http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...ny-png-to-earn-continental-crown-2800974.html is titled "Kiwis deny PNG to earn continental crown." Does anybody know when the draw for the next round is? The next round has two groups of three and starts in March.
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.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...in-crown-amid-broadening-pyramid-2801358.html is titled "New Zealand regain crown amid broadening pyramid."
The draw for the third round for the 2014 WC was June 26, 2012. But that was one group of four teams and those games started September 7.
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.
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."
http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-rank...s-and-upwards-for-new-look-kiwis-2812541.html is titled "Onwards and upwards for new-look Kiwis."
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."
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...s-as-ofc-s-third-stage-kicks-off-2848604.html is titled "Tahiti edge Solomons as OFC’s third stage kicks off." Tauhiti Keck scored the only goal of the game in the 53rd minute as the score was Tahiti 1:0 Solomon Islands.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...ney-through-oceania-s-rough-seas-2848782.html is titled "Tahiti’s challenging journey through Oceania’s rough seas."
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
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...es-perfect-start-for-new-zealand-2849506.html is titled "Rojas double ensures perfect start for New Zealand."
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...ic-winner-keeps-solo-hopes-alive-2849952.html is titled "Dramatic winner keeps Solo hopes alive." The score was Solomon Islands 1:0 Tahiti with the only goal in the 90+2nd minute. Solomon Islands and Tahiti each won 1:0 hosting the other one. Papua New Guinea is the other team in that group.
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.
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.
Looking at the USA's results this week maybe the good performance against them wasn't as good as it looked on paper.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...claim-edge-after-opening-outings-2851540.html is titled "New Zealand claim edge after opening outings." It says "Henry Fa’Arodo became the first Solomon Islands player to hit 50 caps."
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.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y...le-awaits-amid-tight-competition-2861821.html is titled "Tense finale awaits amid tight competition."
David Browne of host Papua New Guinea got a straight red card in the 22nd minute. Papua New Guinea took the lead in the 45+1st minute. Tahiti equalized in the 59th minute, went ahead in the 85th minute, and scored in the 90+3rd minute to make it Papua New Guinea 1:3 Tahiti. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2017/m=3/news=tahiti-comeback-breaks-png-hearts-2876767.html is titled "Tahiti comeback breaks PNG hearts."
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.
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.
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.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2017/m=3/news=kiwis-advance-parity-for-png-tahiti-2878103.html is titled "Kiwis advance, parity for PNG & Tahiti." Tahiti has 6 points and a +3 Papua New Guinea has 3 points a -1 Solomon Island has 3 points and a -2 The group winner cannot be determined until the last game.