The OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup is the main championship for beach soccer in Oceania,[1] contested between the senior men's national teams of the members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It is the sport's version of the better known OFC Nations Cup in association football.

OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup
Organising bodyOFC
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
RegionOceania
Number of teams4
Current champions Tahiti (3rd title)
Most successful team(s) Solomon Islands
(4 titles)
WebsiteOFC
2023 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup

The winners of the championship are crowned continental champions; the tournament also acts as the qualification route for Oceanian nations to the upcoming edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup[2] and is therefore also known as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup OFC qualifier.[3] Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2009; the World Cup then became biennial, and as its supplementary qualification event, the championship followed suit.[2]

The championship was established in 2006 after FIFA made it a requirement for all confederations to begin holding qualification tournaments to determine the best national team(s) in their region and hence those who would proceed to represent their continent in the upcoming World Cup (previously, nations were simply invited to play).[4] FIFA currently allocate Oceania one berth at the World Cup[5] and hence only the winners qualify to the World Cup finals.[2]

Oceania's governing body for football, the OFC, organise the championship.[6] Cooperation has also come from Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), particularly in the initial tournaments.[7] The competition was held under the title of the OFC Beach Soccer Championship until 2019 when the name was changed to OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup, bringing it in line with the naming of other OFC senior national tournaments.[2]

The Solomon Islands are the most successful nation with four titles.[8] Tahiti are the current champions. These two nations are the only teams to qualify to the World Cup thus far.[2]

Results edit

There have been seven editions of the championship as of 2023. For all tournaments, the winners qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Year Location Final Third place match
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
OFC Beach Soccer Championship
2006
details
  Tema'e, Tahiti  
Solomon Islands
6–2  
Vanuatu
 
Tahiti
12–4  
Cook Islands
2007
details
  Auckland,
New Zealand
 
Solomon Islands
5–3  
Vanuatu
 
New Zealand
5–3  
Tahiti
2009
details
  Tema'e, Tahiti  
Solomon Islands
1–0  
Vanuatu
 
Tahiti
6–3  
Fiji
2011
details
  Papeete, Tahiti  
Tahiti
4–3  
Solomon Islands
 
Fiji
2013
details
  Nouméa,
New Caledonia[a]
 
Solomon Islands
[round-robin]  
New Caledonia
 
Vanuatu
OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup
2019
details
  Papeete, Tahiti  
Tahiti
4–3  
Solomon Islands
 
New Caledonia
8–7 (a.e.t.)  
Vanuatu
2023
details
  Papeete, Tahiti  
Tahiti
7–0  
Solomon Islands
 
Fiji
12–0  
Tonga
2024
details
  TBA, Solomon Islands[9]
Notes:
a. ^ The 2013 edition was originally set to take place in Papeete, Tahiti. However, despite being defending champions, Tahiti were unable to compete due to a pre-arranged tour of Europe to play against higher level opposition in preparation as host nation of the upcoming World Cup. Hence the competition was relocated to New Caledonia.[10]
Round-robin ^ Indicates this edition was played as a round-robin tournament. There was no final or third place match.

Unrealised editions:

In addition to the above tournaments, a further four editions were scheduled but ultimately did not take place as follows:

  1. 2008: The OFC was unable to organise the 2008 edition in time, due to a late calendar change bringing the 2008 World Cup forward from November to July. Hence, on the back of their two previous titles, the Solomon Islands were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup.[6]
  2. 2015: The 2015 edition was originally set to take place in Papeete, Tahiti.[11] Due to undisclosed circumstances, the tournament was cancelled. Tahiti were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup.[12]
  3. 2017: The 2017 edition was originally set to take place in February.[11] Due to undisclosed circumstances, the tournament was cancelled. Tahiti were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup.[13]
  4. 2021: The 2021 edition was originally set to take place in January in Tahiti.[14] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was initially postponed[15] and subsequently cancelled entirely. Tahiti were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup, based on being the highest ranked Oceanian nation in the then current release of the BSWW World Rankings and being reigning regional champions.[16]

Performance edit

Successful nations edit

Team Titles Runners-up Third place
  Solomon Islands 4 (2006, 2007, 2009, 2013) 3 (2011, 2019, 2023)
  Tahiti 3 (2011*, 2019*, 2023*) 2 (2006*, 2009*)
  Vanuatu 3 (2006, 2007, 2009) 1 (2013)
  New Caledonia 1 (2013*) 1 (2019)
  Fiji 2 (2011, 2023)
  New Zealand 1 (2007*)
* = Hosts

Awards edit

Year Top goalscorer(s) Gls Best player Best goalkeeper Fair play Ref.
  2006   Teiva Izal 11   Teiva Izal   Chikau Mansale   Cook Islands [1]
  2007   Teva Zaveroni 11   James Naka   Chikau Mansale   New Zealand [2]
  2009   James Naka 7   James Naka   Chikau Mansale   Vanuatu [3]
  2011   James Naka
  Ratu Dugucagi
  Robert Laua
4   James Naka   Jonathan Torohia   Fiji [4]
  2013   Joe Luwi 5   Samson Takayama   Fred Hale not awarded [5]
  2019   Patrick Tepa 12   Heimanu Taiarui   Jonathan Torohia   Solomon Islands [6]
  2023   Gabiriele Matanisiga 12   Heirauarii Salem   Jonathan Torohia   Fiji
  Tahiti
[7]

All-time top goalscorers edit

As of 2023

The following table shows the all-time top goalscorers (minimum 10 goals).

Rank Player Team Goals
1 James Naka   Solomon Islands 34
2 Patrick Tepa   Tahiti 21
3 Teva Zaveroni   Tahiti 18
4 Raimana Li Fung Kuee   Tahiti 17
5 Seule Soromon   Vanuatu 15
6 Teva Izal   Tahiti 14
Henry Koto   Solomon Islands
8 Max Fa'ari   Solomon Islands 12
Gabiriele Matanisiga   Fiji
10 Loic Boulet   Vanuatu 11
Tearii Labaste   Tahiti
Heirauarii Salem   Tahiti
13 Fenedy Masauvakalo   Vanuatu 10
Heimanu Taiarui   Tahiti
Sources:
2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013: (a, b, c), 2019, 2023: ( a, b, c)

All-time table edit

As of 2023

Pos Team App Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts
1   Solomon Islands 7 26 19 0 0 7 136 86 +50 57
2   Tahiti 6 24 16 0 0 8 179 88 +91 48
3   Vanuatu 5 19 9 2 0 8 117 90 +27 31
4   New Caledonia 2 7 2 1 0 4 32 46 –14 8
5   Fiji 3 10 2 0 0 8 62 61 +1 6
6   New Zealand 1 4 1 0 0 3 21 26 –5 3
7   Cook Islands 1 4 0 0 0 4 6 49 –43 0
8   Tonga 2 8 0 0 0 8 15 129 –114 0

Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points

Appearances & performance timeline edit

The following is a performance timeline of the teams who have appeared in the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup and how many appearances they each have made.

Legend
Timeline
Year
Team
2006
 
(4)
2007
 
(4)
2009
 
(4)
2011
 
(3)
2013
 
(3)
2019
 
(5)
2023
 
(4)
Apps
7
  Cook Islands 4th × × × × × × 1
  Fiji × × 4th 3rd × × 3rd 3
  New Caledonia × × × × 2nd 3rd × 2
  New Zealand × 3rd × × × × × 1
  Solomon Islands 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 7
  Tahiti 3rd 4th 3rd 1st •• 1st 1st 6
  Tonga × × × × × 5th 4th 2
  Vanuatu 2nd 2nd 2nd •• 3rd 4th × 5

Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup edit

The following is a performance timeline of the OFC teams who have gone on to appear in the World Cup, having qualified from the above events (including the years when the event did not take place and instead the qualifying team was handpicked by the OFC, being 2008, 2015, 2017 and 2021).

Legend
Timeline
Year
Team
 
2006
 
2007
 
2008
 
2009
 
2011
 
2013
 
2015
 
2017
 
2019
 
2021
 
2023
 
2025
Total
  Solomon Islands R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 5
  Tahiti R1 4th 2nd 2nd R1 QF QF 7
Total no. of unique qualifiers 2

References edit

  1. ^ "BEACH SOCCER > TOURNAMENTS". Oceania Football Confederation. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "History of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup". Oceania Football Confederation. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Solomons edge closer to Tahiti". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  4. ^ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 qualifiers to start in Brazil on 5 March". FIFA. 3 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  5. ^ "World Cup gets bigger". FIFA. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b oceaniafootball (31 July 2009). "OFC Beach Soccer Championship 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  7. ^ oceaniafootball (2006). "OFC Beach Soccer Championship 2006" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Mexico claim the 2019 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship". CONCACAF. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  9. ^ "OFC competitions calendar confirmed for 2024". Oceania Football Confederation. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Sport: Oceania Beach Soccer qualifier moved to New Caledonia". RNZ International. 6 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-09-03.
  11. ^ a b "OFC Executive Committee decisions". oceaniafootball.com. 2014-04-23. Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  12. ^ "Teams". FIFA.com. 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-10-08.
  13. ^ "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016.
  14. ^ "OFC tournaments update". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 July 2020.
  15. ^ "OFC announces schedule changes for early 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 5 November 2020.
  16. ^ "OFC cancels upcoming Beach Soccer Nations Cup". Oceania Football Confederation. 6 May 2021.

External links edit

  • OFC, official website