# 2018 OFC U-19 Championship

The 2018 OFC U-19 Championship was the 22nd edition of the OFC U-19/U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-19/under-20 national teams of Oceania. The qualifying stage was held in the Cook Islands between 26 May – 1 June 2018, and the final tournament was held in Tahiti between 5–18 August 2018.
Before the tournament in 2016, the age limit was reduced by a year to 19 years of age. However, the last tournament remained the name U-20 Championship. For this tournament, the name has changed to U-19 Championship. So, players who wanted to participate in the tournament needed to be born on or after 1 January 1999. At an OFC Executive Committee meeting held at its Auckland headquarters in November 2013 the competition format was modified. The competition was brought forward a year and the age limit was lowered to 19 years of age. The changes were made in order to allow the winner of the competition plenty of time for preparation and player development for upcoming World Cups at Under 20 level.
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 of the tournament qualified for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland as the OFC representatives. New Zealand, the defending champions, won the title for the seventh time, and qualified together with runners-up Tahiti.

## Format

The tournament structure was as follows:
* Qualifying stage: The four teams from the "developing associations" (American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga) played in the qualifying stage. The winner of the round-robin tournament qualify for the final tournament.
* Final tournament: A total of eight teams (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, and the qualifying stage winner) played in the final tournament. For the group stage, they were divided into two groups of four teams. The top two teams of each group advance to the knockout stage (semi-finals and final) to decide the winner of the OFC U-19 Championship and the two teams that qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The draw for the tournament was held on 2 February 2018 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand. In both the qualifying stage and the final tournament, the hosts (Cook Islands and Tahiti) were assigned to position A1 in the draw, while the remaining teams were drawn into the other positions without any seeding.

## Teams

All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered the tournament.
Note: All appearance statistics include those in the qualifying stage (since 2016).
| Team | Stage | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| Fiji | Final tournament (Group stage) | 21st | Champions (2014) |
| New Caledonia | Final tournament (Group stage) | 12th | Runners-up (2008) |
| New Zealand | Final tournament (Group stage) | 21st | Champions (1980, 1992, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2016) |
| Papua New Guinea | Final tournament (Group stage) | 14th | Fourth place (1978, 1982) |
| Solomon Islands | Final tournament (Group stage) | 9th | Runners-up (2005, 2011) |
| Tahiti (hosts) | Final tournament (Group stage) | 11th | Champions (1974, 2008) |
| Vanuatu | Final tournament (Group stage) | 15th | Runners-up (2014, 2016) |
| American Samoa | Qualifying stage | 5th | Group stage (1998, 2011, 2014) |
| Cook Islands (hosts) | Qualifying stage | 3rd | Group stage (2001, 2016) |
| Samoa | Qualifying stage | 9th | Group stage (1988, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007) |
| Tonga | Qualifying stage | 6th | Group stage (1998, 2001, 2002, 2005) |

## Venues

The hosts of the qualifying stage and final tournament were announced by OFC on 31 October 2017.
* The qualifying stage was played at the CIFA Academy Field in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
* The final tournament was played at the Stade Pater and Stade Fautaua in Pirae, Tahiti.
After two Group B matches were played at Stade Fautaua on 6 August, it was announced on 8 August that the remaining Group B matches would be moved to Stade Pater due to the floodlights being deemed less than optimal. However, it was announced on 10 August 2018 that after heavy rain caused the pitch of Stade Pater to deteriorate, the last two Group A and Group B matches on 11 and 12 August would be moved to Stade Fautaua with earlier kick-off times (12:00 and 15:00 instead of 15:00 and 18:00).
| Cook Islands | Tahiti | Tahiti |
| Rarotonga | Pirae | Pirae |
| CIFA Academy Field | Stade Pater Te Hono Nui | Stade Fautaua |
| Capacity: 1,000 | Capacity: 11,700 | Capacity: 5,000 |
| Rarotonga | Pirae | Pirae |

## Squads

Players born on or after 1 January 1999 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team can name a maximum of 20 players.

## Qualifying stage

The winner advance to the final tournament (group stage).
All times are local, CKT (UTC−10).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Tonga | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 | Final tournament (Group stage) |
| 2 | Samoa | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 | |
| 3 | Cook Islands (H) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 3 | |
| 4 | American Samoa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 | |

## Group stage

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 Zealand | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | +19 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Tahiti (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Papua New Guinea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 3 | |
| 4 | Tonga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | −20 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Solomon Islands | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | New Caledonia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Fiji | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Vanuatu | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 15 August – Pirae | 15 August – Pirae |
| New Zealand | 2 |
| New Zealand | 2 | 18 August – Pirae | 18 August – Pirae |
| New Caledonia | 1 | 18 August – Pirae | 18 August – Pirae |
| New Caledonia | 1 | New Zealand | 1 |
| 15 August – Pirae | 15 August – Pirae | | New Zealand | 1 |
| 15 August – Pirae | 15 August – Pirae | Tahiti | 0 |
| Solomon Islands | 1 | Tahiti | 0 |
| Tahiti | 3 | | |
| Tahiti | 3 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 17 August – Pirae | 17 August – Pirae |
| | | New Caledonia | 4 |
| | | Solomon Islands | 1 |

### Semi-finals

Winners qualify for 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

### Final
## Winners

* 2018 OFC U-19 Championship
* New Zealand Seventh title

## Goalscorers

In the qualifying stage there were 14 goals scored in 6 matches, for an average of 2.33 goals per match.
In the final tournament there were 68 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 4.25 goals per match.
In total, there were 82 goals scored in 22 matches, for an average of 3.73 goals per match.
5 goals
* Max Mata
4 goals
* Charles Spragg
3 goals
* Cyril Drawilo
* Joe Bell
* Oliver Whyte
* Henry Smith (in qualifying)
* Eddy Kaspard
* Roonui Tehau
2 goals
* Ratu Dau
* Paul Gope-Fenepej
* Pierre Bako
* Vita Longue
* Titouan Richard
* Dane Schnell
* Abraham Allen
* Samuelu Malo (in qualifying)
* Patrick Taroga
* Terai Bremond
* Rainui Nordman
* Atunaisa Namoa (in qualifying)
* Mohammad Rajani (in qualifying)
1 goal
* Roy Ledoux (in qualifying)
* Teokotai Paio (in qualifying)
* Conroy Tiputoa (in qualifying)
* Kishan Sami
* Tito Vodowaqa
* Jean-Jacques Katrawa
* Pierre Wawia
* Raoul Wenisso
* Boyd Curry
* Matthew Conroy
* Willem Ebbinge
* Jordan Spain
* Robert Tipelu
* Trevor Zwetsloot
* Jonathan Allen
* Barthy Kerobin
* Lino Houairia
* Tuita Maeobia
* Ali Mekawir
* Absolom Wawane
* Kavai'ei Morgant
* Yann Vivi
* Tuia Falepapalangi (in qualifying)
* Tevita Kau (in qualifying)
* Anthony Peli
* Jordy Tasip
1 own goal
* Lucas Bitaud (playing against Solomon Islands)
* Max Mata (playing against New Caledonia)
* Nelsin Rawor (playing against New Caledonia)

## Awards

The Golden Ball Award was awarded to the most outstanding player of the tournament. The Golden Glove Award was awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. The Golden Boot Award was awarded to the top scorer of the tournament. The Fair Play Award was awarded to the team with the best disciplinary record at the tournament.
| Award | Recipient |
| Golden Ball | Joe Bell |
| Golden Glove | Moana Pito |
| Golden Boot | Max Mata |
| Fair Play Award | |

## Qualified teams for FIFA U-20 World Cup

The following two teams from OFC qualified for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA U-20 World Cup |
| New Zealand | 15 August 2018 | 5 (2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) |
| Tahiti | 15 August 2018 | 1 (2009) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.