The OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup is the main championship for beach soccer in Oceania,[1] contested between the senior men's national teams of the members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It is the sport's version of the better known OFC Nations Cup in association football.
 | |
| Organising body | OFC |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Region | Oceania |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Current champions |  Tahiti (4th title) |
| Most successful team(s) |  Solomon Islands Tahiti(4 titles each) |
| Website | OFC |
 2024 OFC Beach Soccer Men's Nations Cup | |
The winners of the championship are crowned continental champions; the tournament also acts as the qualification route for Oceanian nations to the upcoming edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup[2] and is therefore also known as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup OFC qualifier.[3] Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2009; the World Cup then became biennial, and as its supplementary qualification event, the championship followed suit.[2]
The championship was established in 2006 after FIFA made it a requirement for all confederations to begin holding qualification tournaments to determine the best national team(s) in their region and hence those who would proceed to represent their continent in the upcoming World Cup (previously, nations were simply invited to play).[4] FIFA currently allocate Oceania one berth at the World Cup[5] and hence only the winners qualify to the World Cup finals.[2]
Oceania's governing body for football, the OFC, organise the championship.[6] Cooperation has also come from Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), particularly in the initial tournaments.[7] The competition was held under the title of the OFC Beach Soccer Championship until 2019 when the name was changed to OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup, bringing it in line with the naming of other OFC senior national tournaments.[2]
The Solomon Islands and Tahiti are the most successful nation with four titles each.[8] Tahiti also are the current champions. These two nations are the only teams to qualify to the World Cup thus far.[2]
Results
editThere have been seven editions of the championship as of 2023. For all tournaments, the winners qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
| Year | Location | Final | Third place match | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| OFC Beach Soccer Championship | |||||||||
| 2006 details |
Tema'e, Tahiti
|
 Solomon Islands |
6–2 |  Vanuatu |
 Tahiti |
12–4 |  Cook Islands | ||
| 2007 details |
 Auckland,New Zealand |
Solomon Islands |
5–3 | Vanuatu |
 New Zealand |
5–3 | Tahiti | ||
| 2009 details |
Tema'e, Tahiti
|
Solomon Islands |
1–0 | Vanuatu |
Tahiti |
6–3 |  Fiji | ||
| 2011 details |
Papeete, Tahiti
|
Tahiti |
4–3 | Solomon Islands |
Fiji |
— | |||
| 2013 details |
 Nouméa,New Caledonia[a] |
Solomon Islands |
[round-robin] |  New Caledonia |
Vanuatu |
— | |||
| OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup | |||||||||
| 2019 details |
Papeete, Tahiti
|
Tahiti |
4–3 | Solomon Islands |
New Caledonia |
8–7 (a.e.t.) | Vanuatu | ||
| 2023 details |
Papeete, Tahiti
|
Tahiti |
7–0 | Solomon Islands |
Fiji |
12–0 |  Tonga | ||
| 2024 details |
Honiara, Solomon Islands[9]
|
Tahiti |
3–2 | Solomon Islands |
Fiji |
4–0 |  Papua New Guinea | ||
- a. ^ The 2013 edition was originally set to take place in Papeete, Tahiti. However, despite being defending champions, Tahiti were unable to compete due to a pre-arranged tour of Europe to play against higher level opposition in preparation as host nation of the upcoming World Cup. Hence the competition was relocated to New Caledonia.[10]
- Round-robin ^ Indicates this edition was played as a round-robin tournament. There was no final or third place match.
Unrealised editions:
In addition to the above tournaments, a further four editions were scheduled but ultimately did not take place as follows:
- 2008: The OFC was unable to organise the 2008 edition in time, due to a late calendar change bringing the 2008 World Cup forward from November to July. Hence, on the back of their two previous titles, the Solomon Islands were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup.[6]
- 2015: The 2015 edition was originally set to take place in Papeete, Tahiti.[11] Due to undisclosed circumstances, the tournament was cancelled. Tahiti were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup.[12]
- 2017: The 2017 edition was originally set to take place in February.[11] Due to undisclosed circumstances, the tournament was cancelled. Tahiti were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup.[13]
- 2021: The 2021 edition was originally set to take place in January in Tahiti.[14] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was initially postponed[15] and subsequently cancelled entirely. Tahiti were hand-picked by the OFC to be the confederation's representative at the World Cup, based on being the highest ranked Oceanian nation in the then current release of the BSWW World Rankings and being reigning regional champions.[16]
Performance
editSuccessful nations
edit| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solomon Islands
|
4 (2006, 2007, 2009, 2013) | 3 (2011, 2019, 2023) | – |
| Tahiti
|
4 (2011*, 2019*, 2023*, 2024) | – | 2 (2006*, 2009*) |
 Vanuatu
|
– | 3 (2006, 2007, 2009) | 1 (2013) |
| New Caledonia
|
– | 1 (2013*) | 1 (2019) |
 Fiji
|
– | – | 2 (2011, 2023) |
| New Zealand
|
– | – | 1 (2007*) |
- * = Hosts
Awards
edit| Year | Top goalscorer(s) | Gls | Best player | Best goalkeeper | Fair play | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006
|
Teiva Izal
|
11 | Teiva Izal
|
Chikau Mansale
|
 Cook Islands
|
[1] |
| 2007
|
Teva Zaveroni
|
11 | James Naka
|
Chikau Mansale
|
New Zealand
|
[2] |
| 2009
|
James Naka
|
7 | James Naka
|
Chikau Mansale
|
Vanuatu
|
[3] |
| 2011
|
James Naka Ratu Dugucagi Robert Laua
|
4 | James Naka
|
Jonathan Torohia
|
Fiji
|
[4] |
| 2013
|
Joe Luwi
|
5 | Samson Takayama
|
Fred Hale
|
not awarded | [5] |
| 2019
|
Patrick Tepa
|
12 | Heimanu Taiarui
|
Jonathan Torohia
|
Solomon Islands
|
[6] |
| 2023
|
Gabiriele Matanisiga
|
12 | Heirauarii Salem
|
Jonathan Torohia
|
Fiji Tahiti
|
[7] |
All-time top goalscorers
editAs of 2023
The following table shows the all-time top goalscorers (minimum 10 goals).
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Naka | Solomon Islands
|
34 |
| 2 | Patrick Tepa | Tahiti
|
21 |
| 3 | Teva Zaveroni | Tahiti
|
18 |
| 4 | Raimana Li Fung Kuee | Tahiti
|
17 |
| 5 | Seule Soromon | Vanuatu
|
15 |
| 6 | Teva Izal | Tahiti
|
14 |
| Henry Koto | Solomon Islands
| ||
| 8 | Max Fa'ari | Solomon Islands
|
12 |
| Gabiriele Matanisiga | Fiji
| ||
| 10 | Loic Boulet | Vanuatu
|
11 |
| Tearii Labaste | Tahiti
| ||
| Heirauarii Salem | Tahiti
| ||
| 13 | Fenedy Masauvakalo | Vanuatu
|
10 |
| Heimanu Taiarui | Tahiti
|
| 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013: (a, b, c), 2019, 2023: ( a, b, c) |
All-time table
editAs of 2023
| Pos | Team | App | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Solomon Islands
|
7 | 26 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 136 | 86 | +50 | 57 |
| 2 | Tahiti
|
6 | 24 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 179 | 88 | +91 | 48 |
| 3 | Vanuatu
|
5 | 19 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 117 | 90 | +27 | 31 |
| 4 | New Caledonia
|
2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 46 | –14 | 8 |
| 5 | Fiji
|
3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 62 | 61 | +1 | 6 |
| 6 | New Zealand
|
1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 26 | –5 | 3 |
| 7 | Cook Islands
|
1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 49 | –43 | 0 |
| 8 |  Tonga
|
2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 129 | –114 | 0 |
Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points
Appearances & performance timeline
editThe following is a performance timeline of the teams who have appeared in the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup and how many appearances they each have made.
- Legend
|
|
- Timeline
Year Team
|
2006 (4) |
2007 (4) |
2009 (4) |
2011 (3) |
2013 (3) |
2019 (5) |
2023 (4) |
2024 (4) |
Apps ⁄8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook Islands
|
4th | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | 1 | |
| Fiji
|
× | × | 4th | 3rd | × | × | 3rd | Q | 4 | |
| New Caledonia
|
× | × | × | × | 2nd | 3rd | × | × | 2 | |
| New Zealand
|
× | 3rd | × | × | × | × | × | × | 1 | |
 Papua New Guinea
|
× | × | × | × | × | × | × | Q | 1 | |
| Solomon Islands
|
1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | Q | 8 | |
| Tahiti
|
3rd | 4th | 3rd | 1st | •• | 1st | 1st | Q | 7 | |
| Tonga
|
× | × | × | × | × | 5th | 4th | × | 2 | |
| Vanuatu
|
2nd | 2nd | 2nd | •• | 3rd | 4th | × | × | 5 |
Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup
editThe following is a performance timeline of the OFC teams who have gone on to appear in the World Cup, having qualified from the above events (including the years when the event did not take place and instead the qualifying team was handpicked by the OFC, being 2008, 2015, 2017 and 2021).
- Legend
|
|
- Timeline
Year Team
|
 2006 |
2007 |
 2008 |
 2009 |
 2011 |
2013 |
 2015 |
 2017 |
 2019 |
 2021 |
2023 |
 2025 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solomon Islands |
R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | 5 | |||||||
| Tahiti |
R1 | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | R1 | QF | QF | 7 | |||||
| Total no. of unique qualifiers | 2 | ||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ "BEACH SOCCER > TOURNAMENTS". Oceania Football Confederation. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "History of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup". Oceania Football Confederation. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Solomons edge closer to Tahiti". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 qualifiers to start in Brazil on 5 March". FIFA. 3 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- ^ "World Cup gets bigger". FIFA. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- ^ a b oceaniafootball (31 July 2009). "OFC Beach Soccer Championship 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ oceaniafootball (2006). "OFC Beach Soccer Championship 2006" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Mexico claim the 2019 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship". CONCACAF. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
- ^ "OFC competitions calendar confirmed for 2024". Oceania Football Confederation. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ^ "Sport: Oceania Beach Soccer qualifier moved to New Caledonia". RNZ International. 6 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-09-03.
- ^ a b "OFC Executive Committee decisions". oceaniafootball.com. 2014-04-23. Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
- ^ "Teams". FIFA.com. 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-10-08.
- ^ "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016.
- ^ "OFC tournaments update". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 July 2020.
- ^ "OFC announces schedule changes for early 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 5 November 2020.
- ^ "OFC cancels upcoming Beach Soccer Nations Cup". Oceania Football Confederation. 6 May 2021.
External links
edit- OFC, official website