2021 OFC U-17 Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Fiji |
| Dates | Cancelled |
| Teams | 10 (from 1 confederation) |
The 2021 OFC U-17 Championship, originally to be held as the 2020 OFC U-16 Championship, was originally to be the 19th edition of the OFC U-16/U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-16/under-17 national teams of Oceania.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Fiji in September 2020.[1] However, on 28 July 2020, the OFC announced that the tournament had been postponed to April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[2] provisionally between 10 and 25 April 2021, with the name of the tournament changed from "2020 OFC U-16 Championship" to "2021 OFC U-17 Championship".[3][4] On 16 December 2020, the OFC announced the tournament had been postponed but would be required to be completed by 5 July 2021, the deadline for team nominations at the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru, scheduled for September 2021, of which the top two teams of the tournament would have qualified for as the OFC representatives.[5]
Following FIFA's decision to cancel the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup on 24 December 2020,[6] the OFC announced on 18 January 2021 that the tournament would remain on track to be held in 2021, with the new dates to be decided in the coming months.[7] However, on 4 March 2021, the OFC announced that the tournament had been cancelled, and Fiji would be retained to host the next edition in 2022.[8]
New Zealand were the seven-time defending champions.
Teams[edit]
Ten of the 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC were eligible to enter the tournament. The Solomon Islands were banned from entering a team in this edition due to fielding at least one ineligible player in the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship.[9]
Starting from this edition, male youth tournaments would no longer have a four-team qualifying stage, and all teams would compete in one tournament.[10]
Note: All appearance statistics include those in the qualifying stage (2017 and 2018).
| Team | Appearance (planned) |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|
 American Samoa |
9th | Group stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2011, 2015) |
 Cook Islands |
10th | Group stage (1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2015) |
 Fiji (hosts) |
18th | Runners-up (1999) |
 New Caledonia |
12th | Runners-up (2003, 2013, 2017) |
 New Zealand |
17th | Champions (1997, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018) |
 Papua New Guinea |
10th | Semi-finals (2017), Fourth place (1986) |
 Samoa |
9th | Group stage (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2015, 2017, 2018) |
 Tahiti |
14th | Runners-up (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015) |
 Tonga |
10th | Group stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2015) |
 Vanuatu |
15th | Runners-up (2005) |
- Banned
Squads[edit]
Players born on or after 1 January 2004 were eligible to compete in the tournament.
References[edit]
- ^ "Hosts confirmed for 2020 Youth Tournaments". Oceania Football Confederation. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ "OFC tournaments update". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 July 2020.
- ^ "OFC U-17 Championship 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 14 September 2020.
- ^ "OFC Competitions 2021 Calendar (updated 4/06/2021)" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Fédération Tahitienne de Football. 4 June 2021.
- ^ "More calendar changes for 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 16 December 2020.
- ^ "Update on FIFA Women's World Cup and men's youth competitions". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^ "Men's youth tournaments postponed". Oceania Football Confederation. 18 January 2021.
- ^ "OFC confirms schedule changes". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 March 2021.
- ^ "Solomon Islands Football Federation and player sanctioned". Oceania Football Confederation. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ "OFC male youth tournaments continue to evolve". Oceania Football Confederation. 3 April 2020.
External links[edit]
- OFC U-17 Championship 2021, at Oceania Football Confederation