Both sides have been drawn in Group B and will face some tough competition from Matinique and Guadeloupe.
The biennial tournament is being held in Paris from September 22 to October 3 and provides a chance for French overseas territories and former territories to play against each other.
Tahiti open their campaign with a clash against Martinique at 6.30pm on Thursday (local time) while New Caledonia are in action straight afterwards at 9pm against Guadeloupe.
The teams then have a couple of days to recuperate before hitting the field again on Friday with New Caledonia meeting Martinique at 3pm and Tahiti facing Gaudeloupe from 5.30pm.
Local pride will go on the line next Wednesday when the two OFC sides clash at 8pm in the tournament’s final group match.
The semi-finals and final will take place on Friday and Saturday next week.
The Tahiti and New Caledonia teams are both relishing the chance to take part in the event because it will give them the rare chance to face some high quality opposition.
Coach Mark Bourdoulous brought his New Caledonia players to New Zealand earlier this month for a training camp at the OFC headquarters at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland. They played two matches on the tour, beating Northern Premier League champions East Coast Bays 1-0 before falling to national league side Waitakere United 2-0.
Their last matches prior to that were in June, when they met A-League side Gold Coast United twice in Noumea. They beat their more illustrious opponents 3-2 in the first game but suffered a 1-0 loss in the second.
Bourdoulous says it is essential that the team gets off to a good start in Paris.
“The first game is the most important because if you win it makes it more easy,” he says. “It is very hard to come back if you lose.”
The Tahiti squad contains a blend of experienced and young players, with the new generation including a number of up-and-coming stars who competed at the last FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2009.
Most of the players in coach Eddy Etaeta’s squad hail from strong Tahitian clubs such as AS Pirae, AS Manu Ura and Tefana, who will be French Polynesia’s representatives during the 2011 O-League.
The matches in France will be Tahiti’s first since the 2007 South Pacific Games and Etaeta says all the members of the squad are looking forward to the challenge.
“Being involved in this tournament is a great opportunity for us,” he says.
He thinks the event is a great chance for the players to gain some international experience ahead of the next Games in New Caledonia in 2011.
“After a disappointing South Pacific Games in 2007, we want to be prepared for the next edition.”