Samoa, Oceania teams in tough World Cup pools
The winning Samoa under-16 women's soccer team that has qualified for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2025. Photo: OFC/Phototek
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.
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