OFC Nations Cup

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:OFCcup.gif The OFC Nations Cup is the biennial football competition held among the Oceania Football Confederation member nations. It has been held every two years since 1996 by the OFC; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals.

Historically, a very large gulf separated Australia from the smaller island competitors. Little attention is paid to the tournament by the rest of the football world. Australia's top players, based in Europe, are generally not even selected on the basis that they would refuse to play in what they regard as a meaningless event - allowing New Zealand to occasionally embarrass its larger neighbour. The competition however has increased in importance due to the fact it now qualifies the winner for the lucrative Confederations Cup.

Australia ceased to be a member of the OFC on January 1, 2006, and hence will no longer be involved in this competition.

1 History
2 Future tournaments
3 Results
4 Total Wins

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History

This tournament began in 1973 as the "Oceania Cup". A second edition took place in 1980, then the tournament was discontinued.

In the early editions non-FIFA members were allowed to participate such as New Hebrides, which became Vanuatu after gaining independence in 1980.

In 1996 it reappeared as the "Oceania Nations Cup" and served as a qualifier for the Confederations Cup. With Oceania Football Confederation having become a separate FIFA confederation.

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Future tournaments

The final tournament is to be replaced with a home and away tournament involving the top five Oceania teams and the winner of the qualifying round - which will be contested by the weaker teams Oceania teams. The final tournament will consist of two groups of three teams each, with the winner of each group playing each other home and away for the Oceania Nations Cup and also to playoff against another confederation for a spot at the 2010 World Cup. OFC Link

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Results

Year	Host	Final			Third Place Match
Year	Host	Winner	Score	Runner-up	3rd Place	Score	4th Place
1973 Details	New Zealand	Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand	2 - 0	Image:Flag of French Polynesia.svg Tahiti	Image:Flag of France.svg New Caledonia	2 - 1	Image:New Hebrides flag.gif New Hebrides
1980 Details	New Caledonia	Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	4 - 2	Image:Flag of French Polynesia.svg Tahiti	Image:Flag of France.svg New Caledonia	2 - 1	Image:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji
1996 Details	no host	Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	6 - 0 5 - 0	Image:Flag of French Polynesia.svg Tahiti	Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand	no match</sup>	Image:Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg Solomon Islands
1998 Details	Australia	Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand	2 - 0	Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	Image:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji	4 - 2	Image:Flag of French Polynesia.svg Tahiti
2000 Details	Tahiti	Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	2 - 0	Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand	Image:Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg Solomon Islands	2 - 1	Image:Flag of Vanuatu.svg Vanuatu
2002 Details	New Zealand	Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand	1 - 0	Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	Image:Flag of French Polynesia.svg Tahiti	1 - 0	Image:Flag of Vanuatu.svg Vanuatu
2004 Details	Australia	Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	5 - 1 6 - 0	Image:Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg Solomon Islands	Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand	no match</sup>	Image:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji