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2024 OFC Nations Cup
Coupe d'Océanie des nations 2024; 2024 ओएफसी नेशंस कप;
Tournament details
Host countries	Fiji; Vanuatu
Dates	15–30 June
Teams	7 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand (6th title)
Runners-up	Vanuatu
Third place	Tahiti
Fourth place	Fiji
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	46 (3.54 per match)
Attendance	41,400 (3,185 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Roy Krishna (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Liberato Cacace
Best young player	Finn Surman
Best goalkeeper	Max Crocombe
Fair play award	New Zealand
	← 2020; 2016 2028 →

The 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup was the 11th edition of the OFC Men's Nations Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Oceania organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The tournament was played between 15 and 30 June 2024 in Fiji and Vanuatu.^[1] The defending champions were New Zealand from the 2016 edition; the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] New Caledonia withdrew a few days before the start of the competition citing riots in the country, and the tournament played with seven teams.

A total of 13 matches were played, in which 46 goals were scored, at an average of 3.54 goals per match. Attendance at all stages of the tournament reached 41,400, averaging 3,185 viewers per match. The biggest score recorded in the tournament was 9–1 when Fiji defeated Samoa on the second day of Group B.^[3]^[4]

New Zealand won the title for the sixth time in their history, after beating co-hosts Vanuatu in the final match with a score of 3–0,^[5] so the All Whites successfully defended their title.^[6] Tahiti secured third place after beating Fiji in the third place match, which placed them fourth. Fijian Roy Krishna finished the tournament as top scorer with five goals.^[7] New Zealander Liberato Cacace also won the best player award,^[8] while his compatriot Max Crocombe won the best goalkeeper award.^[9] New Zealand also won the fair play award.^[10]

Host selection

Although New Zealand was selected as host for the final tournament in 2020 before it was eventually cancelled, in December 2023 it was announced that the 2024 edition of the tournament would be held in Vanuatu.^[11]^[12]

In May 2024, following uncertainty around flight schedules, matches due to be played at the Luganville Soccer Stadium in Luganville, Vanuatu were moved to the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva, Fiji and the VFF Freshwater Stadium in Port Vila, Vanuatu.^[13]

Venues

200km
124miles

2

1

Location of the host cities of the 2024 Men's OFC Nations Cup.

Vanuatu
1
Port Vila

Fiji
2
Suva

Port Vila

Suva

VFF Freshwater Stadium

HFC Bank Stadium

Capacity: 6,500

Capacity: 4,300

Teams

Qualification

The 4 lowest ranked teams originally entered for qualification were played in a single group tournament, as in previous editions in 2012 and 2016. Tuvalu and Kiribati were not full members of the OFC and were therefore excluded from participation. American Samoa did not register before qualifying.

In the qualifying tournament, the three lowest-ranked teams in the last edition of the tournament in 2016 (because American Samoa did not register), competed in a Round robin format in a single round, which was held in a single venue in Tonga, where the winner qualified for the final tournament.^[11] On 5 June 2024, New Caledonia announced their withdrawal from the tournament due to the serious crisis in the country.^[14]

Qualified teams

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA ranking at start of event
Vanuatu^[A]	Co-hosts	1 December 2023	10th	2016	Fourth place (1973, 2000, 2002, 2008)	172
Fiji	Co-hosts	24 January 2024	9th	2016	Third place (1998, 2008)	168
~~New Caledonia~~^[B]	Automatic qualification	~~24 January 2024~~	7th	2016	Runners-up (2008, 2012)	158
New Zealand		24 January 2024	11th	2016	Champions (1973, 1998, 2002, 2008, 2016)	104
Papua New Guinea		24 January 2024	5th	2016	Runners-up (2016)	166
Solomon Islands		24 January 2024	8th	2016	Runners-up (2004)	132
Tahiti		24 January 2024	10th	2016	Champions (2012)	162
Samoa	Qualifying winner	23 March 2024	3rd	2016	Group stage (2012, 2016)	181

^ From 1973 and 1980, Vanuatu competed as New Hebrides.
^ New Caledonia withdrew from the tournament on 5 June 2024 due to the social unrest in the country.^[14]

Squads

Match officials

Referees

Assistant referees

Format

The tournament followed the previous system of a preliminary qualification round followed by an eight-team (eventually seven) group stage, in which the top two places in each advanced to the semi-finals. In these, the two losers of each will compete in the play-off for third place, while the winners of these will compete in the final to determine the tournament champion.^[15]

Draw

The draw was held on 24 January 2024 at OFC Home of Football in Auckland, New Zealand. The teams were divided into two groups of four each, with the three initial pots determined based on the final ranking of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, listed below.^[16]^[17]

Pot 1
Team	Rank
New Zealand	1
Papua New Guinea	2

Pot 2
Team	Rank
~~New Caledonia~~^[a]	3
Solomon Islands	4
Tahiti	5
Fiji	6

Pot 3
Team	Rank
Vanuatu	7
Samoa^[b]	8

^ Withdrew after official draw.
^ Qualifying winner, team not determined at time of draw.

Group stage

All times are local, UTC+11 (Group A) and UTC+12 (Group B).

Tiebreakers

Tie-breaking criteria for group play^[18]

The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:

Total points;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Head-to-head result between tied teams;
1. Points in matches among the tied teams;
2. Goal difference in matches among the tied teams;
3. Goals scored in matches among the tied teams;
Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction per player, per match):
- One yellow card: −1 point;
- Two yellow cards (indirect red card): −3 points;
- Direct red card: −4 points;
- Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	2	2	0	7	0	+7	6	Advance to semi-finals
2	Vanuatu (H)	2	1	1	1	4	−3	3	Advance to semi-finals
3	Solomon Islands	2	0	2	0	4	−4	0
4	New Caledonia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

15 June 2024

12:00

New Zealand	Cancelled	New Caledonia

VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila

15 June 2024

15:00

Solomon Islands	0–1	Vanuatu
	Report	Tangis 72'

VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila

Attendance: 5,000^[19]

Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)

18 June 2024

15:00

New Zealand	3–0	Solomon Islands
Waine 6', 11' Barbarouses 45+4'	Report

VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila

Attendance: 3,000^[20]

Referee: David Yareboinen (Papua New Guinea)

18 June 2024

15:00

Vanuatu	Cancelled	New Caledonia

VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila

21 June 2024

12:00

New Caledonia	Cancelled	Solomon Islands

VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila

21 June 2024

15:00

Vanuatu	0–4	New Zealand
	Report	Mata 10' Kaltak 27' (o.g.) Just 63' Old 78'

VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila

Attendance: 7,200^[21]

Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Fiji (H)	3	3	0	0	15	2	+13	9	Advance to semi-finals
2	Tahiti	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4	Advance to semi-finals
3	Papua New Guinea	3	1	1	1	4	7	−3	4
4	Samoa	3	0	0	3	2	13	−11	0

Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

16 June 2024