Two more matches have failed to go ahead at the OFC U-19 Championship tournament in Tahiti.
Pool games between Vanuatu/Samoa and Tahiti/Papua New Guinea will not be played on Monday (NZT) as scheduled.
No explanation has been given by tournament organisers but OFC made the following statement on their website:
“The Oceania Football Confederation can confirm that two OFC U-19 Championship 2022 fixtures scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 11 local time from Tahiti will not be played.
“The Group C fixture between Vanuatu and Samoa was due to be played at a 2.00pm local time kick-off and the Tahiti v Papua New Guinea fixture from Group B, was scheduled for an 8.00pm local time kick-off.
“Another update on these matters to follow.”
New Zealand currently lead Group A in the tournament and need to reach the final to qualify for next year’s FIFA U-20 Men’s World Cup in Indonesia.
Main photo: New Zealand’s U-19s have so far scored 17 goals in their two matches at the tournament. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.
The latest disruption follows statements from Vanuatu and Papua Guinea last week, saying they were “unable to play” their opening group games.
No more details have been given about the reasons behind the games not happening but Fiji were awarded a 3-0 default win (against PNG) and New Caledonia were credited with a 3-0 default victory (against Vanuatu).
Standings
The following are how the groups look before any decision is made on unplayed games in Group’s B and C for day two fixtures:
Group A
Group B
The game between Fiji and Tonga went ahead on Monday (NZT). resulting in a 3-0 win by Fiji.
Group C
Fixture
Wednesday September 14 (1pm NZT): New Zealand v Solomon Islands
The draw
The group winners and runners-up from each group will progress to the quarter-final stage, as well as the two highest-ranked third-placed teams.
Quarterfinals
Q1: Winner Group A v Best performed 3rd team from B/C
Q2: Winner Group B v Best performed 3rd team from A/C
Q3: Winner Group C v Runners-up Group A
Q4: Runners-up Group B v Runners-up Group C
Semi-finals
Winners Q1 v Winners Q2
Winners Q3 v Winners Q4
About the OFC U-19 Championship
New Zealand have won the championship at seven of the 22 previous tournaments.
New Zealand are the current title holders, having won in 2018, the last time the championship was held.
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