OFC U-16/U-17 Championship

OFC U-16/U-17 Championship
Organising body	OFC
Founded	1983
Region	Oceania
Number of teams	11
Current champions	New Zealand ; (9th title)
Most successful team(s)	Australia ; (10 titles)
	2023 OFC U-17 Championship

The OFC U-16 Championship is a biennial football tournament for players under the age of 16. The tournament decides the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which is held every two years.

Between 1983 and 2017, the tournament was open to teams under-17 years of age and was called the OFC U-17 Championship. Since 2018, the age limit was reduced to under 16 years of age, the tournament is called the OFC U-16 Championship.

Eligible teams edit

All member nations of the Oceania Football Confederation are allowed to enter a team. Teams that have participated in the tournament so far were:

American Samoa
Cook Islands
Fiji
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tahiti
Tonga
Vanuatu
Australia (member of AFC since 2007)
Chinese Taipei (member of AFC since 1989)

Results edit

The list of winners:^[1]

U17 format

Edition	Year	Host	Final			Third Place Match
Edition	Year	Host	Champion	Score	Second Place	Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
1	1983 Details	Auckland, New Zealand	Australia	Round robin	New Zealand	Chinese Taipei	Round robin	New Caledonia
2	1986	Kaohsiung, Taiwan	Australia	Round robin	New Zealand	Chinese Taipei	Round robin	Papua New Guinea
3	1989	Australia	Australia	Round robin	New Zealand	Chinese Taipei	Round robin	Fiji
4	1991 Details	Napier, New Zealand	Australia	Round robin	New Zealand	Fiji	Round robin	No fourth place^[2]
5	1993	New Zealand	Australia	3–0	Solomon Islands	New Zealand	unknown	Fiji
6	1995	Vanuatu	Australia	1–0	New Zealand	Vanuatu	3–0	Solomon Islands
7	1997	New Zealand	New Zealand	1–0	Australia	Solomon Islands	3–0	Fiji
8	1999	Ba & Nadi, Fiji	Australia	5–0	Fiji	Solomon Islands	unknown	New Caledonia
9	2001 Details	Apia, Samoa & Port Vila, Vanuatu	Australia	3–0 6–0 (9–0) two-legged match	New Zealand
10	2003 Details	Pago Pago, American Samoa, Sunshine Coast, Australia ^[3] & Nouméa, New Caledonia	Australia	3–1 4–0 (7–1) two-legged match	New Caledonia
11	2005 Details	New Caledonia	Australia	1–0	Vanuatu	Solomon Islands	3–1	New Caledonia
12	2007 Details	Pirae, Tahiti	New Zealand	Round robin	Tahiti	Fiji	Round robin	New Caledonia
13	2009 Details	Auckland, New Zealand	New Zealand	Round robin	Tahiti	New Caledonia	Round robin	Vanuatu
14	2011 Details	Albany, New Zealand	New Zealand	2–0	Tahiti	Solomon Islands	2–0	Vanuatu
15	2013 Details	Luganville, Vanuatu	New Zealand	Round robin	New Caledonia	Vanuatu	Round robin	Fiji
16	2015 Details	Apia, Samoa & Pago Pago, American Samoa	New Zealand	1–1 (5–4 pen.)	Tahiti	Vanuatu	6–0	New Caledonia
17	2017 Details	Papeete, Tahiti	New Zealand	7–0	New Caledonia
18	2021 Details	TBC, Fiji	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic^[4]
19	2023 Details	Suva & Ba, Fiji	New Zealand	1–0	New Caledonia	Tahiti	3–0	Fiji

U16 format

Edition	Year	Host		Final				Third Place Match
Edition	Year	Host		Champion	Score	Second Place		Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
1	2018 Details	Honiara, Solomon Islands^[5]		New Zealand	0–0 (5–4 pen.)	Solomon Islands ^{[note 1]}		Tahiti	2–1	Fiji

Notes

^ The Solomon Islands, which originally finished second in the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship, were found by the OFC to have deliberately fielded overage player Chris Satu during the tournament. As a result, they had forfeited all results and their place in the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.^[6] The decision was appealed by the Solomon Islands Football Federation, and the OFC Executive Committee decided to uphold the appeal on the grounds that the federation had not knowingly broken the rules as Satu had a government issued passport showing his eligibility.^[7]

Performances by country edit

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place
Australia	10 (1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005)	1 (1997)	—	—
New Zealand	9 (1997, 2007, 2009, 2011*, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023)	6 (1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2001)	1 (1993*)	—
Tahiti	—	4 (2007*, 2009, 2011, 2015)	2 (2018, 2023)	—
New Caledonia	—	4 (2003*, 2013, 2017, 2023)	1 (2009)	5 (1983, 1999, 2005*, 2007, 2015)
Solomon Islands	—	2 (1993, 2018*)	4 (1997, 1999, 2005, 2011)	1 (1995)
Vanuatu	—	1 (2005)	3 (1995, 2013, 2015)	2 (2009, 2011)
Fiji	—	1 (1999*)	2 (1991, 2007)	6 (1989, 1993, 1997, 2013, 2018, 2023)
Chinese Taipei	—	—	3 (1983, 1986*, 1989)	—
Papua New Guinea	—	—	—	1 (1986)

* = As hosts

Note: no third or fourth place finishes in 1991 (no fourth place finish only), 2001, 2003 and 2017.

Participating nations edit

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
SF – Semi-finalists
GS – Group stage
PR – Preliminary Round
× – Did not participate
× – Withdrew
– Hosts
– Not affiliated to OFC
Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament

Team	1983	1986	1989	1991	1993	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2018	2023	Total
American Samoa	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	GS	×	×	×	GS	PR	GS	PR	PR	GS	9
Australia	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	AFC member								11
Chinese Taipei	3rd	3rd	3rd	AFC member																3
Cook Islands	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	×	GS	GS	×	×	GS	GS	GS	PR	PR	QF	10
Fiji	GS	GS	4th	3rd	4th	GS	4th	2nd	GS	GS	GS	3rd	×	GS	4th	GS	GS	4th	4th	18
New Caledonia	4th	×	×	×	×	×	×	4th	×	2nd	4th	4th	3rd	GS	2nd	4th	2nd	GS	2nd	12
New Zealand	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	3rd	2nd	1st	×	2nd	GS	×	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	17
Papua New Guinea	×	4th	×	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	×	GS	×	×	GS	GS	GS	SF	GS	×	9
Samoa	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	GS	GS	×	×	×	×	PR	GS	GS	GS	QF	9
Solomon Islands	×	×	×	×	2nd	4th	3rd	3rd	GS	GS	3rd	×	×	3rd	×	GS	SF	2nd	×	11
Tahiti	GS	×	×	×	GS	×	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	2nd	2nd	2nd	×	2nd	GS	3rd	3rd	14
Tonga	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	GS	GS	GS	GS	×	×	GS	PR	GS	PR	PR	QF	10
Vanuatu	×	×	GS	×	GS	3rd	GS	GS	GS	GS	2nd	×	4th	4th	3rd	3rd	GS	GS	QF	15