2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)
Tournament details
Dates	25 August 2007 - 14 November 2009
Teams	11 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	36
Goals scored	149 (4.14 per match)
Attendance	57,989 (1,611 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Osea Vakatalesau; (12 goals)
	← 2006 2014 →

The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) selected New Zealand to compete in a two-legged home-and-away playoff against Bahrain, the fifth-place team from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. (Oceania is the only confederation that does not have an automatic place in the finals.) Its final round that doubled with the qualifiers was the 2008 OFC Nations Cup. Consequently, New Zealand is also considered the OFC Nations Cup champion, entered the playoffs, and represented the OFC in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

This was the first OFC World Cup qualifying campaign since Australia's move from the OFC to the AFC.

Format

The first phase began at the 2007 Pacific Games in Samoa, with the football tournament doubling as an OFC World Cup qualifying competition. The gold, silver, and bronze medallists (New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu, respectively) advanced to the second phase.^{[citation needed]}

The three medallists joined seeded side New Zealand in a home-and-away round-robin tournament on FIFA match dates in 2007 and 2008, also acting as the 2008 OFC Nations Cup.^{[citation needed]}

There were some confusion as to how the final qualifier for the playoff against an AFC nation would be selected. The FIFA website initially indicated that the top two sides from the round robin would advance to a play-off which would determine the qualifier, but the OFC articles did not include this round (with the round-robin winner advancing automatically). Later FIFA articles confirmed that the round-robin winner would advance automatically.^[1]^[2]

First round

The 2007 South Pacific Games held the first round. The draw was held on 12 June 2007 in Auckland, New Zealand. Tuvalu were not members of FIFA and so would have been unable to qualify for the World Cup had they proceeded to the OFC Nations Cup stage. It was not even clear whether Tuvalu would be eligible to advance that far had they finished in a medal position, as the OFC press release for the second stage draw stated that "nine eligible member associations battle it out for the gold, silver and bronze medals that will hand them a berth in a Stage Two round robin home and away playoff with New Zealand" - implying one nation (Tuvalu) would not be eligible. This question was rendered moot, however, as Tuvalu finished last in their table.

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.

Group stage

Group A

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Fiji	4	3	1	0	25	1	24	10	1–1	4–0	4–0	16–0
New Caledonia	4	3	1	0	6	1	5	10		1–0	3–0	1–0
Tahiti	4	1	1	2	2	6	−4	4			1–0	1–1
Cook Islands	4	1	0	3	4	9	−5	3				4–1
Tuvalu^[a]	4	0	1	3	2	22	−20	1

Source: ^[3]
Notes:

^ Tuvalu were not members of FIFA and so were not eligible to qualify for the World Cup.

Group B

Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Solomon Islands	4	4	0	21	1	20	12	2–0	3–0	4–0	12–1
Vanuatu	4	3	1	23	3	20	9		4–0	4–1	15–0
Samoa	4	2	2	9	8	1	6			2–1	7–0
Tonga	4	1	3	6	10	−4	3				4–0
American Samoa	4	0	4	1	38	−37	0

Source: ^[3]

Knockout stage

Semi-finals		Final



Solomon Islands	2

New Caledonia	3
		New Caledonia	1

		Fiji	0
Fiji	3

Vanuatu	0
		Third place



		Solomon Islands	0

		Vanuatu	2

The three medalists, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu, advanced to the 2008 OFC Nations Cup (together with automatic qualifier New Zealand).

Second round

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	6	5	0	1	14	5	9	15	Advance to AFC–OFC play-off	—	3–0	0–2	4–1
2	New Caledonia	6	2	2	2	12	10	2	8		1–3	—	4–0	3–0
3	Fiji	6	2	1	3	8	11	−3	7		0–2	3–3	—	2–0
4	Vanuatu	6	1	1	4	5	13	−8	4		1–2	1–1	2–1	—

Source: ^[3]

New Zealand qualified for the play-off against the AFC playoff winner, as well as the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Inter-confederation play-offs

The Oceania champion (New Zealand) played the AFC playoff winner, Bahrain, in a two-legged play-off; New Zealand beat Bahrain to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

The draw for the order in which the two matches would be played was held on 2 June 2009 during the FIFA Congress in Nassau, the Bahamas.^[4]