2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup explained

Tourney Name:OFC Futsal Nations Cup
Year:2019
Country:New Caledonia
City:Nouméa
Dates:27 October – 2 November 2019
Num Teams:8
Confederations:1
Venues:1
Cities:1
Count:6
Matches:18
Goals:185
Top Scorer: Nicky Malivuk
Olivier Hirihiri
Player: Dylan Manickum
Goalkeeper: Anthony Talo
Prevseason:2016
Nextseason:2022

The 2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup was the 12th edition of the OFC Futsal Nations Cup (previously called the OFC Futsal Championship), the international futsal championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's national teams of Oceania.

In November 2018, it was announced that New Caledonia would host the competition.[1] The tournament was held from 27 October to 2 November.[2]

The winner qualified as the OFC representative at the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup (originally 2020 but postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic) in Lithuania.[3] [4]

Solomon Islands were the defending champions, and successfully defended their title after defeating New Zealand in the final.

Teams

Eight of the 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from OFC entered the tournament.

Teamdata-sort-type="number"AppearancePrevious best performance
1st
9th (2000, 2009, 2010)
(hosts) 8th (2014)
10th (2004, 2016)
8th (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016)
7th (2008, 2011)
1st
12th (1992, 1996)
Did not enter

Venue

The matches were played at the L'Arène du Sud in Païta.

Squads

See main article: 2019 OFC Futsal Nations Cup squads.

Draw

The draw of the tournament was held on 6 May 2019 at the OFC Academy in Auckland, New Zealand.[5] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. The top two ranked teams, Solomon Islands and New Zealand, were drawn into position 1 of Group A or B, and the bottom two ranked teams, American Samoa and Tonga, were drawn into position 4 of Group A or B, while the remaining teams were drawn into position 2 or 3 of Group A or B.[6]

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals. The bottom two teams enter the 5th–8th place play-offs.

All times are local, NCT (UTC+11).[7]

Group A

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Group B

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5th–8th place play-offs

Tonga was not allowed to play the 5th-8th place play-offs because many players were diagnosed with measles.[8] It is important to remember that this tournament was held during a measles outbreak.

Play-off semi-finals

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Fifth place play-off

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

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Final

Winner qualifies for 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

Winners

Solomon Islands qualified for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup. They have qualified for the FIFA Futsal World Cup for the fourth consecutive time.

TeamQualified ondata-sort-type="number"Previous appearances in FIFA Futsal World Cup1
[9] 3 (2008, 2012, 2016)

1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[10]

AwardPlayer
Golden Ball Dylan Manickum
Golden Boot Nicky Malivuk
Olivier Hirihiri
Golden Gloves Anthony Talo
Fair Play Award

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hosts appointed for 2019 competitions. Oceania Football Confederation . 6 November 2018.
  2. Web site: OFC Futsal Nations Cup 2019. Oceania Football Confederation.
  3. Web site: FIFA Futsal World Cup 2020 – slot allocation. FIFA.com. 14 June 2018.
  4. Web site: Bureau of the FIFA Council decisions on FIFA events. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. FIFA.com. 12 May 2020.
  5. Web site: OFC Futsal Nations Cup has been drawn. Oceania Football Confederation. 7 May 2019.
  6. Web site: OFC FUTSAL NATIONS CUP 2019 OFFICIAL DRAW. YouTube. 6 May 2019.
  7. Web site: 8 teams will be vying for Oceania's sole place at next year's FIFA Futsal World Cup when the OFC Futsal Nations Cup 2019 tournament gets underway on 28 October in Noumea, New Caledonia. Twitter. 18 October 2019.
  8. Web site: Measles affected Tonga in OFC Futsal Nations Cup . Oceania Football . 17 November 2019 . 25 June 2022.
  9. Web site: Solomons stamp ticket to Lithuania. FIFA.com. 2 November 2019.
  10. Web site: Kurukuru book World Cup berth in dramatic fashion. Oceania Football Confederation. 3 November 2019.