Oceania Football Confederation
From Freepedia
The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six "continental" confederations of international football. It promotes the game in Oceania and allows the member nations to qualify for the Football World Cup.
The confederation was formed in 1966. The founding members were the Australian Soccer Federation (now Football Federation Australia), New Zealand Soccer Inc, and the Fiji Football Association. On May 24, 2004, New Caledonia became the 12th member of the OFC.
In 1996 the OFC was confirmed as a full confederation and given a seat on the FIFA executive. The winner of the OFC Football World Cup Qualifiers would be allowed to compete in a two-legged home-and-away playoff with the team ranked fifth in the South American qualifying competition for a place in the 2006 World Cup. Since 1996, OFC members also play for the OFC Nations Cup, which is held every second year.
The OFC also organises the Oceania Club Championship, though this competition has little prestige attached to it and serves primarily to determine the Oceania representitive at the FIFA Club World Championship.
In 1998, the OFC unveiled a new logo and an official magazine, entitled The Wave.
Despite occasional "giant-killing" performances by New Zealand against Australian sides without their full complement of overseas-based professionals, only the Australian national side, commonly called "the Socceroos", is regarded as a potential force in world football.
In the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, which doubled as the Oceania qualifying tournament for the 2006 World Cup, the Solomon Islands unexpectedly made the finals against Australia, knocking out New Zealand in the second group phase. Australia easily won the local competition, beating the Solomons 5:1 in Honiara and 6:0 in Sydney. The two teams met again in a two-legged World Cup qualifying final in September 2005 for the right to play the CONMEBOL representative for a place in the World Cup final; Australia won 9:1 on aggregate (7:0 at home and 2:1 away) and progressed to the Oceania - South America playoff.
Oceania has sent representatives to the World Cup only twice: Australia in 1974, and New Zealand in 1982. Neither team progressed beyond the first round.
On January 1 2006, Australia will leave the OFC and join the Asian Football Confederation.
External links
| National Football Associations of Oceania (OFC) |
|
American Samoa | Australia | Cook Islands | Fiji | New Caledonia | New Zealand | Papua New Guinea | Samoa | Solomon Islands | Tahiti | Tonga | Vanuatu |
| National football teams of Oceania (OFC) |
|
American Samoa | Australia* | Cook Islands | Fiji | New Caledonia | New Zealand | Papua New Guinea | Samoa | Solomon Islands | Tahiti | Tonga | Vanuatu | </br> *will cease to be a member from Jan 1 2006. |
| International football |
|---|
|
FIFA - World Cup - Women's World Cup - World Rankings - Player of the Year
|
