The next generation of women’s football talent in Oceania will take centre stage in Honiara this week, with eight nations set to compete for the OFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2026 and a coveted pathway towards the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2027 in Morocco.

The tournament kicks off on Sunday 6 September in Solomon Islands, with Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and New Caledonia all eyeing continental success.

Hosts Solomon Islands enter the tournament with the advantage of home conditions and renewed confidence following a victory over the senior women’s national team in a friendly earlier this week.

Head coach Kanto Yamashita believes playing at home can provide a significant advantage.

“I’m not originally from this country, but I can say from my experience that Solomon Islands is a beautiful country and blessed with amazing nature and very friendly people”

“We train in this environment every day, so we know the pitches, the climate and conditions very well,” he said.

“At the same time, playing at home also means carrying greater experience and pressure.”

Following the win over the senior side, Yamashita said his team will approach the tournament with belief, but remain grounded.

“At the same time, well, we have gained a lot of confidence from this result. We will never forget that we are still the challengers. We will approach this tournament with confidence, but also with humility and hunger,” he said.

Tonga head coach Mark Uhatahi said the tournament provides an important opportunity to develop the next generation of players.

“We have a tournament team for the development for all the players,” he said, with a particular focus on the many homegrown players in his squad.

“We work hard for the team and the development of our players” Uhatahi added.

For Cook Islands, reaching the Championship after coming through the qualifiers has provided valuable preparation.

“We did really well at the qualifiers and proud of the girls,” said head coach Tuka Tisam. “Just looking forward for this competition.”

Tisam believes his side’s defensive organisation will be a key strength, but knows they face a difficult opening match against Fiji.

“I think it will be our defence, to be honest,” he said. “They’re pretty tough for us, but we’ll do our best to compete.”

Fiji head coach Nicola Demaine sees the tournament as an important step for players aspiring to reach the senior national team.

“This tournament is a good opportunity for us to get some experience for the players in international football,” she said.

“It’s about embedding some processes that they’ll need to use if they make it in the senior team one day,” Demaine added.

While Fiji will be aiming to challenge for a World Cup place, Demaine is keeping the focus on performance.

“Our plan is just to come here and do what we can,” she said. “We’ll give it our best shot to perform well for Fiji.”

For Samoa, last year’s runners-up finish will not define this campaign. Head coach Juan Chang Urrea is focused firmly on the present.

“We’re just here to make the country proud and just take it one day at a time,” he said.

Samoa’s squad features players from across the world spanning from Samoa, United States and Belgium. Urrea is determined to give every eligible player an opportunity to represent their country.

“We just want to give anyone an opportunity to represent themselves, represent the country,” he said.

“Obviously with two World Cup qualifiers, that has opened the window a lot for a lot of girls that want to represent Samoa”

“If they’re available and they have Samoan blood, they’re entitled to play as well. So we just want to give anyone an opportunity to represent themselves, represent the country and Tau Tua, which is serve as the jersey at the best of their abilities.”

Papua New Guinea also arrive after progressing through the qualifiers, with head coach Susan Steven emphasising the importance of developing the next generation of national-team players.

“The key areas for the girls, we are working on the development part,” she said.
“It’s very important that we look for the future of the Billum players,” Steven added, highlighting discipline and trust as important elements of that development.

New Zealand enter the tournament as defending champions, with head coach Alana Gunn insisting this year’s focus is on their new cycle with a new group of players.

“We have a new team and a new cycle. So while the history says that, you know, we are unbeaten, that’s kind of not how we would frame it to this new cycle,” Gunn said.

“I think the players need to understand that they are on their own individual journey and hopefully they all want to become football ferns one day.”

For Gunn, every international experience is an opportunity to take another step towards the senior national team.

“Every opportunity to play or train in an international environment is an opportunity to get them closer to that goal.” she said.

With eight nations now preparing for battle, the OFC U-16 Women’s Championship promises to showcase the depth of emerging talent across the region, while providing the players with a crucial stage to take their next steps in the international game.

A huge thank you to our press conference hosts, Coral Sea Resort and Casino!

*New Caledonia was not present for the press conference due to a late arrival into the Solomon Islands.

Photo Credit: OFC Media via Phototek