney FC on Saturday in the quarter-finals of the Australia Cup and Sail said he would be on Auckland keeper Michael Woud's cheer squad - for now. "I have the opportunity to come in here and lead and bring my experiences, and that'll help the group, hopefully, but for the time being it's Mikey's Jersey and he's playing well. "He's kept two clean sheets so far, and I know last year would have been frustrating for him. AP [Alex Paulsen] was playing superbly, and that's how it goes as a goalkeeper sometimes you get stuck behind something like that. "So he'll be hungry and I'll be hungry, and we'll push each other and that can only be good for the both of us in the group." Getting to be the go-to goalkeeper for coach Steve Corica will be a challenge for Sail . Corica said this week that Woud was the "number one at the his to lose and Oli just has to work hard make sure he's ready when he gets the opportunity. "We had two very very good goalkeepers last year and we wanted the same this year." With his experience Sail had to weigh up what game time he might get in Auckland before committing to the one year contract. "It's a unique position in that regard. The likelihood of injuries is slimmer, and the likelihood of replacements are slimmer, generally speaking. So it's something you have to consider, but this is a successful environment that I want to be a part of and with that comes the potential that you might have to bide your time and wait for your opportunity," Sail said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
6 hours ago
- Scoop
OFC Draw Results For The OFC Futsal Men's Champions League 2025 In Fiji
Press Release – Oceania Football Confederation The tournament will run from 1623 November at Vodafone Arena, following todays draw held at the OFC Home of Football, Te Kahu o Kiwa in Auckland. The draw for the OFC Futsal Men's Champions League 2025 has set the stage for a thrilling week of competition in Suva, Fiji this November, with six of Oceania's best club sides confirmed to battle for regional supremacy. The tournament will run from 16–23 November at Vodafone Arena, following today's draw held at the OFC Home of Football, Te Kahu o Kiwa in Auckland. Defending champions AS PTT (New Caledonia) return with hopes of repeating their success from last year's dramatic final. They will face familiar rivals Mataks FC (Solomon Islands) in a blockbuster encounter on opening day, a rematch of the 2024 final that AS PTT edged 4-3 on home soil. New Zealand's Waikato Rapids make their debut in the competition, opening against Papua New Guinea's national champions, who will be determined following next month's PNG National Club Championship. Host club Suva FC will carry the pride of Fiji as they close out the first day's action against Southern Legions FC (Vanuatu). The week-long tournament will feature 18 matches across six match days, culminating in Finals Day on Sunday, 23 November. The top two teams from the round robin will advance to the final, while playoffs for 3rd and 5th place will also be contested. If teams finish round robin level on points, goal difference will be used as the first tiebreaker, followed by goals scored to determine their final placing ahead of the playoffs.
