2023 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup

The 2023 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup was the seventh edition of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup, the top beach soccer competition contested by Oceanian men's national beach soccer teams. The tournament was organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).

2023 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup
2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup OFC qualifier
Tournament details
Host countryTahiti
CityPapeete
Dates22–26 August
Teams4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Tahiti
Runners-up Solomon Islands
Third place Fiji
Fourth place Tonga
Tournament statistics
Matches played8
Goals scored120 (15 per match)
Attendance4,500 (563 per match)
Top scorer(s)Fiji Gabiriele Matanisiga (12 goals)
Best goalkeeperFrench Polynesia Jonathan Torohia
Fair play award Fiji
 Tahiti
2021
2019
2024

The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in June, but was subsequently pushed back to take place from 22 to 26 August 2023[1] in Tahiti.[2][3]

The tournament doubled as qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in the United Arab Emirates; the champions qualified.[4]

Teams edit

Four of the eleven OFC-affiliated members entered the tournament.

Team Appearance Previous best performance
  Fiji[5] 3rd Third place (2011)
  Solomon Islands[6] 7th Champions (2006, 2007, 2009, 2013)
  Tahiti (hosts; title-holders) 6th Champions (2011, 2019)
  Tonga[2] 2nd 5th place (2019)

Venue edit

The tournament was held in Papeete at Aorai Tini Hau stadium, with an approximate capacity of 1,080.[4]

Group stage edit

All times are local, TAHT (GMT−10).

Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Tahiti (H) 3 3 0 0 0 41 9 +32 9 Final
2   Solomon Islands 3 2 0 0 1 24 16 +8 6
3   Fiji 3 1 0 0 2 27 14 +13 3 Third Place Match
4   Tonga 3 0 0 0 3 9 62 −53 0
Source: OFC
(H) Host

Fiji vs Solomon Islands edit

Fiji  3–6  Solomon Islands
Report
Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete
Attendance: 500
4 Gabiriele Matanisiga
7 Rusiate Matarerega
10 Tevita Waranaivalu
11 Madhwan Gounder
GK 15 Simione Tamanisau (c)
Substitutions:
2 Rajneel Singh
3 Meli Cordo
5 Ronish Singh
6 Ravneel Pal
8 Bruce Hughes
9 Merrill Nand
GK 12 Jovilisi Borisi

Man of the match: Thomas Amasia (Solomon Islands)[7]

Tahiti vs Tonga edit

Tahiti  26–3  Tonga
Report
Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete
Attendance: 800

Man of the match: Heirauarii Salem (Tahiti)[7]


Tonga vs Fiji edit

Tonga  3–21  Fiji
Report
Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete
Attendance: 400

Man of the match: Gabiriele Matanisiga (Fiji)[8]

Solomon Islands vs Tahiti edit

Solomon Islands  3–10  Tahiti
Report
Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Turki Al Sahli (Oman)

Man of the match: Jonathan Torohia (Tahiti)[8]


Solomon Islands vs Tonga edit

Solomon Islands  15–3  Tonga
Report
Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete
Attendance: 100
Referee: Abdullah Abdulaziz (Kuwait)

Man of the match: Thompson Peter (Solomon Islands)[9]

Tahiti vs Fiji edit

Tahiti  5–3  Fiji
Report
Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete
Attendance: 500
Referee: Turki Al Sahli (Oman)

Man of the match: Heimanu Taiarui (Tahiti)[9]

Play-offs edit

Third place match edit

Fiji  12–0  Tonga
Report
Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete
Attendance: 120

Man of the match: Gabiriele Matanisiga (Fiji)[10]

Final edit

Tahiti  7–0  Solomon Islands
Report
Aorai Tini Hau, Papeete
Attendance: 1,080
Referee: Turki Al Sahli (Oman)

Man of the match: Jonathan Torohia (Tahiti)[10]

Qualified teams for FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup edit

The champion of the 2023 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup qualified for the 2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup1
only FIFA era (since 2005)
  Tahiti 26 August 2023 6 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Goalscorers edit

There have been 120 goals scored in 8 matches, for an average of 15 goals per match (as of 25 August 2023).

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Broadcasting edit

All matches were broadcast live on the OFC and TNTV official Facebook channels.[11]

References edit

  1. ^ "NEW DATES CONFIRMED FOR OFC BEACH SOCCER NATIONS CUP IN TAHITI". Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Beach Soccer expert's visit a boost for Tautahi as they prepare for OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup 2023". Tonga Football. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  3. ^ "OFC Competitions 2023 Calendar confirmed 1/01/2023" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Tahiti crowned the kings of Oceania Beach Soccer once again". Oceania Football Confederation. 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023. In front of a capacity crowd
  5. ^ Romena, Romenka (11 February 2023). "Fiji to participate in OFC beach comp". FijiLive. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  6. ^ Abana, Simon (4 July 2023). "Honiara Titans claim SIFF Invitational Beach Soccer Championship title". Solomon Islands Football Federation. Retrieved 5 July 2023. The Championship also served to select a national beach soccer team known commonly as the Biliki ahead of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup
  7. ^ a b "Congratulations to Solomon Islands' Thomas Amasia and Tahiti's Heirauarii Salem..." Oceania Football Confederation via Twitter. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Congratulations to our players of the match on day two of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup in Tahiti". Oceania Football Confederation via Twitter. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Congratulations to Thompson Peter of the Solomon Islands and Tahiti's Heimanu Taiarui..." Oceania Football Confederation via Twitter. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Well done to Fiji's Gabiriele Matanisiga and Tahiti's Jonathan Torohia". Oceania Football Confederation via Twitter. 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  11. ^ "HOW TO WATCH | OFC BEACH SOCCER NATIONS CUP 2023". Oceania Football. Retrieved 17 August 2023.