2004 OFC Nations Cup explained

Year:2004
Country:Australia
Dates:29 May – 12 October
Num Teams:6
Confederations:1
Venues:4
Cities:3
Champion:AUS
Count:4
Second:SOL
Third:NZL
Fourth:FIJ
Matches:17
Goals:69
Attendance:71561
Top Scorer: Tim Cahill
Vaughan Coveny
(6 goals each)
Prevseason:2002
Nextseason:2008

The 2004 OFC Nations Cup was the edition of the tournament for the OFC Nations Cup and doubled as the qualification tournament to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, except the two-legged final. A separate playoff between Australia and Solomon Islands was held in September 2005, for World Cup Qualifying purposes.

The competition was divided in two Group stages (the first is the Qualifying Stage), with Australia and New Zealand seeded into the second stage (Final Stage). The Oceania champion (Australia) qualified for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Qualification

See main article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – OFC first round. The 10 teams in the first round were divided into two sections of five teams each. Each team played every other team once. The top two teams from each group then progressed to the second group stage, where they were joined by the two seeded teams.

Venues

Australia (Final tournament & Final match–Second leg host)
SydneyAdelaide
Sydney Football StadiumHindmarsh StadiumMarden Sports Complex
Capacity: 45,500Capacity: 17,000Capacity: 6,000
Solomon Islands (Final match–First leg host)
Honiara
Lawson Tama Stadium
Capacity: 30,000

Squads

See 2004 OFC Nations Cup squads

Final tournament

The four surviving members (first and second place teams from each group in stage one) of the first stage joined the two seeded teams (Australia and New Zealand) and took part in a tournament where each team played every other once in a tournament held in Adelaide, Australia.

As this doubled as the 2004 Oceania Nations Cup, the top two teams from the second group stage progressed to a two-legged final to determine the winner of the OFC Nations Cup. These two games on home-and-away basis was separate from World Cup qualifying.

The top two teams from this stage also progressed to the final stage of the 2006 Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament.

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Final

See main article: 2004 OFC Nations Cup final. The final of the 2004 Oceania Nations Cup was a two-legged home and away final between the top two teams from the second group stage.

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Australia won 11–1 on aggregate and became the 2004 Oceania Nations Cup Champions. They also qualified for the 2005 Confederations Cup.

Although the second round of 2004 OFC Nations Cup doubled the second round of 2006 FIFA World Cup Oceanian qualification, the final play-off for the World Cup was held separately. Australia defeated Solomon Islands again, winning 9–1 on aggregate, and advanced to a play-off against the CONMEBOL (South American) nation Uruguay.

External links