| Tourney Name: | OFC Nations Cup |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Country: | Fiji |
| Country2: | Vanuatu |
| Dates: | 15–30 June |
| Num Teams: | 7 |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Venues: | 2 |
| Cities: | 2 |
| Champion: | NZL |
| Count: | 6 |
| Second: | VAN |
| Third: | TAH |
| Fourth: | FIJ |
| Matches: | 13 |
| Goals: | 46 |
| Top Scorer: | Roy Krishna (5 goals) |
| Player: | Liberato Cacace |
| Young Player: | Finn Surman |
| Goalkeeper: | Max Crocombe |
| Prevseason: | 2016 |
| Nextseason: | 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]
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]
| Port Vila | Suva | |
|---|---|---|
| VFF Freshwater Stadium | HFC Bank Stadium | |
| Capacity: 6,500 | Capacity: 4,300 | |
See main article: 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup 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. On 5 June 2024, New Caledonia announced their withdrawal from the tournament due to the serious crisis in the country.[14]
| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA ranking at start of event | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | 2016 | (1973, 2000, 2002, 2008) | 172 | ||||
| 9th | 2016 | (1998, 2008) | 168 | ||||
| 7th | 2016 | (2008, 2012) | 158 | ||||
| 11th | 2016 | (1973, 1998, 2002, 2008, 2016) | 104 | ||||
| 5th | 2016 | (2016) | 166 | ||||
| 8th | 2016 | (2004) | 132 | ||||
| 10th | 2016 | (2012) | 162 | ||||
| Qualifying winner | 3rd | 2016 | (2012, 2016) | 181 |
See main article: 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup squads.
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]
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]
| Team | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 |
| Team | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 |
| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
All times are local, UTC+11 (Group A) and UTC+12 (Group B).
Tie-breaking criteria for group play[18]
The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:
See main article: 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup Group A.
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See main article: 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup Group B.
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See main article: 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup knockout stage.
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out.
----
See main article: 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup final.
| Award[19] | Player/Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Ball | Liberato Cacace Kosta Barbarouses Kensi Tangis | |
| Golden Boot | Roy Krishna Ben Waine Kosta Barbarouses | |
| Best Young Player | Finn Surman | |
| Golden Glove | Max Crocombe | |
| Fair Play Award |
| Match | Round | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 | Man of the match | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | |||||||
| 1 | Group A | Brian Kaltak | [20] | ||||
| 3 | Group B | Teaonui Tehau | [21] | ||||
| 2 | Group B | Thomas Dunn | [22] | ||||
| 4 | Group A | Alex Rufer | [23] | ||||
| 5 | Group B | Ati Kepo | [24] | ||||
| 6 | Group B | Setareki Hughes | [25] | ||||
| 7 | Group A | Elijah Just | [26] | ||||
| 8 | Group B | Alwin Komolong | [27] | ||||
| 9 | Group B | Pothin Poma | [28] | ||||
| Knockout stage | |||||||
| 10 | Semi-finals | Liberato Cacace | [29] | ||||
| 11 | Semi-finals | Johnathan Spokeyjack | [30] | ||||
| 12 | Third place play-off | Teaonui Tehau | [31] | ||||
| 13 | Final | Liberato Cacace | [32] | ||||
On 28 February 2024, Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) announced that all OFC competitions in the 2024–2025 season, including the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, would be streamed by FIFA+.[33]