Original Oceania Football Confederation logo|
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Oceania Football Confederation logo since 1998
Original Oceania Football Confederation logo
The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six "continental" confederations of international football. It promotes the game in Oceania and allows the member nations to qualify for the Football World Cup.
The confederation was formed in 1966. The founding members were the Australian Soccer Federation (now Football Federation Australia), New Zealand Soccer Inc, and the Fiji Football Association. On May 24, 2004, New Caledonia became the 12th member of the OFC.
In 1996 the OFC was confirmed as a full confederation and given a seat on the FIFA executive. The winner of the OFC Football World Cup Qualifiers would be allowed to compete in a two-legged home-and-away playoff with the team ranked fifth in the South American qualifying competition for a place in the 2006 World Cup. Since 1996, OFC members also play for the OFC Nations Cup, which is held every second year.
The OFC also organises the Oceania Club Championship, though this competition has little prestige attached to it and serves primarily to determine the Oceania representitive at the FIFA Club World Championship.
In 1998, the OFC unveiled a new logo and an official magazine, entitled The Wave.
Despite occasional "giant-killing" performances by New Zealand against Australian sides without their full complement of overseas-based professionals, only the Australian national side, commonly called "the Socceroos", is regarded as a potential force in world football.
In the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, which doubled as the Oceania qualifying tournament for the 2006 World Cup, the Solomon Islands unexpectedly made the finals against Australia, knocking out New Zealand in the second group phase. Australia easily won the local competition, beating the Solomons 5:1 in Honiara and 6:0 in Sydney. The two teams met again in a two-legged World Cup qualifying final in September 2005 for the right to play the CONMEBOL representative for a place in the World Cup final; Australia won 9:1 on aggregate (7:0 at home and 2:1 away) and progressed to the Oceania - South America playoff. Australia won this playoff against Uruguay on penalties after a 1:1 aggregate score after both legs of the playoff and after extra time, and qualified for the World Cup.
Oceania has sent representatives to the World Cup three times: Australia in 1974 and 2006, and New Zealand in 1982. Neither Australia in 1974 nor New Zealand in 1982 progressed beyond the first round.
On January 1, 2006, Australia left the OFC and joined the Asian Football Confederation.
OFC is the only FIFA confederation that does not have a guaranteed spot in the World Cup finals. Between 1966 and 1982, OFC teams joined the Asian zone qualification tournament, while from 1986 onwards, the winners of the Oceanian zone qualification tournament have to enter the Intercontinental Play-offs against teams from other confederations in order to gain a spot in the World Cup finals.
| World Cup | Qualifier(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1930-1962 | None | No teams from Oceania entered. |
| 1966 | None | |
| 1970 | None | |
| 1974 | Australia | |
| 1978 | None | |
| 1982 | New Zealand | |
| 1986 | None | Australia lost to Scotland in the Intercontinental Play-offs. |
| 1990 | None | Israel (who played in the Oceanian zone due to political reasons) lost to Colombia in the Intercontinental Play-offs. |
| 1994 | None | Australia beat Canada, then lost to Argentina in the Intercontinental Play-offs. |
| 1998 | None | Australia lost to Iran in the Intercontinental Play-offs. |
| 2002 | None | Australia lost to Uruguay in the Intercontinental Play-offs. |
| 2006 | Australia | Australia beat Uruguay in the Intercontinental Play-offs. |
Australia 
New Zealand
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