Oceania Football Confederation

The confederation formed in 1966, as a result of Australia and New Zealand's failed attempts to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[2] The founding OFC members were the following:[3]

• the Australian Soccer Federation (from 2005: Football Australia)
• New Zealand Soccer (subsequently New Zealand Football)
• the Fiji Football Association
• the Papua New Guinea Football Association

Australia resigned as an OFC member in 1972 to again pursue membership with the AFC, but rejoined the OFC in 1978.[4][5] Their men's national team (nicknamed the Socceroos) became the first Oceanians to play at a FIFA World Cup in 1974, being drawn in the same group as Chile, East Germany and West Germany. They failed to score a goal, but were still competitive in all three of their matches.[6] New Zealand's national team the All Whites played in their first World Cup eight years later. At the 1982 tournament they suffered heavier defeats than Australia previously had.[7]

Chinese Taipei was an OFC member from 1975 to 1989. In 1996, FIFA confirmed OFC as a full confederation and granted it a seat on the FIFA executive.[8] In 1998 the OFC unveiled a new logo and an official magazine, entitled The Wave. Australia meanwhile lost several inter-confederation World Cup playoffs; first to Scotland in 1985, then Argentina in 1993 and then Iran in 1997.[9]

Australia's national team were long considered the biggest challenge in Oceania.[10] There were many highly uncompetitive matches involving them, particularly in the 1990s and 2000s. Their June 1997 second round qualification games for the 1998 FIFA World Cup included a 13–0 defeat of the Solomon Islands.[11] The following year they defeated the Cook Islands 16–0 at the 1998 OFC Nations Cup, while at the 2000 OFC Nations Cup they defeated them 17–0.[12][13] The uncompetitive results escalated in April 2001, during the first round of OFC qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Australia beat Tonga 22–0, following this result up with a 31–0 defeat of American Samoa and an 11–0 defeat of Samoa.[14][15] The American Samoa game became the largest international victory in the history of the sport (breaking the previous record set in the Tonga game),[16] while Archie Thompson also broke the record for most goals in an international match, scoring 13.

Australia's record-breaking form in the early stages of qualifying ultimately couldn't be replicated in their inter-confederation playoff against Uruguay later that year. For the first leg, the Socceroos managed to defeat the South Americans 1–0 in front of a Melbourne crowd of 84,656, but they were overwhelmed 3–0 in the away leg. The away leg was marred by an incident at Montevideo's airport prior to the game itself, where the Australian players were spat on, punched and abused by a mob of Uruguayan fans.[17] On 24 May 2004, New Caledonia became the 12th member of the OFC.

Australia reached another inter-confederation playoff against Uruguay in 2005. Both sides won a game each over the two legs, which led to Australia finally ending their World Cup drought through a dramatic penalty shootout in Sydney. The Socceroos were granted increased security for the first away leg, as a response to the 2001 airport incident, and in the second leg the Uruguayan team were heavily booed while their national anthem played.[18] In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Australia were eliminated by Italy during the Round of 16.[19] Their 3–1 group stage victory against Japan remains the only time a team representing OFC has won at the tournament. Australia left the OFC again that same year and joined the Asian Football Confederation.

In 2008, an associate member, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, also left the OFC and in 2009 joined the AFC as an associate member. In late 2009, the Palau Football Association, geographically a part of Oceania but with no official ties to the OFC, also applied for the same status with the AFC as the Northern Mariana Islands association but was not successful.[20] New Zealand ended their own World Cup drought in 2009 when they defeated Bahrain to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The tournament coincidentally also featured Australia, who were now representing the AFC. New Zealand were the only unbeaten team at the tournament, despite failing to advance past the group stage.[21] With Australia's absence, New Zealand now have a regular presence in World Cup inter-confederation playoffs. They were thrashed by Mexico over two legs in 2013, and narrowly missed out to Peru in 2017[22] and Costa Rica in 2022.[23][24]

Throughout its history, there have been calls to disband the OFC, or to merge it with the AFC. The calls grew louder in 2003 when FIFA reversed a decision to grant Oceania an automatic spot at the World Cup.[25] Australia's lack of World Cup participation prior to 2006 has been blamed by many on the OFC qualification process, with football writer Matthew Hall stating in 2003, "For World Cup qualification, the Socceroos will win games by cricket scores and then face a sudden-death play-off against a desperate, battle-hardened opponent given a second, or even third, life."[25]

Legend

•  1st  – Champion
•  2nd  – Runner-up
•  3rd  – Third place
•  4th  – Fourth place
• QF – Quarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present: knockout round of 8)
• R2 – Round 2 (1974–1978, second group stage, top 8; 1982: second group stage, top 12; 1986–2022: knockout round of 16)
• R1 – Round 1 (1930, 1950–1970 and 1986–present: group stage; 1934–1938: knockout round of 16; 1974–1982: first group stage)
•  •  — Did not qualify
•  ×  — Did not enter / withdrawn / banned / disqualified
•     — Hosts

For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

FIFA World Cup

Oceania has sent representatives to the FIFA World Cup four times: Australia in 1974 and 2006, and New Zealand in 1982 and 2010. (Australia has additionally qualified three times since leaving the OFC for the AFC following the 2006 FIFA World Cup: 2010, 2014 and 2018.) Neither Australia in 1974 nor New Zealand in 1982 and 2010 progressed beyond the first round. Of the four teams, only Australia in 2006 advanced to the second round.

The OFC is the only FIFA confederation that does not have a guaranteed spot in the World Cup finals (a major reason for the Australians leaving the confederation in 2006 to join Asia). Between 1966 and 1982, OFC teams joined the Asian zone qualification tournament, while from 1986 onwards, the winners of the Oceanian zone qualification tournament have to enter the intercontinental play-offs against teams from other confederations in order to gain a spot in the FIFA World Cup.

Beginning in 2026, the OFC will have a guaranteed spot in the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history, result of the competition's expansion from 32 to 48 teams.

FIFA World Cup record
Team	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	2022 (32)	2026 (48)	Years	inclusive WC Qual.
OFC qualifier	–												1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	2022	2026
Australia								•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	Part of AFC					2	11
New Zealand				×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	2	14
Total (2 teams)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	4	–

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Qualifier	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	Format
1930 (13)	No teams from Oceania entered
1934 (16)
1938 (15)
1950 (13)
1954 (16)
1958 (16)
1962 (16)
1966 (16)	No OFC team qualified									Entered in Africa and Asia
1970 (16)										Entered in Asia
1974 (16)	Australia	Group stage	14th	3	0	1	2	0	5	Entered in Asia
1978 (16)	No OFC team qualified									Entered in Asia
1982 (24)	New Zealand	Group stage	23rd	3	0	0	3	2	12	Entered in Asia
1986 (24)	No OFC team qualified									Round-robin Play-off
1990 (24)										First round Second round Play-off
1994 (24)										First Round Second Round 1st play-off 2nd play-off
1998 (32)										First Round Second Round Third Round Play-off
2002 (32)										First Round Second Round Play-off
2006 (32)	Australia	Round of 16	16th	4	1	1	2	5	6	First Round Second Round Third Round Play-off
2010 (32)	New Zealand	Group stage	22nd	3	0	3	0	2	2	First Round Second Round Play-off
2014 (32)	No OFC team qualified									First Round Second Round Third Round Play-off
2018 (32)										First Round Second Round Third Round Play-off
2022 (32)										2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) Play-off
2026 (48)
Total (2 teams)	4/23	Round of 16		13	1	5	7	9	25

OFC play-off record

1970 AFC–OFC Final Round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Israel	2–1	Australia	1–0	1–1

1974 AFC–OFC Final Round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Australia	(A) 2–2	South Korea	0–0	2–2

1986 UEFA–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Scotland	2–0	Australia	2–0	0–0

1990 CONMEBOL–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Colombia	1–0	Israel	1–0	0–0

Israel played in the OFC zone for political reasons.

1994 CONCACAF–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Canada	3–3 (P)	Australia	2–1	1–2

1994 CONMEBOL–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Australia	1–2	Argentina	1–1	0–1

1998 AFC–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Iran	(A) 3–3	Australia	1–1	2–2

2002 CONMEBOL–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Australia	1–3	Uruguay	1–0	0–3

2006 CONMEBOL–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Uruguay	1–1 (P)	Australia	1–0	0–1

2010 AFC–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bahrain	0–1	New Zealand	0–0	0–1

2014 CONCACAF–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Mexico	9–3	New Zealand	5–1	4–2

2018 CONMEBOL–OFC play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
New Zealand	0–2	Peru	0–0	0–2

2022 CONCACAF–OFC play-off

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Costa Rica	1–0	New Zealand

FIFA Women's World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup record
Team	1991 (12)	1995 (12)	1999 (16)	2003 (16)	2007 (16)	2011 (16)	2015 (24)	2019 (24)	2023 (32)	Years	inclusive W. WC Qual.
Australia	•	GS	GS	GS	Part of AFC					3	4
New Zealand	GS	•	•	•	GS	GS	GS	GS	Q	6	8
Total (2 teams)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0+1	9	12

Olympic Games For Men

Olympic Games (Men's tournament) record
Team Total (3 teams)	1900 (3)	1904 (3)		1908 (6)	1912 (11)	1920 (14)	1924 (22)	1928 (17)	1936 (16)	1948 (18)	1952 (25)	1956 (11)	1960 (16)	1964 (14)	1968 (16)	1972 (16)	1976 (13)	1980 (16)	1984 (16)	1988 (16)	1992 (16)	1996 (16)	2000 (16)	2004 (16)	2008 (16)	2012 (16)	2016 (16)	2020 (16)	Years
Australia	×	×		×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	QF	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	QF	4th	GS	GS	QF	Part of AFC				6
Fiji	×	×		×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	1
New Zealand	×	×		×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	•	QF	3

Olympic Games For Women

Olympic Games (Women's tournament) record
Team Total (2 teams)	1996 (8)	2000 (8)	2004 (10)	2008 (12)	2012 (12)	2016 (12)	2020 (12)	Years
Australia	•	GS	QF	Part of AFC				2
New Zealand	•	•	•	GS	QF	GS	GS	4

OFC Nations Cup

OFC Nations Cup record
Team (Total 15 teams)	1973 (5)	1980 (8)	1996 (4)	1998 (6)	2000 (6)	2002 (8)	2004 (6)	2008 (4)	2012 (8)	2016 (8)	2024 TBD TBD	Years
New Zealand	1st	GS	SF	1st	2nd	1st	3rd	1st	3rd	1st		10
Tahiti	2nd	2nd	2nd	4th	GS	3rd	5th	•	1st	GS		9
Vanuatu[lower-alpha 1]	4th	GS	•	GS	4th	4th	6th	4th	GS	GS		9
Fiji	5th	4th	•	3rd	••	GS	4th	3rd	GS	GS		8
Solomon Islands	×	GS	SF	•	3rd	GS	2nd	•	4th	SF		7
Australia	×	1st	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	Member of AFC				6
New Caledonia	3rd	3rd	•	•	•	GS	•	2nd	2nd	SF		6
Papua New Guinea	×	GS	•	•	•	GS	•	×	GS	2nd		4
Cook Islands	×	×	×	GS	GS	×	•	•	•	•		2
Samoa[lower-alpha 2]	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS		2
American Samoa	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		0
Tonga	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		0
Tuvalu	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×		0
Kiribati	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×		0

1. Includes results as New Hebrides.
2. Includes results as Western Samoa.

OFC Women's Nations Cup

OFC Women's Nations Cup record
Team (Total 15 teams)	1983 (4)	1986 (4)	1989 (5)	1991 (3)	1994 (3)	1998 (6)	2003 (5)	2007 (4)	2010 (8)	2014 (4)	2018 (8)	2022 (9)	Years
New Zealand	1st	3rd	2nd	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	×	11
Papua New Guinea	—	×	5th	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd	3rd	q	9
Australia[lower-alpha 1]	2nd	2nd	3rd[lower-alpha 2]	2nd	1st	1st	1st	Member of AFC					7
Cook Islands	—	—	—	—	—	—	5th	×	3rd	3rd	GS	QF	5
Fiji	4th	—	—	—	—	4th	×	×	GS	—	2nd	q	4
Tonga	—	—	—	—	—	—	×	3rd	GS	4th	GS	QF	5
Samoa	—	—	—	—	—	GS	4th	×	—	—	GS	q	3
Chinese Taipei[lower-alpha 1]	—	1st	1st	Member of AFC									2
New Caledonia	3rd[lower-alpha 3]	—	—	—	—	—	—	×	—	—	4th	QF	3
Solomon Islands	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4th	4th	—	•	q	2
Tahiti	—	—	—	—	—	—	×	×	GS	—	GS	QF	3
American Samoa	—	—	—	—	—	GS	×	—	—	—	•	×	1
Australia B[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 4]	—	—	4th[lower-alpha 2]	—	—	—	—	Member of AFC					1
New Zealand B[lower-alpha 4]	—	4th	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
Vanuatu	—	—	—	—	—	—	×	×	GS	—	•	GS	2

Notes

1. Former OFC member, but now a member of the Asian Football Confederation.
2. The third place play-off scheduled to take place between Australia and Australia B was cancelled due to waterlogged pitch, so their group standings are used.
3. New Caledonia participated and hosted the tournament in 1983, but were not a member of the OFC or FIFA until 2004.
4. Secondary national team.

FIFA U-20 World Cup

FIFA U-20 World Cup record
Team	1977 (16)	1979 (16)	1981 (16)	1983 (16)	1985 (16)	1987 (16)	1989 (16)	1991 (16)	1993 (16)	1995 (16)	1997 (24)	1999 (24)	2001 (24)	2003 (24)	2005 (24)	2007 (24)	2009 (24)	2011 (24)	2013 (24)	2015 (24)	2017 (24)	2019 (24)	2023 (24)	Years
Australia[33]		•	QF	R1	R1	R1	•	4th	4th	QF	R2	R1	R2	R2	R1	Part of AFC								12
Fiji		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1	•	•		1
New Zealand		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1	•	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2		6
Tahiti			•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1	•	•	•	•	R1		2
Vanuatu	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1	•		1
Total (5 teams)	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	24

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup record
Team	2002 (12)	2004 (12)	2006 (16)	2008 (16)	2010 (16)	2012 (16)	2014 (16)	2016 (16)	2018 (16)	2022 (16)	Years
Australia	QF	QF	GS	Part of AFC							3
New Zealand	•	•	GS	GS	GS	GS	QF	GS	GS		7
Papua New Guinea	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•		1
Total (3 teams)	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	12

FIFA U-17 World Cup

FIFA U-17 World Cup record
Team	1985 (16)	1987 (16)	1989 (16)	1991 (16)	1993 (16)	1995 (16)	1997 (16)	1999 (16)	2001 (16)	2003 (16)	2005 (16)	2007 (24)	2009 (24)	2011 (24)	2013 (24)	2015 (24)	2017 (24)	2019 (24)	2023 (24)	Years
Australia	QF	QF	R1	QF	QF	QF	•	2nd	QF	R1	R1	Part of AFC								10
New Caledonia	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1	•		1
New Zealand	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1	R1	•	•	•	R1	R2	R2	R1	R2	R1	R1		9
Solomon Islands	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R1		1
Total (4 teams)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	23

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup record
Team	2008 (16)	2010 (16)	2012 (16)	2014 (16)	2016 (16)	2018 (16)	2022 (16)	Years
New Zealand	R1	R1	R1	GS	GS	3rd		6
Total (1 team)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	7

FIFA Futsal World Cup

FIFA Futsal World Cup record
Team	1989 (16)	1992 (16)	1996 (16)	2000 (16)	2004 (16)	2008 (20)	2012 (24)	2016 (24)	2021 (24)	Years
Australia	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	Part of AFC				5
Solomon Islands						R1	R1	R1	R1	4
Total (2 teams)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup record
Team	2005[†] (12)	2006 (16)	2007 (16)	2008[†] (16)	2009 (16)	2011 (16)	2013 (16)	2015[†] (16)	2017[†] (16)	2019 (16)	2021 (16)	Years
Australia	R1	Part of AFC										1
Solomon Islands		R1	R1	R1	R1		R1					5
Tahiti						R1	4th	2nd	2nd	R1	QF	5
Total (3 teams)	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	11

Notes

1. ^
   In 2005, 2008, 2015 and 2017, no OFC qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup were held and teams were selected to represent OFC (2005: Australia; 2008: Solomon Islands; 2015 and 2017: Tahiti).

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Team	1992 (4)	1995 (6)	1997 (8)	1999 (8)	2001 (8)	2003 (8)	2005 (8)	2009 (8)	2013 (8)	2017 (8)	Years
Australia[note 1]	×	×	2nd	•	3rd	•	GS	Part of AFC			3
New Zealand	×	×	•	GS	•	GS	•	GS	•	GS	4
Tahiti	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	1
Total (3 teams)	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	8

Notes

1. Australia was an OFC member until 2005, and played three times in the FIFA Confederations Cup as an OFC member (1997, 2001, 2005). They became an AFC member in 2006, and qualified in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup as an AFC member.

• Oceania association football club records and statistics
• International Federation of Association Football (FIFA)
  • Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
  • Confederation of African Football (CAF)
  • Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
  • Confederation of South American Football (CONMEBOL)
  • Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)
• List of association football competitions

• Official website (in English)
• Oceania Football Confederation, SoccerLens.com. Retrieved: 10 September 2010.