OFC Qualification For FIFA World Cup 2018

Discussion in 'Oceania' started by EvanJ, Sep 25, 2014.

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Will Oceanic team qualify to Russia 2018?

Poll closed Jun 23, 2016.
  1. Yes

    6.7%
  2. No

    93.3%
  1. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  2. dinamo_zagreb

    dinamo_zagreb Member+

    Jun 27, 2010
    San Jose, CA / Zagreb, Croatia
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    I suppose it might be held along with OFC Champions League draw. Last one was held in November, gives them enough time to prepare everything.
     
  3. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  4. voiceoflg

    voiceoflg Member+

    Dec 8, 2005
  5. dinamo_zagreb

    dinamo_zagreb Member+

    Jun 27, 2010
    San Jose, CA / Zagreb, Croatia
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    #80 dinamo_zagreb, Jul 8, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2016
    Draw was held for the third round:

    group A
    New Zealand
    New Caledonia
    Fiji

    group B
    Papua New Guinea
    Solomon Islands
    Tahiti

    It actually starts in November, not in March as OFC said before. Two teams will play home-away during one FIFA-window while the third has a bye until next window. I don't like it, they should have included each team in each window so they play at least one official game, for instance (1v2, 2v3 in first, 3v1, 2v1 in second, 3v2, 1v3 in third).

    My picks are NZL and PNG, I think they will build good on recent ONC success and they have huge potential. All they needed was a good result.
     
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  6. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So CONCACAF and OFC made schedules on the same day. I think starting Round 3 in November rather than March 2017 is good so that the gap between Round 2 and Round 3 isn't as long. The two groups will finish in June 2017. OFC then has a choice between September 2017, October 2017, or one leg in each month for the two leg series between the group winners.

    http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...ets-out-oceania-s-road-to-russia-2811470.html is titled "Draw sets out Oceania’s road to Russia."
     
  7. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  8. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The first game of Round 3 starts at midnight USA Eastern Time, which is between 14 and 15 hours from now. It's Tahiti hosting Solomon Islands. Here are the other three November 2016 games in OFC using USA Eastern Time:

    New Zealand vs. New Caledonia on 11 November at 9:00 P.M.
    Solomon Islands vs. Tahiti on 12 November at 11:00 P.M.
    New Caledonia vs. New Zealand on 15 November at 1:00 A.M.

    http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...an-sextet-on-the-starting-blocks-2847889.html is titled "Oceanian sextet on the starting blocks."
     
  9. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  10. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  11. dinamo_zagreb

    dinamo_zagreb Member+

    Jun 27, 2010
    San Jose, CA / Zagreb, Croatia
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    New Zealand opened their WC campaign with a 2-0 win against New Caledonia. Harder than I expected, especially after great showings in USA last month.


    Next up:
    Solomon Islands - Tahiti, Nov 13, 05:00 CET
    New Caledonia - New Zealand, Nov 15, 07:00 CET
     
  12. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  13. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  14. dinamo_zagreb

    dinamo_zagreb Member+

    Jun 27, 2010
    San Jose, CA / Zagreb, Croatia
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    0-0 in New Caledonia, hardly fought point for Kiwis. This isn't promising at all. They looked good and composed in North American tour, but none of it was shown in this doubleheader against Caledonian amateurs.
     
  15. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...d-as-kiwis-held-in-new-caledonia-2850802.html is titled "Kai sees red as Kiwis held in New Caledonia."

    The Bet365 odds gave New Zealand a 70.5 percent chance at winning. New Caledonia made a substitution in the 9th minute (I'm assuming due to injury) and got a straight red card in the 85th minute.

    New Zealand is still in good shape to win the group. If New Zealand gets at least 4 points from their two games against Fiji in March, New Zealand would have 8 or 10 points. New Caledonia and Fiji's two June games against each other would be irrelevant because neither of them could get more than 7 points. It would be rare to have a matchday when every game in a group (albeit just one game per matchday in this case) was between two teams that were eliminated before the game.
     
  16. almango

    almango Member+

    Sydney FC
    Australia
    Nov 29, 2004
    Bulli, Australia
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    Looking at the USA's results this week maybe the good performance against them wasn't as good as it looked on paper.
     
  17. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  18. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    http://www.fifa.com/governance/news...-for-incidents-during-fifa-world-2861299.html says Solomon Islands forfeited for using a suspended player. Since Tahiti won on the field, the points weren't affected, but the score has been changed from 1:0 to 3:0.
     
    dinamo_zagreb repped this.
  19. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  20. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  21. dinamo_zagreb

    dinamo_zagreb Member+

    Jun 27, 2010
    San Jose, CA / Zagreb, Croatia
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    New Zealand won 2-0 at Fiji, they are one point away from qualification to playoff. It's pretty likely we'll have playoff teams next week as Tahiti qualifies if they defeat PNG at home.
     
  22. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No. The tiebreaker is goal differential, and Tahiti would finish with 9 points if they beat Papua New Guinea. Solomon Islands could win the group on goal differential if they won both games against Papua New Guinea by enough goals. It's possible that Solomon Islands's forfeit that changed the score from 1-0 to 3-0 could cause Solomon Islands to be eliminated on goal differential.

    New Zealand 2-0 Fiji

    http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...d-new-zealand-seal-play-off-spot-2877557.html is titled "Thomas-inspired New Zealand seal play-off spot." Fiji and New Caledonia are eliminated.
     
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  23. dinamo_zagreb

    dinamo_zagreb Member+

    Jun 27, 2010
    San Jose, CA / Zagreb, Croatia
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    Yes, I forgot there's goal-diff as first tiebreaker. But anyway, Tahiti failed to win so it's all to play for for Solomons and Papua New Guinea.
     
  24. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    dinamo_zagreb repped this.
  25. dinamo_zagreb

    dinamo_zagreb Member+

    Jun 27, 2010
    San Jose, CA / Zagreb, Croatia
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    I'd love to see PNG winning the group, they look to be tougher opponent to NZL than Solomon Islands.
     

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