1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Oceanian zone (OFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.

A total of 10 teams entered the competition. The Oceanian zone was allocated 0.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament.

There would be three rounds of play:

• First Round: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tahiti, the four best ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each, namely the Melanesian Group and the Polynesian Group, based on geographical considerations. The teams played against each other once. The winner of the Melanesian Group would advance to the Second Round. The runner-up of the Melanesian Group and the winner of the Polynesian Group would advance to the First Round Play-off. In the Play-off, they played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the Second Round.
• Second Round: The 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other twice. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
• Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the AFC / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

First round

Melanesian Group (Melanesia Cup 1996)

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Papua New Guinea	2	1	1	0	3	2	1	4
2	Solomon Islands	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
3	Vanuatu	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1	1

16 September 1996	Papua New Guinea	1 – 1	Solomon Islands	Lae, Papua New Guinea
	Richard Daniel  15'		Eddie Rukumana  71'

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18 September 1996	Solomon Islands	1 – 1	Vanuatu	Lae, Papua New Guinea
	Noel Berry  16'		Iau Tuan Naukoot  37'

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20 September 1996	Papua New Guinea	2 – 1	Vanuatu	Lae, Papua New Guinea
	Batman Furigi  88' Roy Karang  89'		Reginal Gare  27'

Papua New Guinea advanced to the Second Round. Solomon Islands advanced to the First Round Play-off.

Polynesian Group

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Tonga	2	2	0	0	3	0	3	6
2	Samoa	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
3	Cook Islands	2	0	0	2	1	4	-3	0

11 November 1996	Tonga	2 – 0	Cook Islands	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
	Timote Moleni  20'  67'

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13 November 1996	Samoa	2 – 1	Cook Islands	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
	T. Tapunuu  10' Michael Junior Palusami  20'		Mani Stenter  68'

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15 November 1996	Tonga	1 – 0	Samoa	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
	Tolutau Vane  29'

Tonga advanced to the First Round Play-off.

Play-off

15 February 1997	Tonga	0 – 4	Solomon Islands	Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
			George Kiriau  34' Robert Seni  73' Noel Berry  85' Augustine Peli  87'

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1 March 1997	Solomon Islands	9 – 0	Tonga	Honiara, Solomon Islands
	Noel Berry  3'  41'  57' Eddie Rukumana  12' Danny Wabo  37' Robert Seni  61'  63' George Kiriau  74'

Solomon Islands advanced to the Second Round by the aggregate score of 13-0.

Second round

Group 1

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Australia	4	4	0	0	26	2	24	12
2	Solomon Islands	4	1	1	2	7	21	-14	4
3	Tahiti	4	0	1	3	2	12	-10	1

11 June 1997	Australia	13 – 0	Solomon Islands	Sydney, Australia
	Damian Mori 5 John Aloisi 5 Craig Foster Ernie Tapai Mark Bosnich (p)

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13 June 1997	Australia	5 – 0	Tahiti	Sydney, Australia
	Aurelio Vidmar Paul Trimboli 2 Graham Arnold Matthew Bingley

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15 June 1997	Solomon Islands	4 – 1	Tahiti	Sydney, Australia
	Robert Seni Noel Berry 2 Moses Toata		Jean Ludivion

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17 June 1997	Solomon Islands	2 – 6	Australia	Sydney, Australia
	Augustine Peli Batram Suri		Robbie Slater Graham Arnold Jimmy Kaierea (og) Ernie Tapai 2 Aurelio Vidmar (p)

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19 June 1997	Tahiti	0 – 2	Australia	Sydney, Australia
			Ned Zelic Paul Trimboli

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21 June 1997	Tahiti	1 – 1	Solomon Islands	Sydney, Australia
	Jean-Loup Rousseau		Jeffrey Kwaomae

Australia advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	New Zealand	4	3	0	1	13	1	12	9
2	Fiji	4	2	0	2	4	7	-3	6
3	Papua New Guinea	4	1	0	3	2	11	-9	3

31 May 1997	Papua New Guinea	1 – 0	New Zealand	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
	Francis Niakuam

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7 June 1997	Fiji	0 – 1	New Zealand	Ba, Fiji
			Chris Jackson (p)

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11 June 1997	New Zealand	7 – 0	Papua New Guinea	Auckland, New Zealand
	Vaughan Coveny 3 Wynton Rufer 2 Simon Elliott David Stevens

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11 June 1997	Fiji	3 – 1	Papua New Guinea	Suva, Fiji
	Solome Pita Esala Masinisau Liuai Duguga		Wesley Waiwai

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18 June 1997	New Zealand	5 – 0	Fiji	Auckland, New Zealand
	Wynton Rufer 2 Vaughan Coveny Nicolas Viljoen Riki van Steeden

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21 June 1997	Papua New Guinea	0 – 1	Fiji	Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
			Alivate Driu

New Zealand advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
New Zealand	0–5	Australia	0–3	0–2

28 June 1997	New Zealand	0 – 3	Australia	Auckland, New Zealand
			John Aloisi Aurelio Vidmar Craig Foster

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5 July 1997	Australia	2 – 0	New Zealand	Sydney, Australia
	Ned Zelic Graham Arnold

Australia advanced to the AFC / OFC Intercontinental Play-off by the aggregate score of 5-0.

External links

• 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) at FIFA.com