New Caledonia have advanced to the semi-finals and kept their OFC U-19 Men’s Championship campaign alive with a 7-0 victory over Papua New Guinea at the Samoa Football HQ in Apia.
Attempting to qualify for a second consecutive FIFA U-20 World Cup at this year’s championship, New Caledonia sealed their place in the knockout stage from Group A with four first half goals, and a double from striker Jemmanuel Siwoine.
The result is New Caledonia’s fourth consecutive victory over Papua New Guinea at the U-19 Men’s Championship, following on from a 2-1 success at the same stage at the last edition of the tournament two years ago.
Captain Sipae Qaeze opened the scoring inside the first quarter of an hour, starting a dominant afternoon for the French-speaking nation with a long-range shot that deflected into the bottom-left corner.
Three goals in a five-minute stretch before half-time then put the contest to bed, Gregory Diko scoring from the penalty spot, Jemmanuel Siwoine slotting home from close range, and Kynaï Toto converting from a cross to the back post.
Siwoine scored his second late in regular time, as New Caledonia completed the resounding win with three more goals in the second half. Substitutes Bento Lages and Alexis Ijelipa also added their name to the scoresheet.
Papua New Guinea: 0
New Caledonia: 7 (Sipane QAEZE 15’, Gregory DIKO (P) 40’, Jemmanuel SIWOINE 43’, 80’, Kynaï TOTO 45’, Bento LAGES 90’, Alexis IJELIPA 90+2’)
HT: 0-4
Later in the day, captain Jayroll Patty found the back of the net again as the Solomon Islands secured top spot in Group A with a 2-0 victory over Samoa.
Fresh off scoring a hat-trick in his team’s previous match with New Caledonia, Patty scored both goals, increasing his tally to five in two games at the championship, as the Solomon Islands topped their group for the third time in six editions.
Patty got the opening breakthrough in the 20th minute, picking out the bottom-right corner of the net on his left foot after being set-up by Wilkenson Siosi.
He then added the icing on the cake in the 90th minute, breaking into the penalty box and rounding the goalkeeper to seal the three points.
Meeting at the U-19 Men’s Championship for the first time in 19 years, Samoa had their opportunities in front of a home crowd in Apia too. Javier Arratia-Pio came close with an effort that hit the left post, after latching onto a long ball in-behind the Solomon Islands defence, but the tournament hosts couldn’t finish their group stage campaign with a positive result.
The Solomon Islands will now move on to face the runner-up of Group B, whilst New Caledonia will play the winner of Group B (likely to be New Zealand), in the semi-finals of OFC U-19 Men’s Championship 2026 on Friday.
Meanwhile Samoa will play in the play-off for 7th place, and Papua New Guinea will compete in the play-off for fifth place, both on Saturday.
Samoa: 0
Solomon Islands: 2 (Jayroll PATTY 20’, 90′)
HT: 0-1
Photo credit: OFC Media via Phototek