Fiji's qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup started at Coffs Harbour when they were grouped with American Samoa, Australia, Samoa and Tonga in Group one. In the opening game of the group, they defeated American Samoa 13–0 to record their biggest win in a FIFA match. Shailemdra Lal scored five goals; Esala Masi scored four. After defeating Samoa 6–1, they lost to Australia 2–0 to finish in second place and were eliminated from contention. Only the top team from the group qualified through to the second round. They met Australia again at the 2002 OFC Nations Cup in New Zealand. They finished in third place in the group after only winning against New Caledonia followed by an 8–0 loss against Australia. This eliminated Fiji from the semi-finals and saw the sack of Billy Singh ending a seven-year reign in his third stint as coach of the national team.