OFC Nations Cup - Stage Two

Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) made the draw for Oceania’s Stage Two FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign at a ‘Football for Life’ Press Conference at Post Fiji Stadium in Suva, Fiji, in August, 2007.

The draw - conducted by OFC General Secretary Tai Nicholas with the assistance of Fiji national team captain Peni Finau and his New Zealand XI counterpart Andy Barron before a packed media gathering - produced a host of intriguing possibilities.

With Oceania’s Stage One FIFA World Cup qualifiers doubling as the XIII South Pacific Games Men’s Football Tournament all eyes will turn to Samoa on 25th August as nine eligible member associations battle it out for the gold, silver and bronze medals that will hand them a berth in a Stage Two round robin home and away playoff with New Zealand.

There will be much at stake with the winner of Stage Two crowned 2008 OFC Nations Cup winners and earning qualification for the FIFA Confederations Cup – South Africa 2009.

The winners of Stage Two also qualify for a Stage Three home and away playoff against the 5th placed team in Asia Football Confederation (AFC) for a berth at FIFA World Cup – South Africa 2010.

New Zealand – seeded first – will begin their campaign away from home against the South Pacific Games bronze medallists on 13th October, 2007.

The silver medallists will host the gold medallists on the same day in a mouth-watering rematch of the XIII South Pacific Games Men’s Football Tournament Final.