1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)

Tournament details
Dates	16 September 1996 – 29 November 1997
Teams	10 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	24
Goals scored	88 (3.67 per match)
Attendance	99,533 (4,147 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Noel Berry (7 goals)
← 1994 2002 →

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Oceanian zone (OFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.

A total of 10 teams entered the competition. The Oceanian zone was allocated 0.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament.

Format

There would be three rounds of play:

• First Round: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tahiti, the four best ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the second round directly. The remaining 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each, namely the Melanesian Group and the Polynesian Group, based on geographical considerations. The teams played against each other once. The winner of the Melanesian Group would advance to the second round. The runner-up of the Melanesian Group and the winner of the Polynesian Group would advance to the first round play-off. In the play-off, they played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the second round.
• Second round: The 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other twice. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
• Final round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the AFC / OFC intercontinental play-off.

First round

Melanesian group

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Papua New Guinea	2	1	1	0	3	2	1	4
2	Solomon Islands	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
3	Vanuatu	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1	1

16 September 1996

Papua New Guinea	1–1	Solomon Islands
Daniel 15'	(report)	Rukumana 71'

Lae, Papua New Guinea

Attendance: 4,500

Referee: Eugene Brazzale (Australia)

18 September 1996

Solomon Islands	1–1	Vanuatu
Berry 16'	(Report)	Naukoot 37'

Lae, Papua New Guinea

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Massimo Raveino (Tahiti)

20 September 1996

Papua New Guinea	2–1	Vanuatu
Furigi 88' Karang 89'	(report)	Garo 27'

Lae, Papua New Guinea

Attendance: 7,500

Referee: Eugene Brazzale (Australia)

Papua New Guinea advanced to the second round. Solomon Islands advanced to the first round play-off.

Polynesian group

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Tonga	2	2	0	0	3	0	3	6
2	Western Samoa	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
3	Cook Islands	2	0	0	2	1	4	-3	0

11 November 1996

Tonga	2–0	Cook Islands
Moleni 20', 67'	(report)

Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

Attendance: 500

Referee: Shameem Khan (Fiji)

13 November 1996

Western Samoa	2–1	Cook Islands
Tapunuu 10' Palusami 20'	(report)	Stenter 68'

Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

Attendance: 400

Referee: Neil Fox (New Zealand)

15 November 1996

Tonga	1–0	Western Samoa
Vane 29'	(report)

Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Derek Rugg (New Zealand)

Tonga advanced to the first round play-off.

Play-off

15 February 1997

Tonga	0–4	Solomon Islands
	(report)	Kiriau 34' Seni 73' Berry 85' Peli 87'

Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Derek Rugg (New Zealand)

1 March 1997

Solomon Islands	9–0	Tonga
Berry 3', 41', 57' Rukumana 12' Wabo 37' Seni 61', 63', 74' Kiriau 66'	(report)

Honiara, Solomon Islands

Attendance: 4,000

Referee: Massimo Raveino (Tahiti)

Solomon Islands advanced to the second round by the aggregate score of 13–0.

Second round

Group 1

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Australia	4	4	0	0	26	2	24	12
2	Solomon Islands	4	1	1	2	7	21	-14	4
3	Tahiti	4	0	1	3	2	12	-10	1

11 June 1997

Australia	13–0	Solomon Islands
Mori 2', 15', 36', 65', 80' Aloisi 33', 53', 81', 86', 87' Foster 68' Tapai 78' Bosnich 88' (pen.)	(report)

Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 3,127

Referee: Bruce Edward Grimshaw (New Zealand)

13 June 1997

Australia	5–0	Tahiti
Vidmar 14' Trimboli 37', 42' Arnold 47' Bingley 66'	(report)

Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 2,869

Referee: Brian Geoffery Precious (New Zealand)

15 June 1997

Solomon Islands	4–1	Tahiti
Seni 37' Berry 39', 80' Toata 89'	(report)	Ludivion 82'

Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 253

Referee: Neil Fox (New Zealand)

17 June 1997

Solomon Islands	2–6	Australia
Peli 59' Suri 65'	(report)	Slater 15' Arnold 17' Kaierea 38' (o.g.) Tapai 47', 51' Vidmar 75' (pen.)

Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 2,122

Referee: Brian Geoffery Precious (New Zealand)

19 June 1997

Tahiti	0–2	Australia
	(report)	Zelic 8' Trimboli 86'

Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 2,918

Referee: Bruce Edward Grimshaw (New Zealand)

21 June 1997

Tahiti	1–1	Solomon Islands
Rousseau 38'	(report)	Kwaomae 43'

Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 266

Referee: Bruce Edward Grimshaw (New Zealand)

Australia advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	New Zealand	4	3	0	1	13	1	12	9
2	Fiji	4	2	0	2	4	7	-3	6
3	Papua New Guinea	4	1	0	3	2	11	-9	3

31 May 1997

Papua New Guinea	1–0	New Zealand
Niakuam 80'	(report)

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Nik Ahmad Haji Yaakub (Malaysia)

7 June 1997

Fiji	0–1	New Zealand
	(report)	Jackson 80' (pen.)

Ba, Fiji

Attendance: 5,500

Referee: Eugene Brazzale (Australia)

11 June 1997

New Zealand	7–0	Papua New Guinea
Coveny 10', 13', 67' Rufer 22', 31' Elliott 40' Stevens 80'	(report)

Auckland, New Zealand

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Eddie Lennie (Australia)

15 June 1997

Fiji	3–1	Papua New Guinea
Pita 22' Masinisau 26' Duguga 89'	(report)	Waiwai 68'

Suva, Fiji

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Eddie Lennie (Australia)

18 June 1997

New Zealand	5–0	Fiji
Rufer 17', 77' Coveny 63' Viljoen 80' van Steeden 85'	(report)

Auckland, New Zealand

Attendance: 12,033

Referee: Massimo Raveino (Tahiti)

21 June 1997

Papua New Guinea	0–1	Fiji
	(report)	Driu 1'

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Pirom Anprasert (Thailand)

New Zealand advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
New Zealand	0-5	Australia	0-3	0-2

28 June 1997

19:30

New Zealand	0–3	Australia
	(report)	Aloisi 18' Vidmar 42' Foster 67'

Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand

Attendance: 23,000

Referee: Masayoshi Okada (Japan)

6 July 1997

20:15

Australia	2–0	New Zealand
Zelić 6' Arnold 54'	(report)

Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia

Attendance: 14,045

Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

Australia advanced to the AFC / OFC intercontinental play-off by the aggregate score of 5–0.

Inter-confederation play-off

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Iran	(a) 3–3	Australia	1–1	2–2

Goalscorers

There were 88 goals scored in 24 matches (including 2 international play-offs), for an average of 3.67 goals per match.

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goals

1 own goal