Oceania: South Pacific Games lead to World Cup

Asian Football Business Review will feature regular articles on the under-reported Oceania Football Confederation for the interest of our wide readership, particularly those Kuwaiti leaders who have disclosed a passionate concern about Pacific football after Australia's exit to Asia. Our previously stated position is to encourage the OFC to join the AFC as a constituent regional group.

The 13th South Pacific Games, to be played in Samoa from 25 August to 7 September are stage one of the Oceania Football Confederation's qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup 2010. The top three countries from the 10-team tournament will advance to a four-team, round-robin which will include New Zealand. The winner of that four-country tournament will advance to a two-game playoff against the fifth-ranking team from the Asian Football Confederation's play-offs, with the winner advancing to the World Cup in South Africa.

Fiji, Tahiti, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands and Tuvalu will play in Group A while hosts Samoa will be in Group B, where they will take on the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga and American Samoa.