# 2017 OFC U-17 Championship

The 2017 OFC U-17 Championship was the 17th edition of the OFC U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 17 and below. The tournament was held in Tahiti between 11 and 24 February 2017.
In March 2015, FIFA decided that the OFC gets two slots at every FIFA U-20 and U-17 World Cup. So the top two teams qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

## Format

The qualification structure is as follows:
* First round: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga played a round-robin tournament in Samoa. The winner qualified for the tournament.
* Tournament (2017 OFC U-17 Championship): A total of eight teams (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, and the first round winner) played the tournament in Tahiti. For the group stage, they were divided into two groups of four teams. The top two teams of each group advanced to the knockout stage (semi-finals and final) to decide the winner of the 2017 OFC U-17 Championship and the two teams that qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

## Teams

All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered qualification. It is only the third time all 11 OFC member associations have entered an Oceania competition since 2006.
| Seeding | Teams | No. of teams |
| First round entrants | American Samoa  Cook Islands  Samoa  Tonga | 4 |
| Second round entrants | Fiji  New Caledonia  New Zealand  Papua New Guinea  Solomon Islands  Tahiti  Vanuatu | 7 |

## Venues

The final round of the tournament were played in two venues in Tahiti.
Download coordinates as:
* KML
* GPX (all coordinates)
* GPX (primary coordinates)
* GPX (secondary coordinates)
| Pirae | Mahina |
| Stade Pater | Stade Mahina |
| 17°43′51″S 168°18′56″E﻿ / ﻿17.7308985°S 168.315498°E﻿ / -17.7308985; 168.315498﻿ (Port Vila Municipal Stadium) | |
| Capacity:11,700 | Capacity:2,500 |
| PiraeMahina2017 OFC U-17 Championship (Tahiti) ||

## Match officials
### Referees

* Salesh Chand
* Médéric Lacour
* Matt Conger
* Nelson Sogo
* Hamilton Siau
* George Time
* Norbert Hauata
* Kader Zitouni
* Roger Adams
* Arnold Tari

### Assistant Referees

* John Pareanga
* Noah Kusunan
* Tevita Makasini
* Folio Moeaki
* Sione Teu
* Marc Sinyeue
* Gareth Sheehan
* Wase Bafinu
* Malaetala Sofe
* Denson Sale

## First round

The preliminary tournament was hosted by Samoa between 2 and 8 July 2016. Due to unforeseen circumstances, matchday one was postponed from 2 to 4 July, and matchday 2 was postponed from 5 to 6 July. The winner qualified for the final tournament.
All times are local, WST (UTC+13).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Samoa (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 | Second round |
| 2 | Cook Islands | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Tonga | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | American Samoa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 | |

## Second round

The final tournament was scheduled for 11–24 February 2017 (originally 15–29 January 2017). Tahiti were announced as the host in December 2015.
The draw was held on 18 July 2016. The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four teams. There was no seeding, except that hosts Tahiti were assigned to position A1 in the draw. The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
All times are local, TAHT (UTC−10).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New Caledonia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Papua New Guinea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Tahiti (H) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Vanuatu | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 1 | |
Group A matches of matchday 3 were moved from Stade Mahina, Mahina to Stade Pater, Pirae due to adverse weather conditions.

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New Zealand | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | +17 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Solomon Islands | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Fiji | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 4 | |
| 4 | Samoa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 26 | −26 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 21 February – Mahina | 21 February – Mahina |
| New Caledonia | 3 |
| New Caledonia | 3 | 24 February – Pirae | 24 February – Pirae |
| Solomon Islands | 2 | 24 February – Pirae | 24 February – Pirae |
| Solomon Islands | 2 | New Caledonia | 0 |
| 21 February – Mahina | 21 February – Mahina | | New Caledonia | 0 |
| 21 February – Mahina | 21 February – Mahina | New Zealand | 7 |
| New Zealand | 2 | New Zealand | 7 |
| Papua New Guinea | 1 | | |

### Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

### Final
## Goalscorers
### 7 goals

* Charles Spragg

### 5 goals

* Junior Kaoni

### 4 goals

* Barthy Kerobin
* Max Mata
* Matthew Palmer

### 3 goals

* Conroy Tiputoa
* Ratu Dau
* Paul Gope-Fenepej
* Junior Allen
* Ali Mekawir

### 2 goals

* Kimiora Ngametua
* Bernard Iwa
* Matthew Jones
* Elijah Just
* Oliver Whyte
* Willie Sauiluma
* Dilo Tumua
* Don Keana
* Steward Toata
* Tevita Kau
* Dilland Ngwele

### 1 goal

* Takai Pouli
* Semi Matalau
* Pierre Bako
* Robert Caihe
* Abiezer Jeno
* Vita Longue
* Lionel Thahnaena
* Liberato Cacace
* Matthew Conroy
* Willem Ebbinge
* Kingsley Sinclair
* Jake Williams
* Jonathan Allen
* Kimson Kapai
* Aben Pukue
* Emmanuel Simongi
* Lotial Mano
* Osa Savelio
* Elis Mana
* Kalahani Beaumert
* Eddy Kaspard
* Yann Vivi
* Kalakaua Faivailo
* Ofa Kite
* Petueli Tokotaha
* Zidane Maguekon
* Rhydley Napau
* Jayson Tari

### 1 own goal

* Aben Pukue (playing against New Zealand)
* Pesamino Tomasi (playing against Cook Islands)

## Awards

The Golden Ball Award is awarded to the most outstanding player of the tournament. The Golden Glove Award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. The Golden Boot Award is awarded to the top scorer of the tournament. The Fair Play Award is awarded to the team with the best disciplinary record at the tournament.
| Award | Recipient |
| Golden Ball | Charles Spragg |
| Golden Glove | Zac Jones |
| Golden Boot | Charles Spragg (7 goals) |
| Fair Play Award | New Zealand |

## Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following two teams from OFC qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| New Zealand | 21 February 2017 | 7 (1997, 1999, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) |
| New Caledonia | 21 February 2017 | 0 (Debut) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.