Two-week championship to decide Oceania’s lone spot at France 2019

Retuned New Zealand start as favourites

All OFC nations participate for the first time

Oceania’s leading contenders have had to wait 18 months since global qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ began, but finally they will have their chance to earn a spot among the elite. With Africa kicking-off their final stage of qualifying on Saturday, Oceania's finale is the last to get underway.

Commencing on Sunday in New Caledonia, eight nations will vie for a single ticket to France. And if that prize is not rich enough reward, the continent’s lone spot at the 2020 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Tokyo is also on offer.

For the first time all 11 OFC Member Associations will have taken part in the OFC Women’s Nations Cup. Fiji topped a four-team preliminary qualifying competition in August, but for several nations the coming fortnight will mark their first competitive outings for years.

The tournament dates all the way back to 1983, when New Caledonia last hosted. This year’s edition sees the tournament come full circle, with the Melanesian nation returning to the tournament for the first time since their debut over three decades ago.

2018 OFC Women’s Nations Cup

18 November–1 December, New Caledonia

Group A: New Caledonia, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti

Group B: Tonga, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand

Kiwis hit reset

Five-time champions and current holders New Zealand will start as hot favourites. After a couple of player retirements and two coach changes in quick succession, the Football Ferns have brought in highly-regarded former USA and Australia coach Tom Sermanni to steady the ship.

Regular goalscorers’ Amber Hearn and Hannah Wilkinson are out with knee injuries, leaving Rosie White as the main outlet in attack. “It has been a crazy year for the Ferns,” said White. “It is time for us to have a clean slate and we are all looking forward now. I will need to step up in their [Hearn and Wilkinson’s] absence.”