2023 OFC U-17 Championship

The 2023 OFC U-17 Championship was the 19th edition of the OFC U-16/U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-16/under-17 national teams of Oceania.

2023 OFC U-17 Championship
Tournament details
Host countryFiji
Dates11–28 January[1]
Teams9 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions New Zealand (9th title)
Runners-up New Caledonia
Third place Tahiti
Fourth place Fiji
Tournament statistics
Matches played17
Goals scored71 (4.18 per match)
Attendance3,985 (234 per match)
Top scorer(s)New Zealand Luke Supyk
French Polynesia Titouan Guillemant
(6 goals each)
Best player(s)New Caledonia Nolhann Alabete
Best goalkeeperNew Zealand Matt Foord

The OFC announced on 4 March 2021 that the 2021 OFC U-17 Championship (originally the 2020 OFC U-16 Championship), which would have been hosted by Fiji, had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Fiji would be retained to host the next edition in 2022.[2]

New Zealand, the seven-time defending champions, successfully defend their title, by won 1–0 the final over New Caledonia and both teams qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia as the OFC representatives.

Teams

10 of the 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC were eligible to enter the tournament. Solomon Islands were excluded from taking part by the OFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee in regards to the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship.[1]

Starting from 2020, male youth tournaments no longer have a four-team qualifying stage, and all teams compete in one tournament.[3]

Note: All appearance statistics include those in the qualifying stage (2016 and 2018).

Team Appearance Previous best performance
 American Samoa9thGroup stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2011, 2015)
 Cook Islands10thGroup stage (1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2015)
 Fiji (hosts)18thRunners-up (1999)
 New Caledonia12thRunners-up (2003, 2013, 2017)
 New Zealand17thChampions (1997, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018)
 Papua New Guinea10thSemi-finals (2017), Fourth place (1986)
 Samoa9thGroup stage (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2015, 2017, 2018)
 Tahiti14thRunners-up (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015)
 Tonga10thGroup stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2015)
 Vanuatu15thRunners-up (2005)

Venues

Matches are played at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva and Ba Academy in Ba.[4]

Match officials

The following officials were appointed for the tournament:[5]

Group stage draw

The draw for the group stage was conducted at the OFC Home of Football on the 28 October 2022. Teams were seeded into three pots based on their 2018 OFC U-16 Championship ranking.[1]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3
 New Zealand
 Tahiti
 Fiji		  Papua New Guinea
 New Caledonia
 Samoa
 Vanuatu		  American Samoa
 Tonga
 Cook Islands

Squads
Main article: 2023 OFC U-17 Championship squads

Players born on or after 1 January 2006 were eligible to compete in the tournament.

Group stage

All times are local, FJT (UTC+12).

Group A

Papua New Guinea were originally drawn into position A3 of this group but were removed before the start of the tournament due to not submitting their registration on time.[6]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Fiji (H) 2 2 0 0 6 0 +6 6 Knockout stage
2  Samoa 2 1 0 1 6 3 +3 3
3  Tonga 2 0 0 2 0 9 −9 0
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts
Fiji 3–0 Samoa
  • Khan 28'
  • Kumar 49'
  • Rao 60' (pen.)
 Report
Attendance: 320
Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)
Samoa 6–0 Tonga
  • Edward 20', 40'
  • Trainor 23', 25', 70', 85'
 Report
Attendance: 100
Referee: Nick Waldron (New Zealand)
Tonga 0–3 Fiji
Report
  • Seninawanawa 7'
  • Azafal 50'
  • Khan 90'
Attendance: 275
Referee: Ben Aukwai (Solomon Islands)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  New Zealand 2 2 0 0 14 2 +12 6 Knockout stage
2  New Caledonia 2 1 0 1 9 3 +6 3
3  American Samoa 2 0 0 2 0 18 −18 0
Source: OFC
New Zealand 3–2 New Caledonia
  • Supyk 9', 72' (pen.), 75'
 Report
  • Nganyane 16'
  • Hnaissilin 69' (pen.)
Fiji FA Academy, Ba
Attendance: 80
Referee: Kavitesh Behari (Fiji)
American Samoa 0–11 New Zealand
Report
  • Edwards 4'
  • Sloane-Rodrigues 11', 68'
  • Flowerdew 38', 45+2', 70', 88'
  • D'Hotman de Villiers 42', 76', 90+1'
  • Supyk 87' (pen.)
Fiji FA Academy, Ba
Attendance: 50
Referee: David Yareboinen (Papua New Guinea)
New Caledonia 7–0 American Samoa
  • Alebate 4'
  • Levy 27' (pen.)
  • Ue 53'
  • Cahma 59'
  • Saiko 64'
  • Qaeze 68', 70'
 Report
Fiji FA Academy, Ba
Attendance: 20
Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Tahiti 2 2 0 0 8 1 +7 6 Knockout stage
2  Vanuatu 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3
3  Cook Islands 2 0 0 2 1 8 −7 0
Source: OFC
Tahiti 2–1 Vanuatu
  • Guillemant 24'
  • Timothy 36' (o.g.)
 Report
  • Judah 82'
Attendance: 100
Referee: Lachlan Keevers (Australia)
Cook Islands 0–6 Tahiti
Report
  • Colombani 22', 45+2'
  • Guillemant 53'
  • Rota 66'
  • Cadousteau 74' (pen.)
  • Martin 78'
Attendance: 50
Referee: Tim Danaskos (Australia)
Vanuatu 2–1 Cook Islands
  • Chilia 1'
  • Moso 47'
 Report
  • Williams 45+2'
Attendance: 120
Referee: Timothy Niu (Solomon Islands)

Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 C  Cook Islands 2 0 0 2 1 8 −7 0 Knockout stage
2 A  Tonga 2 0 0 2 0 9 −9 0
3 B  American Samoa 2 0 0 2 0 18 −18 0
Source: OFC

Knockout stage

Draw

The draw for the knockout stage was conducted at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva on the 18 January 2023. Teams were seeded into two pots based on the final group stage overall ranking.[1]

Pot 1 Pot 2
 New Zealand
 Tahiti
 Fiji
 New Caledonia		  Samoa
 Vanuatu
 Cook Islands
 Tonga

Bracket
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
21 January – Suva
 
 
 New Caledonia4
 
25 January – Suva
 
 Samoa0
 
 New Caledonia (p)1 (3)
 
21 January – Suva
 
 Tahiti1 (2)
 
 Tahiti5
 
28 January – Suva
 
 Tonga0
 
 New Caledonia0
 
22 January – Suva
 
 New Zealand1
 
 Fiji3
 
25 January – Suva
 
 Cook Islands0
 
 Fiji1
 
22 January – Suva
 
 New Zealand4 Third place match
 
 New Zealand1
 
28 January – Suva
 
 Vanuatu0
 
 Tahiti3
 
 
 Fiji0
 

Quarter-finals
New Caledonia 4–0 Samoa
  • Angexetine 13'
  • Alebate 45+3' (pen.)
  • Saiko 88'
  • Hmuine 90+6' (pen.)
 Report
Attendance: 70
Referee: Lachlan Keevers (Australia)
Tahiti 5–0 Tonga
  • Hutia 18'
  • Guillemant 32', 90+5'
  • Faure 68'
  • Vonbalou 78'
 Report
Attendance: 100
Referee: Kavitesh Behari (Fiji)
Fiji 3–0 Cook Islands
  • Maivalenisau 45+2', 90+3'
  • Matapo 50' (o.g.)
 Report
Attendance: 350
Referee: David Yareboinen (Papua New Guinea)
New Zealand 1–0 Vanuatu
 Report
Attendance: 400
Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

New Caledonia 1–1 Tahiti
  • Alebate 14'
 Report
  • Guillemant 30'
Penalties
  • Hanye soccer ball with red X
  • Alebate soccer ball with check mark
  • Diko soccer ball with check mark
  • Saiko soccer ball with check mark
 3–2
  • soccer ball with red X Cadousteau
  • soccer ball with check mark Guillemant
  • soccer ball with check mark Cuneo
  • soccer ball with red X Tamarii
  • soccer ball with red X Teuira
Attendance: 250
Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)
Fiji 1–4 New Zealand
  • Ravonokula 14'
 Report
  • Watson 7', 50', 80'
  • Supyk 72'
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Ben Aukwai (Solomon Islands)

Third place match
Tahiti 3–0 Fiji
  • Seguy 51'
  • Guillemant 56'
  • Tama 68'
 Report
Attendance: 500
Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)

Final
New Caledonia 0–1 New Zealand
Report
  • Bruce 24'
Attendance: 200
Referee: Veer Singh (Fiji)

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[7]

Award Player
Golden Ball New Caledonia Nolhann Alabete
Golden Boot New Zealand Luke Supyk
French Polynesia Titouan Guillemant
Golden Gloves New Zealand Matt Foord

Goalscorers

There were 71 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 4.18 goals per match.

6 goals

  • New Zealand Luke Supyk
  • French Polynesia Titouan Guillemant

4 goals

  • New Zealand Luke Flowerdew
  • Samoa Pharrell Trainor

3 goals

  • New Caledonia Nolhann Alebate
  • New Zealand Matthew d'Hotman de Villiers
  • New Zealand Adam Watson

2 goals

  • Fiji William Khan
  • Fiji Petero Maivalenisau
  • New Caledonia Sipane Qaeze
  • New Caledonia Jean-Yves Saiko
  • New Zealand Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues
  • Samoa Ethelbert Edward
  • French Polynesia Tiahiti Colombani

1 goal

  • Cook Islands Jeremiah Williams
  • Fiji Ibraheem Azafal
  • Fiji Prashant Kumar
  • Fiji Vinayak Rao
  • Fiji Sailimone Ravonokula
  • Fiji Jacob Seninawanawa
  • New Caledonia Jean-Philippe Angexetine
  • New Caledonia David Cahma
  • New Caledonia Iwatro Hmuine
  • New Caledonia Joseph Hnaissilin
  • New Caledonia Anthony Levy
  • New Caledonia Ronald Nganyane
  • New Caledonia Simon Ue
  • New Zealand Niko Bruce
  • New Zealand Jesper Edwards
  • French Polynesia Eden Cadousteau
  • French Polynesia Keanan Faure
  • French Polynesia Dylan Hutia
  • French Polynesia Teriitaumatatini Martin
  • French Polynesia Tuarii Rota
  • French Polynesia Vaitea Seguy
  • French Polynesia Ariiheivarau Tama
  • French Polynesia Turerearii Vonbalou
  • Vanuatu Augustine Chilia
  • Vanuatu Delickson Judah
  • Vanuatu Jimmy Moso

1 own goal

  • Cook Islands Dwayne Matapo (against Fiji)
  • Vanuatu Albert Timothy (against Tahiti)

Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following two teams from OFC qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1
 New Caledonia25 January 20231 (2017)
 New Zealand25 January 20239 (1997, 1999, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

References
  1. "Draw for OFC U-17 Championship to be set today". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 October 2022.
  2. "OFC confirms schedule changes". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 March 2021.
  3. "OFC male youth tournaments continue to evolve". Oceania Football Confederation. 3 April 2020.
  4. "Teams discover OFC U-17 Championship 2023 opponents". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 October 2022.
  5. "Match officials confirmed for OFC U-17 Championship 2023". Oceania Football Confederation. 13 December 2022.
  6. "'Best' shot for juniors". Fiji Times. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  7. "New Zealanders among award winners at end of OFC U-17 Championship". friendsoffootballnz.com. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
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