The 2016 OFC U-20 Championship was the 21st edition of the OFC U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 19 and below (despite the name remaining as U-20 Championship). This year, the tournament was held in Vanuatu for the first time by itself (second time overall).
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Tonga (preliminary stage) Vanuatu (final stage) |
| Dates | 21–27 June 2016 (preliminary stage) 3–17 September 2016 (final stage) |
| Teams | 8 (final stage) 11 (total) (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  New Zealand (6th title) |
| Runners-up | Vanuatu |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 21 |
| Goals scored | 67 (3.19 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Dwayne Tiputoa Myer Bevan(5 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Myer Bevan |
| Best goalkeeper | Michael Woud |
| Fair play award |  Solomon Islands |
Despite the name remaining as U-20 Championship, the age limit was reduced by a year to 19 years of age. So players who wanted to participate in the tournament needed to be born on or after 1 January 1997. At an OFC Executive Committee meeting held at its Auckland headquarters in November 2013 the competition format was modified. The competition was brought forward a year and the age limit was lowered to 19 years of age. The changes were made in order to allow the winner of the competition plenty of time for preparation and player development for upcoming World Cups at Under 20 level.[1]
In March 2015, FIFA decided that the OFC gets two slots at every FIFA U-20 and U-17 World Cup.[2] So the top two teams qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea.
Format edit
The qualification structure is as follows:[2]
- First round: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga played a round-robin tournament in Tonga. The winner qualified for the tournament.
- Tournament (2016 OFC U-20 Championship): A total of eight teams (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, and the first round winner) played the tournament in Vanuatu. For the group stage, they were divided into two groups of four teams. The top two teams of each group advanced to the knockout stage (semi-finals and final) to decide the winner of the 2016 OFC U-20 Championship and the two teams that qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Teams edit
All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered qualification.
| Seeding | Teams | No. of teams |
|---|---|---|
| First round entrants | 4 | |
| Second round entrants | 7 |
Squads edit
Venues edit
| Port Vila | Luganville |
|---|---|
| Port Vila Municipal Stadium | Luganville Soccer City Stadium |
| 17°43′51″S 168°18′56″E / 17.7308985°S 168.315498°E | 15°30′29″S 167°11′28″E / 15.5081004°S 167.1912408°E |
| Capacity:10,000 | Capacity:7,000 |
  Port Vila Luganville 2016 OFC U-20 Championship (Vanuatu) | |
First round edit
The preliminary tournament was hosted by Tonga between 21 and 27 June 2016. The winner qualified for the tournament final.
Four referees and four assistant referees were named for the preliminary round of the tournament.
Referees
Salesh Chand
Joel Hoppken
Nelson Sogo
Campbell-Kirk Waugh
Assistant referees
- Ujwaal Mudliar
- Phul Singh
- Jeffery Solodia
- Isaac Trevis
All times are local, TOT (UTC+13).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cook Islands
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 7 | Second round |
| 2 |  Samoa
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 4 | |
| 3 | Tonga (H)
|
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 |  American Samoa
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 | −10 | 1 |
| Tonga | 1–1 | Cook Islands |
|---|---|---|
Po'oi  51' |
Report | C. Tiputoa 77' |
| Tonga | 1–1 | American Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Likiliki 10' |
Report | Fiso 6' |
| Samoa | 0–1 | Cook Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Report | D. Tiputoa 85' |
| Cook Islands | 5–0 | American Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Wood 31' Samuela 38'D. Tiputoa 54', 59', 72' |
Report |
Second round edit
The tournament final was scheduled for 3–17 September 2016 (originally 19–26 September 2016).[9] Vanuatu were announced as the host in December 2015.[10]
The draw was held on 22 June 2016.[11] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. There was no seeding, except that hosts Vanuatu were assigned to position A1 in the draw. The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
All times are local, VUT (UTC+11).
Group A edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanuatu (H)
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 |  New Caledonia
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | |
| 3 |  Fiji
|
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 |  Papua New Guinea
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 1 |
| Papua New Guinea | 1–4 | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| Awi 34' |
Report | Watrone 56' Gope-Fenepej 68' (pen.)Poma 82'Houala 90+4' |
| New Caledonia | 1–1 | Fiji |
|---|---|---|
| Gope-Fenepej 68' |
Report | Jennings 25' |
| Fiji | 1–1 | Papua New Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Catarogo 71' |
Report | Dabinyaba 35' |
| New Caledonia | 0–1 | Vanuatu |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Wilkins 90+1' (pen.) |
Group B edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Solomon Islands
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 | |
| 3 |  Tahiti
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Cook Islands
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 0 |
| New Zealand | 3–0 | Cook Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Bevan 30', 76', 90' |
Report |
| Cook Islands | 0–3 | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Waita 54' Witney 56', 83' |
Knockout stage edit
Bracket edit
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 13 September – Luganville | ||||||
| New Zealand | 3 | |||||
| 17 September – Port Vila | ||||||
| New Caledonia | 1 | |||||
| New Zealand | 5 | |||||
| 13 September – Port Vila | ||||||
| Vanuatu | 0 | |||||
| Vanuatu | 2 | |||||
| Solomon Islands | 1 | |||||
Semi-finals edit
Winners qualified for 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
| New Zealand | 3–1 | New Caledonia |
|---|---|---|
| Dyer 23', 30' Cox 71' |
Report | Nypie 19' |
| Vanuatu | 2–1 | Solomon Islands |
|---|---|---|
| Tenene 36' Massing 90+4' |
Report | Gise 21' |
Final edit
| New Zealand | 5–0 | Vanuatu |
|---|---|---|
| Ashworth 13' Dyer 34'Bevan 76'Imrie 88', 90' |
Report Report (NZ Football) |
Goalscorers edit
- 5 goals
Dwayne Tiputoa- Myer Bevan
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- Lucas Imrie
- Albert Witney
Heirauarii Salem
Hemaloto Polovili
- 2 goals
Thomas Gope-Fenepej
Samuelu Malo- Godine Tenene
- Ronaldo Wilkins
- 1 goal
Steven Fiso- Kimiora Samuela
- Conroy Tiputoa
- Michael Wood
- France Catarogo
- Leroy Jennings
- Warren Houala
- Cyril Nypie
- Pothin Poma
- Albert Watrone
- Hunter Ashworth
- Reese Cox
- Clayton Lewis
Alu Awi- Peter Dabinyaba Jr.
- Gabby Yanum
- Timothy Hunt
- Frank Mariner
- Joe Gise
- Richard Raramo
- Augustine Waita
- Rayan Petitgas
- Marc Siejidr
- Sandro Tau
- Anthony Likiliki
- Talatala Po'oi
- Bong Kalo
- Frederick Massing
- Jason Thomas
Awards edit
The Golden Ball Award is awarded to the most outstanding player of the tournament. The Golden Glove Award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. The Golden Boot Award is awarded to the top scorer of the tournament. The Fair Play Award is awarded to the team with the best disciplinary record at the tournament.
| Award | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Golden Ball | Myer Bevan
|
| Golden Glove | Michael Woud
|
| Golden Boot | Myer Bevan
|
| Fair Play Award | Solomon Islands
|
Qualified teams for FIFA U-20 World Cup edit
The following two teams from OFC qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[12]
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament1 |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand |
13 September 2016 | 4 (2007, 2011, 2013, 2015) |
| Vanuatu |
13 September 2016 | 0 (Debut) |
- 1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
References edit
- ^ "OFC Executive meeting outcomes announced". Oceania Football Confederation. 23 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- ^ a b "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- ^ "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Tonga - Cook Islands" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05.
- ^ "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: American Samoa - Samoa" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05.
- ^ "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Tonga - American Samoa" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-06.
- ^ "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Samoa - Cook Islands" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-06.
- ^ "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Cook Islands - American Samoa" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-07.
- ^ "2016 OFC U-20 Championship Preliminary Match Summary: Samoa - Tonga" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-07.
- ^ "OFC Executive Committee decisions". Oceania Football Confederation. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
- ^ "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ^ "U-20 journey outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 22 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
- ^ "History-making Vanuatu join New Zealand on world stage". FIFA.com. 13 September 2016. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016.