😨 What a game! Match report to come. #WNC2022 pic.twitter.com/jPTL30Q6FY— Oceania Football Confederation (@OFCfootball) July 14, 2022 Ileen Pegi(37p) - Vanisha Kumar(22)
Well we've had one outright upset to start the tournament, plus the top two teams with "only" a GD of two between them. I might chalk that up to the low-stakes nature of the group phase, but I'd have to watch the full games to be sure.
I believe six out of the 9 have played friendlies leading up to this tournament. Might help in keeping things close and limiting blowouts.
Watching these highlights and regardless who wins the tournament, I don't see any OFC team standing any chance of qualifying for the WWC .
⚖️ FULL TIME. #WNC2022 pic.twitter.com/Xhw1TERT3s— Oceania Football Confederation (@OFCfootball) July 16, 2022 Kiana Swift(72) - Lyric Davison(49) 15 year old Cook Islands goalkeeper Kimberly Uini saved a penalty from Laveni Vaka(20). Tonga finished the group with one point and 1-3 goals and has to wait if it`s enough to reach the quarterfinal. Samoa and Papua New Guinea are qualified for the quarterfinal.
Trying to figure out here if it's possible for TON to be qualified based on PNG-TAH tomorrow. I think if PNG win by at least three, then one of TAH+VAN have to end beneath TON no matter what.
Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬 get the job done against Tahiti 🇵🇫 in the first of our two #WNC2022 matches today. Match report to follow. pic.twitter.com/FsMTShzEPd— Oceania Football Confederation (@OFCfootball) July 17, 2022 Ramona Padio(28p), Meagen Gunemba(83) - Tahia Tamarii(90p) Papua New Guinea is group winner and will play against a third placed team. A draw against Vanuatu will be enough for Tahiti for second place and a quarterfinal against the second placed team of Group C. A draw with goals would advance Vanuatu ahead of Tonga. If Vanuatu draws 0:0 it would be decided by fair play points. Neither Tonga nor Vanuatu have concede a card so if Vanuatu don`t concede a card in a 0:0 draw with Tahiti it will be decided by lots (if no team from Group C is worse or Cook Islands finish behind Tonga). If Cook Islands lose 0:2 against Samoa without conceding a card then the second place in Group A would be deciding by lots.
Cook Islands' GK is particularly fond of calling "outs". Its a shame (or not, actually ) that these highlights had no comments. I agree with @toad455 that any OFC team emerging from this competition will be butchered in the intercontinental play-off. Even Papua New Guinea doesn't seem so better than others to avoid routs against teams from other confederations.
Fiji pick up their first win of the #WNC2022 🏆. Match report to come. pic.twitter.com/0MTQJBwRuy— Oceania Football Confederation (@OFCfootball) July 17, 2022 Aliza Hussein(4), Sofi Diyalowai(45,55) Jackie Pahoa(90+1p) Another last minute penalty to make things more complicate. Fiji is qualified and will play against a second placed team in the quarterfinal. There are still six teams that have be worried about qualifying for the quarterfinal. Cook Islands (1:3 or better against Samoa) Tahiti (need a draw against Vanuatu) Vanuatu (draw at least 1:1 against Tahiti) Solomon Islands (1:3 or better against New Caledonia) New Caledonia (draw at least 1:1 against Solomon Islands) Tonga (wait and pray)
The inter-confederation play-offs are in February so I hope the winner will have some training camps until then. But the best chance seem to look in other countries for players with Papua New Guinean/Fijian/Samoan... descent.
I know the former French territories look out for French players with ancestry. Tahiti got a few based in France and one based in the USA.
Here is an article about that team (in French). Coach said in the interview that tanks to FIFA and OFC funds they were able to travel to France and play some friendlies to see how football works outside of Oceania. And it is keys to the players development to do more trips that will educate the players.
Samoa get the job done against a spirited Cook Islands in tonight's #WNC2022 match. Full report to come... pic.twitter.com/Pjmrw0IhuX— Oceania Football Confederation (@OFCfootball) July 19, 2022 Jayda Stewart(15) Samoa as group winners will play against third placed team, Cook Islands is second and play against winner of Group C (Fiji or Solomon Islands). If Tonga qualifies as one of the best two third placed teams they will play against Papua New Guinea.
😨 That penalty save from Tahiti's goalkeeper Camille Andre in the dying minutes of the game. Match report to come. #WNC2022 pic.twitter.com/7CbaeP5RUr— Oceania Football Confederation (@OFCfootball) July 20, 2022 A penalty save by Camille Andre on Liyo Eramol`s shot secured Tahiti the quarterfinal while Vanuatu`s three yellow cards secured Tonga the quarterfinal on fairplay points. Samoa vs Vanuatu/Solomon Islands/New Caledonia(Third placed team) Papua New Guinea vs Tonga Fiji/Solomon Islands(Winner Group C) vs Cook Islands Tahiti vs Solomon Islands/New Caledonia(Second placed team Group C) New Caledonia has two yellow cards and Solomon Islands one card so they need: New Caledonia 0:0 draw without conceding a card Solomon Islands 0:2 or better and not more than 1 yellow card. Edit: Solomon Islands lead 1:0 so they can forget fairplay now.
🔥 What about that game to conclude the #WNC2022 group stages? Match report to come. pic.twitter.com/5cvb0tVlHb— Oceania Football Confederation (@OFCfootball) July 20, 2022 Jennifer Neporo(73,78) - Almah Gogoni(15), Mary Maefiti(85) In the end we were all right - Vanuatu is the unlucky team(or not fair enough). Quarterfinals (23rd and24th July) Samoa vs New Caledonia Papua New Guinea vs Tonga Fiji vs Cook Islands Tahiti vs Solomon Islands
Yeah, not a single team ended on 0pts or even 0GF, and regional #2 (and hosts) Fiji didn't even come away with a clean 6pts. Then again, if this group stage was treated as more of a "preseason" to the actual knockout phase, maybe the intensity wasn't quite there yet? IDK We're about to find out, though. Surprise of the tournament so far I guess has been all of group A, with the standings there completely inverted from what was originally expected. Then again, group A was also expected to be the tightest group, with the weakest pot 1 team and strongest pot 3 team. (Second surprise being Fiji's draw.)