The international association football has six continental bodies for overseeing the sport’s affairs in the respective regions. The Oceania Football Confederation is one of these six continental football bodies. Read this space to learn about the Oceania Football Confederation, including its history and current status.
Oceania Football Confederation Preview
The Oceania Football Confederation, OFC, is responsible for overseeing football–related affairs, promoting the sport in the region, and facilitating the member nation in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. The association has thirteen members, eleven of whom are full-time, and the remaining two are not affiliated with FIFA.
The OFC comprises predominantly Pacific Island countries, including Tonga, New Zealand, and Fiji, among others. Before 2006, Australia was the largest and most successful member nation of the OFC. However, the country left the confederation to join the Asian Football Confederation, and New Zealand became the largest member nation of the OFC.
In most of the member nations of the OFC, football is not the most dominant sport, and the association has little sway in the global football landscape, be it a pool of players for high-profile football clubs or participation in major international competitions. The confederation is the only continental body without any international title, and the closest it came was when Australia reached the final of the FIFA Confederation Cup in 1997.
Oceania Football Confederation History
The Oceania Football Confederation was established in 1966. New Zealand and Australia had repeatedly failed to join the Asian Football Confederation, and the OFC was formed as a result by Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea.
Meanwhile, the member nations, particularly Australia, continued to make efforts to join the AFC. The country dissociated from the OFC in 1972 but re-joined six years later. It was the first team from Oceania to compete in the FIFA World Cup in 1974.
Chinese Taipei also joined OFC in 1975 but resigned in 1989. OFC did not become a member of FIFA officially until 1996. Over the years, the most notable performances from any Oceania member were that of Australia only. The most significant of these is when the team played in the FIFA World Cup in 2006, where it scored a remarkable victory against Japan by a score of 3-1. The same year Australia left Oceania and joined the Asian Football Confederation. Two years later, the Northern Mariana Islands also joined the AFC.
Besides Australia, New Zealand was the second team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2010, and the team could not advance past the group stage. With Australia out of the picture, New Zealand now participates regularly in the inter-confederation playoffs for FIFA.
Over the years, there have been considerations to dissolve the OFC or merge it with the AFC to form a joint football confederation for the Asia-Pacific region. The argument became stronger when FIFA overturned the decision to give Oceania an automatic spot in the FIFA World Cup in 2003. The biggest member nation Australia had been unable to participate in the World Cup up till then, and the qualification process of the OFC was termed the main reason.
Oceania Football Confederation Present Status
The Oceania Football Confederation is based in Auckland, New Zealand, and its current president is Lambert Maltock, who has been in the position since 2018. The member nations of the confederations include New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Samoa, American Samoa, and Soloman Islands.
In the future, it is expected that other nations, including the Marshall Islands, Niue, Nauru, Micronesia, Bougainville, etc., may also become members of the OFC.
Oceania Football Confederation Competitions
The OFC comprises a series of competitions for national teams and football clubs. For the national teams, the most significant tournament is the Nations Cup. The tournament was launched in 1973 as the Oceania Cup. From 1996 to 2004, it was held every two years. From 2008 onwards, it serves as a qualification playoff for the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand is the most successful team and current champion of the Nations Cup.
Besides the Nations Cup, the OFC also organises competitions for Under 23, 20, and 17 teams and has competitions for futsal and beach soccer as well.
For club-level competitions, the confederation launched the OFC Champions League in 2019. The league will have its inaugural season in 2025. The league was scheduled to begin its season in 2021 but got delayed due to the pandemic. The concept behind the league is to facilitate the top players from Oceania to join top football clubs in Europe, Asia, and Australia.
