| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 9 March 2002 – 18 March 2002 | 
| Teams | 5 | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 10 | 
| Goals scored | 62 (6.2 per match) | 
| Top scorer(s) |  Joris Pibke (9 goals) | 
The 2002 OFC Nations Cup qualification tournament was a football competition that was played in March 2002 to determine the two of OFC's five lowest-ranked members men's national teams to advance to the 2002 OFC Nations Cup final tournament played in New Zealand in July 2002. The national teams of six OFC member associations entered the qualifying process. Cook Islands withdrew from the competition.
Qualified teams
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament[upper-alpha 1] | 
|---|---|---|---|
|  Papua New Guinea | Qualifying tournament winners | 18 March 2002 | 1 (1980) | 
|  New Caledonia | Qualifying tournament runners-up | 18 March 2002 | 2 (1973, 1980) | 
- ↑ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
Format
With the end of the Polynesian and Melanesian Cups between the 2000 and 2002 tournaments, (the two competitions formerly served a secondary function as qualifiers for the Oceania Nations Cup), a new format was created to decide the teams which would be accepted for the Nations Cup. Retaining their round-robin group qualifier style, the OFC this time chose to adopt the FIFA rankings to order all the entrants.[1] With New Caledonia not yet a FIFA member, they were placed last by default. The lowest six teams were then made to compete for two places via a round-robin group stage, with the highest-placed two teams qualifying for the Oceania Nations Cup.
The Rankings of all the teams involved in the OFC Nations Cup are below. The positions were taken as of October, 2001, with the eleven ranked teams appearing in the following order:
| 
 | 
 | 
Tiebreakers
The ranking of teams in the standings were based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 15):[1]
- Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
- Overall goal difference
- Overall goals scored
- Score from direct
- Drawing of lots by the OFC Organising Committee
Schedule
Below was the schedule of the 2002 OFC Nations Cup qualification.[2]
| Stage | Matchday | Dates | 
|---|---|---|
| Qualifying tournament | Matchday 1 | 9 March 2002 | 
| Matchday 2 | 12 March 2002 | |
| Matchday 3 | 14 March 2002 | |
| Matchday 4 | 16 March 2002 | |
| Matchday 5 | 18 March 2002 | 
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Papua New Guinea | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | +18 | 12 | Qualification to 2002 OFC Nations Cup | 
| 2 |  New Caledonia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 4 | +21 | 9 | |
| 3 |  Samoa (H) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 6 | |
| 4 |  Tonga | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 3 | |
| 5 |  American Samoa | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 29 | −27 | 0 | |
| 6 |  Cook Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew | 
Matches
Before the first group stage began, the  Cook Islands withdrew, resulting in the group stage being played between only five nations.
 Cook Islands withdrew, resulting in the group stage being played between only five nations.
| New Caledonia  | 10–0 |  American Samoa | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | Report | 
| Tonga  | 7–2 |  American Samoa | 
|---|---|---|
| Suli  3', 72', 80' Maamaloa  5' Taufahema  19' Uele  29' Fifita  39' | (Report) | Atualevao  15' Afu  70' | 
| Papua New Guinea  | 4–1 |  New Caledonia | 
|---|---|---|
| Kombi  31' Tomda  57' Aisa  70' Davani  85' | (Report) | Voudjo  40' | 
| Papua New Guinea  | 5–0 |  Tonga | 
|---|---|---|
| Lohai  19' Moiyap  61' Davani  70' Aisa  84' Andrew Kassam  89' | (Report) | 
| Samoa  | 5–0 |  American Samoa | 
|---|---|---|
| Timo  3' Faaiuaso  24', 68' Lemana  31' Fasavalu  48' | (Report) | 
| New Caledonia  | 9–0 |  Tonga | 
|---|---|---|
| Faye  17', 85' Pibke  18', 26', 85' Voudjo  18' Kabeu  45' Kauma  74' Jose  90' | (Report) | 
| Samoa  | 1–4 |  Papua New Guinea | 
|---|---|---|
| Lemana  56' | (Report) | Kombi  20' Wasi  30' Elizah  60' Moiyap  76' | 
| Papua New Guinea  | 7–0 |  American Samoa | 
|---|---|---|
| Davani  12', 20', 43' Posman  32' Aisa  46' Lohai  61' Wasi  90+' | (Report) | 
| Samoa  | 0–5 |  New Caledonia | 
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Kauma  10' David Hay  41', 69' Pibke  59' Mapou  89' | 
 Papua New Guinea and
 Papua New Guinea and  New Caledonia progress to the second group stage.
 New Caledonia progress to the second group stage.
Statistics
Goalscorers
There were 62 goals scored in 10 matches, for an average of 6.2 goals per match.
9 goals
5 goals
3 goals
 Robert Kauma Robert Kauma
 Tell Voudjo Tell Voudjo
 Joe Aisa Joe Aisa
 Pualele Lemana Pualele Lemana
 Amone Suli Amone Suli
2 goals
 Yves Faye Yves Faye
 David Hay David Hay
 Jose Euribora Jose Jose Euribora Jose
 Paul Kombi Paul Kombi
 Michael Lohai Michael Lohai
 Francis Moiyap Francis Moiyap
 Maori Wasi Maori Wasi
 Desmond Faaiuaso Desmond Faaiuaso
 Ben Timo Ben Timo
1 goal
 Savaliga Afu Savaliga Afu
 Duane Atualevao Duane Atualevao
 Jean-Marc Case Jean-Marc Case
 Jamel Kabeu Jamel Kabeu
 Marvis Mapou Marvis Mapou
 Michel Wanakaija Michel Wanakaija
 Selan Elizah Selan Elizah
 Andrew Kassam Andrew Kassam
 Tapas Posman Tapas Posman
 Yanding Tomda Yanding Tomda
 Tama Fasavalu Tama Fasavalu
 Siua Maamaloa Siua Maamaloa
 Klifi Uele Klifi Uele
 Heweli Vete Fifita Heweli Vete Fifita
References
- 1 2 "Regulations for the 2002 OFC Nations Cup". SportingPulse. Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ↑ "Oceanian Nations Cup 2002". RSSSF. 21 March 2004.
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