OFC U-16 Men's Championship

OFC U-16 Men's Championship
Organiser(s)OFC
Founded1983
RegionOceania
Teams11
Current champions New Zealand
(11th title)
Most championships New Zealand
(11 titles)
2026 OFC U-16 Men's Championship

The OFC Men's U-16 Championship is a biennial football tournament for players under the age of 16. The tournament decides the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which is held every two years.

Between 1983 and 2017, the tournament was open to teams under-17 years of age and was called the OFC U-17 Championship. Since 2018, the age limit was reduced to under 16 years of age, the tournament is called the OFC U-16 Championship.

Eligible teams

All member nations of the Oceania Football Confederation are allowed to enter a team. Teams that have participated in the tournament so far were:

Results

The list of winners:[1]

Ed. Year Hosts Winners Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1 1983 New Zealand  Australia  New Zealand  Chinese Taipei  New Caledonia
2 1986 Taiwan  Australia  New Zealand  Chinese Taipei  Papua New Guinea
3 1989 Australia  Australia  New Zealand  Chinese Taipei  Fiji
4 1991 New Zealand  Australia  New Zealand  Fiji N/a
5 1993 Solomon Islands  Australia
3–0
 Solomon Islands  New Zealand
5–1
 Fiji
6 1995 Vanuatu  Australia
1–0
 New Zealand  Vanuatu
3–0
 Solomon Islands
7 1997 New Zealand  New Zealand
1–0
 Australia  Solomon Islands
3–0
 Fiji
8 1999 Fiji  Australia
5–0
 Fiji  Solomon Islands
beat
 New Caledonia
9 2001 Samoa & Vanuatu  Australia  New Zealand
10 2003 American Samoa, Australia & New Caledonia  Australia  New Caledonia
11 2005 New Caledonia  Australia
1–0
 Vanuatu  Solomon Islands
3–1
 New Caledonia
12 2007 Tahiti  New Zealand  Tahiti  Fiji  New Caledonia
13 2009 New Zealand  New Zealand  Tahiti  New Caledonia  Vanuatu
14 2011 New Zealand  New Zealand
2–0
 Tahiti  Solomon Islands
2–0
 Vanuatu
15 2013 Vanuatu  New Zealand  New Caledonia  Vanuatu  Fiji
16 2015 American Samoa & Samoa  New Zealand
1–1 (5–4 p)
 Tahiti  Vanuatu
6–0
 New Caledonia
17 2017 Tahiti  New Zealand
7–0
 New Caledonia
18 2018 Solomon Islands[note 5]  New Zealand
0–0 (5–4 p)
 Solomon Islands  Tahiti
2–1
 Fiji
19 2023 Fiji  New Zealand
1–0
 New Caledonia  Tahiti
3–0
 Fiji
20 2024 Tahiti  New Zealand
3–1
 Fiji  New Caledonia
1–1 (5–4 p)
 Tahiti
21 2025 Solomon Islands  New Zealand
2–0
 New Caledonia  Fiji
1–0
 Papua New Guinea
22 2026 Papua New Guinea To be determined
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Group stage, defined on points earned.
  2. ^ Aggregate score. (3–0 in first leg; 6–0 in second leg)
  3. ^ a b There was no dispute for third place.
  4. ^ Aggregate score. (3–1 in first leg; 4–0 in second leg)
  5. ^ The Solomon Islands, which originally finished second in the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship, were found by the OFC to have deliberately fielded overage player Chris Satu during the tournament. As a result, they had forfeited all results and their place in the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[2] The decision was appealed by the Solomon Islands Football Federation, and the OFC Executive Committee decided to uphold the appeal on the grounds that the federation had not knowingly broken the rules as Satu had a government issued passport showing his eligibility.[3]

Performances by country

Team Titles Runners-up Third place Fourth place
 New Zealand 11 (1997, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2024, 2025) 6 (1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2001) 1 (1993)
 Australia 10 (1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005) 1 (1997)
 New Caledonia 5 (2003, 2013, 2017, 2023, 2025) 2 (2009, 2024) 5 (1983, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2015)
 Tahiti 4 (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015) 2 (2018, 2023) 1 (2024)
 Solomon Islands 2 (1993, 2018) 4 (1997, 1999, 2005, 2011) 1 (1995)
 Fiji 2 (1999, 2024) 3 (1991, 2007, 2025) 6 (1989, 1993, 1997, 2013, 2018, 2023)
 Vanuatu 1 (2005) 3 (1995, 2013, 2015) 2 (2009, 2011)
 Chinese Taipei 3 (1983, 1986, 1989)
 Papua New Guinea 2 (1986,2025)
* = As hosts

Note: no third or fourth place finishes in 1991 (no fourth place finish only), 2001, 2003 and 2017.

Participating nations

Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • SF – Semi-finalists
  • GS – Group stage
  • PR – Preliminary Round
  •  ×  – Did not participate
  •  ×  – Withdrew
  •      – Hosts
  •      – Not affiliated to OFC
  • Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
Team New Zealand
1983
Taiwan
1986
Australia
1989
New Zealand
1991
Solomon Islands
1993
Vanuatu
1995
New Zealand
1997
Fiji
1999
Samoa
Vanuatu
2001
American Samoa
Australia
New Caledonia
2003
New Caledonia
2005
French Polynesia
2007
New Zealand
2009
New Zealand
2011
Samoa
Vanuatu
2013
American Samoa
Samoa
2015
Samoa
French Polynesia
2017
Tonga
Solomon Islands
2018
Fiji
2023
Tonga
French Polynesia
2024
Tonga
Solomon Islands
2025
Total
 American Samoa × × × × × × × GS GS GS × × × GS PR GS PR PR GS PR PR 10
 Australia 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st AFC member 11
 Chinese Taipei 3rd 3rd 3rd AFC member 3
 Cook Islands × × × × × × GS GS × GS GS × × GS GS GS PR PR QF GS GS 11
 Fiji GS GS 4th 3rd 4th GS 4th 2nd GS GS GS 3rd × GS 4th GS GS 4th 4th 2nd 3rd 19
 New Caledonia 4th × × × × × × 4th × 2nd 4th 4th 3rd GS 2nd 4th 2nd GS 2nd 3rd 2nd 13
 New Zealand 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 1st × 2nd GS × 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 18
 Papua New Guinea × 4th × × × × × GS GS × GS × × GS GS GS SF GS × PR 4th 10
 Samoa × × × × × × GS GS GS GS × × × × PR GS GS GS QF GS GS 10
 Solomon Islands × × × × 2nd 4th 3rd 3rd GS GS 3rd × × 3rd × GS SF 2nd × GS GS 12
 Tahiti GS × × × GS × GS GS GS GS GS 2nd 2nd 2nd × 2nd GS 3rd 3rd 4th GS 15
 Tonga × × × × × × × GS GS GS GS × × GS PR GS PR PR QF PR PR 11
 Vanuatu × × GS × GS 3rd GS GS GS GS 2nd × 4th 4th 3rd 3rd GS GS QF GS PR 16

Men's U-17 World Cup Qualifiers

Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • QF – Quarterfinals
  • R2 – Round 2
  • R1 – Round 1
  •      – Hosts
  •      – Not affiliated to OFC
  • Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
Team China
1985
Canada
1987
Scotland
1989
Italy
1991
Japan
1993
Ecuador
1995
Egypt
1997
New Zealand
1999
Trinidad and Tobago
2001
Finland
2003
Peru
2005
South Korea
2007
Nigeria
2009
Mexico
2011
United Arab Emirates
2013
Chile
2015
India
2017
Brazil
2019
Indonesia
2023
Qatar
2025
Total
 Australia QF QF R1 QF QF QF 2nd QF R1 R1 AFC member 10
 Fiji Q 1
 New Caledonia R1 R1 Q 3
 New Zealand R1 R1 R1 R2 R2 R1 R2 R1 R1 R1 Q 11
 Solomon Islands R1 1

Awards

Best player

Edition Player
2015 New Zealand Logan Rogerson
2017 New Zealand Charles Spragg
2018 Solomon Islands Raphael Lea'i
2023 New Caledonia Nolhann Alabete
2024 New Zealand Aaron Cartwright
2025 New Zealand Ethan Dyer

Best Goalkeeper

Edition Player
2015 French Polynesia Vaiarii Halligan
2017 New Zealand Zac Jones
2018 New Zealand Alex Paulsen
2023 New Zealand Matt Foord
2024 New Caledonia Nicolas Kutran
2025 New Caledonia Sylvain Ipeze

Topscorers

Edition Player Goals
2007 New Zealand Kosta Barbarouses 5
2009 New Zealand Andrew Milne
French Polynesia Heirarii Tevenae
3
2011 New Caledonia Renaldo Nonmeu 8
2013 New Zealand Stuart Holthusen
New Zealand Monty Patterson
6
2015 Solomon Islands Larry Zama 13
2017 New Zealand Charles Spragg 7
2018 Solomon Islands Raphael Lea'i 8
2023 New Zealand Luke Supyk
French Polynesia Titouan Guillemant
6
2024 New Zealand Aaron Cartwright 7
2025 New Zealand Ben Perez Baldoni 6

References

  1. ^ "Oceania U-17 World Cup Qualifiers". RSSSF. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  2. ^ "OFC Disciplinary Committee releases decision on eligibility". Oceania Football Confederation. 16 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Solomon Islands player eligibility appeal upheld". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 May 2019.