| Tourney Name: | Men's Football at the South Pacific Games 2007 |
| Size: | 150px |
| Country: | Samoa |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Num Teams: | 10 |
| Venues: | 1 |
| Cities: | 1 |
| Champion Other: |  New Caledonia |
| Count: | 5 |
| Second: | FIJ |
| Third: | VAN |
| Fourth: | SOL |
| Matches: | 24 |
| Goals: | 110 |
| Top Scorer: | Osea Vakatalesau (10 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 2003 |
| Nextseason: | 2011 |
See main article: Football at the 2007 South Pacific Games. The 2007 Pacific Games men's football tournament was held at the Toleafoa J.S. Blatter Complex in Apia, Samoa in from 25 August to 7 September 2007.[1]
The men's tournament formed the first stage of the Oceania Football Confederation's (OFC) qualification tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the qualification tournament for the 2008 OFC Nations Cup.[2]
The final accredited athlete list at the SPG website shows 10 entered sides. Papua New Guinea, although listed by FIFA as having applied for the 2010 World Cup, did not enter. Tuvalu did enter (although they were not eligible for the World Cup). The group stage draw, undertaken by Tim Cahill, was held on 12 June 2007 in Auckland, New Zealand.
New Caledonia's captain, Pierre Wajoka scored a ninth-minute penalty against Tahiti in the opening fixture of the games, earning him the distinction of being the scorer of the first goal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification process.
| width=50% | Group A | width=50% | Group B |
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Notes:
See main article: Football at the 2007 Pacific Games – Men's team squads.
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(Note): The three medallists, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu, advanced to the 2008 OFC Nations Cup (together with automatic qualifier New Zealand).
There remained some uncertainty as to what procedure would occur to Tuvalu advance - as they were not members of FIFA (and therefore did not enter the 2010 FIFA World Cup). While no explicit ruling was communicated on this matter, comments in the press release for the OFC Second Stage draw referred to "nine eligible nations", suggesting that Tuvalu would not have advanced to the OFC Nations Cup regardless of their performance in the South Pacific Games. Had Tuvalu finished in a medal position, the fourth place team would presumably have qualified for the next round of qualifying with the other two medal winners and New Zealand. Tuvalu's early elimination from the competition put an end to any complication over the qualifying process for the next round.
This was the first time ever that a non-FIFA nation has competed in the World Cup.[3] The closest situation in the past was the case of New Caledonia during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. However, they were at the time in the process of accession to the organisation, and were eliminated from contention for the finals just days before their final admission to the FIFA family.
Papua New Guinea, having initially entered the 2010 World Cup and indicated their intention to enter the South Pacific Games, were involved in a dispute with their sporting authorities and failed to meet the official accreditation deadline for the South Pacific Games. This meant they were effectively disqualified from the World Cup.