OFC Beach Soccer Championship

OFC Beach Soccer Championship

File:OFCBeachSoccerChampionshipLogo.jpg
Founded	2006
Region	Oceania (OFC)
Number of teams	3 (2013)
Current champions	Solomon Islands (4th title)
Most successful team(s)	Solomon Islands (4 titles)

The OFC Beach Soccer Championship is the main international championship for beach soccer in Oceania, mirroring that of the OFC Nations Cup in association football. Also known as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers for OFC, the championship was established in 2006 after FIFA made requirements for all confederations to begin holding a qualification tournament to determine the best national team(s) in the region and hence those who would go on to represent their continent in the World Cup.

Oceania was awarded just one spot at the finals under FIFA's new changes to the organisation of the World Cup and hence only the winners of the championship proceed to the succeeding World Cup finals. Before 2006, there was no consistent method of qualification or number of spots at the World Cup for Oceanian nations, with countries often simply being invited to play in the finals, without competing for a regional crown beforehand.

The Solomon Islands are the most successful nation having dominated the championships, winning four of the five that have taken place. However, Tahiti have emerged as a global force in more recent years.

Now that the World Cup takes place every two years, so does the championship which started with the qualifiers for the 2011 World Cup.

Tournaments

Year	Location	Final			Third place match
		Champion	Score	Runner-Up	Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
2006 details	Moorea, Tahiti	Solomon Islands	6 – 2	Vanuatu	Tahiti	12 – 4	Cook Islands
2007 details	Auckland, New Zealand	Solomon Islands	5 – 3	Vanuatu	New Zealand	5 – 3	Tahiti
2008	Solomon Islands selected by OFC, no qualifiers held
2009 details	Moorea, Tahiti	Solomon Islands	1 – 0	Vanuatu	Tahiti	6 – 3	Fiji
2011 details	Papeete, Tahiti	Tahiti	4 – 3	Solomon Islands	Fiji	-
2013 details	Nouméa, New Caledonia	Solomon Islands	6 – 0	New Caledonia	Vanuatu	-
2015	Tahiti selected by OFC, no qualifiers held
2017	Tahiti selected by OFC, no qualifiers held
2019

Notes:

A ^ Due to a late calendar change bringing the World Cup forward from November to July, the OFC judged that it would be too difficult to reorganise the Championship in time, and hence on the back of their two previous titles, the Solomon Islands where hand-picked by the OFC as the continent's representative at the World Cup.

B ^ Tahiti, despite being defending champions, were unable to compete due to a pre-arranged tour of Europe to play against higher level opposition in preparation as host nation of the World Cup. Hence the competition was moved from Tahiti to New Caledonia.

C ^ Due to undisclosed circumstances, the tournament scheduled to take place in Papeete, Tahiti in February was cancelled with the Tahitian national team picked by the OFC to go to represent Oceania at the World Cup.

D ^ The 2017 edition was set to take place in February of 2017 but for the second-scheduled edition running, the championship was cancelled for undisclosed reasons, with OFC in favour of nominating Tahiti as representatives having demonstrated being the best nation in the region through their performance at the preceding World Cup.

Successful nations

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third Place	Fourth Place
Solomon Islands	4 (2006, 2007, 2009, 2013)	1 (2011)	-	-
Tahiti	1 (2011)	-	2 (2006, 2009)	1 (2007)
Vanuatu	-	3 (2006, 2007, 2009)	1 (2013)	-
New Caledonia	-	1 (2013)	-	-
Fiji	-	-	1 (2011)	1 (2009)
New Zealand	-	-	1 (2007)	-
Cook Islands	-	-	-	1 (2006)

Appearances

These are the nations who have qualified to appear in the OFC Beach Soccer Championship since 2006.

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
• • – Did not quality
• •• – Qualified but withdrew
• q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
•    – Hosts

	2006 (4)	2007 (4)	2009 (4)	2011 (3)	2013 (4)	Total Appearances
Cook Islands	4th	•	•	•	•	1
Fiji	•	•	4th	3rd	•	2
New Caledonia	•	•	•	•	2nd	1
New Zealand	•	3rd	•	•	•	1
Solomon Islands	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	5
Tahiti	3rd	4th	3rd	1st	•	4
Vanuatu	2nd	2nd	2nd	••	3rd	4

World Cup qualifiers

Main article: National team appearances in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

The following is a performance timeline of the Oceanian nations who have qualified to appear in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup since 2006 when qualifying rounds were introduced for all confederations.

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place

• QF – Quarterfinals
• R1 – Round 1 (group stage)
• q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
•    – Hosts

Team	2006	2007	2008	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	Total
Solomon Islands	R1	R1	R1	R1		R1			5
Tahiti					R1	4th	2nd	q	4

^ Note: In 2013 Oceania were awarded two spots at the World Cup since Tahiti qualified immediately as hosts, occupying the one Oceanian spot. Seeing it as unfair that other nations were not given a chance to qualify to the World Cup, FIFA awarded a second spot to be played for which the Solomon Islands won.

External links

• OFC Official Website