Winner of the Solomon Islands (3-2), New Caledonia is the first selection guaranteed to play in the next qualifying round of the OFC for the 2026 World Cup. Papua New Guinea and Fiji separated with a score of 3-3.
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New Caledonia have qualified for the third round of OFC qualifying for the 26 FIFA World Cup™
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The Cagous upset the Solomon Islands to win 3-2
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They were also able to count on the crazy draw between Papua New Guinea and Fiji (3-3)
GROUP A
Buts : Raphael Lea’i (9′) and Javin Wae (39′) for the Solomon Islands; Joseph Athalé (6′ sp, 59′ sp) and Gérard Waia (69′) for New Caledonia
It is an understatement to say that the Solomon Islands gave New Caledonia a hard time but upon arrival, the Caledonians are smiling as they are officially qualified for the next round of OFC qualifying for the Cup of FIFA World 26™.
In Port Moresby, nothing was easy because the Solomons were leading 2-1 at the break after conceding the opener from the start, the work of Joseph Athalé (6′) from the penalty spot. However, a gross communication error in the Cagous defense quickly allowed Raphael Lea’i to equalize (9′) before Javin Wae, left alone in the area, victoriously headed a corner (39′) .
Forced to re-mobilize his players at the break and make some welcome tactical changes, coach Johann Sidaner ended up smiling again during the second act when Joseph Athalé scored twice. The now ex-player of Olympique Saint-Quentinois (National 3) – currently without a club – did not tremble on a new penalty (59′) and is now the surprise top scorer in the Oceanian qualifiers.
Ten minutes after this equalizer, two players came off the bench and stood out. The twirling Germain Haewegene ideally served Gérard Waia, who came to score the winning goal with a nice shot from the left (69′). Even if they missed numerous opportunities to take cover, and despite a poorly negotiated first period, the Cagous, with six points out of six possible, are already assured of playing in the third round because the following match between Papua -New Guinea and Fiji produced a draw (3-3, see below).
Heard…
“It wasn’t easy, we had to draw on the team’s resources. We knew it would be complicated given the circumstances and adversity. We can only be satisfied with the group’s resources. [À la mi-temps]we told them that we were capable of doing it and that we just had to convince ourselves of it. » Johann Sidaner, New Caledonia coach
“At this stage, when you make mistakes and give away penalties, you can’t win international matches. » Joshua Smith, Solomon Islands coach
Buts : Joseph Joe (2′), Ati Kepo (45′) and Raymond Gunemba (90’+4) for Papua New Guinea; Thomas Dunn (42′), Roy Krishna (54′) and Merrill Nand (90’+5) for Fiji
At the end of a crazy match and a completely crazy added time, Papua New Guinea and Fiji separated with a score of 3-3. While we were heading towards a sharing of points and the score seemed destined to remain frozen at 2-2, Raymond Gunemba scored the 3-2 goal for the locals in the 94th minute and celebrated in jubilation, convinced that he had just delivered a vital success to his camp. A minute later however, a winning header from Merrill Nand brought Fiji level.
While this result qualifies New Caledonia even before the third match of the group, it is above all a good deal for the Fijians, now credited with 4 units.
Ranking
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New Caledonia6 points (qualified for the third round)
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Fiji4 points
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Papua New Guinea1 point
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Solomon Islands0 point
