1998 OFC Nations Cup

The 1998 OFC Nations Cup was held in Brisbane, Australia. The six participating teams were Australia and New Zealand who qualified as of right, Fiji and Vanuatu who qualified from the Melanesia Cup, and Tahiti and the Cook Islands who qualified from the Polynesia Cup. New Zealand beat an Australian team lacking most of their best internationals 1–0 in the final, while Fiji defeated Tahiti for third place.^[1]

1998 OFC Nations Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Australia
Dates	25 September – 4 October
Teams	6 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand (2nd title)
Runners-up	Australia
Third place	Fiji
Fourth place	Tahiti
Tournament statistics
Matches played	10
Goals scored	52 (5.2 per match)
Attendance	20,200 (2,020 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Damian Mori (10 goals)
← 1996 2000 →

Qualification

1998 Melanesia Cup Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Fiji (C) 4 10 2  Vanuatu (H) 4 7 3  Solomon Islands 4 7 4  Papua New Guinea 4 4 5  New Caledonia 4 0 Source: [citation needed] (C) Champions; (H) Hosts

1998 Polynesia Cup Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Tahiti (C) 4 12 2  Cook Islands (H) 4 7 3  Samoa 4 6 4  Tonga 4 4 5  American Samoa 4 0 Source: [2] (C) Champions; (H) Hosts

Qualifield teams

Team	Qualified as
Australia	Automatically qualified
New Zealand	Automatically qualified
Fiji	1998 Melanesia Cup winner
Vanuatu	1998 Melanesia Cup runners-up
Tahiti	1998 Polynesia Cup winner
Cook Islands	1998 Polynesia Cup runners-up

Venues

Brisbane
	Brisbane
	Lang Park
	Capacity: 52,500

Squads

See 1998 OFC Nations Cup squads.

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	2	2	0	0	9	1	+8	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Tahiti	2	1	0	1	5	2	+3	3
3	Vanuatu	2	0	0	2	2	13	−11	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

25 September 1998

New Zealand	1–0	Tahiti
Paama 13' (o.g.)	Report

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 900

Referee: Simon Micallef (Australia)

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28 September 1998

New Zealand	8–1	Vanuatu
Christie 1' Coveny 11', 25', 39', 40' Ryan 34', 65' Bunce 65'	Report	Roronamahava 45'

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 500

Referee: Intaz Shah (Fiji)

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30 September 1998

Tahiti	5–1	Vanuatu
Quennet 9', 10', 74' Zaveroni 54' Amaru 75'	Report	Rarai 82'

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 400

Referee: Simon Micallef (Australia)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia (H)	2	2	0	0	19	1	+18	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Fiji	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	3
3	Cook Islands	2	0	0	2	0	19	−19	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(H) Hosts

25 September 1998

Australia	3–1	Fiji
Mori 2', 25', 44'	Report	Masinisau 62'

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 900

Referee: Bruce Grimshaw (New Zealand)

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28 September 1998

Australia	16–0	Cook Islands
Trimboli 1', 12', 63' Mori 8', 15', 30', 34' Maloney 17', 89' Ceccoli 42' Trajanovski 48', 68', 76' (pen.), 88' Chipperfield 66' Halpin 80'	Report

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 600

Referee: Massimo Raveino (Tahiti)

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30 September 1998

Fiji	3–0	Cook Islands
Dickinson 18' (o.g.) Kilalwaca 54' Nasema 85'	Report

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 500

Referee: Bruce Grimshaw (New Zealand)

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	2 October 1998 – Brisbane
	New Zealand	1
					4 October 1998 – Brisbane
	Fiji	0
					New Zealand	1
	2 October 1998 – Brisbane
					Australia	0
	Australia	4
	Tahiti	1
					Third place
					4 October 1998 – Brisbane
					Fiji	4
					Tahiti	2

Semifinals

2 October 1998

New Zealand	1–0	Fiji
Hay 88'	Report

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 1,200

Referee: Massimo Raveino (Tahiti)

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2 October 1998

Australia	4–1	Tahiti
Mori 1', 32', 81' Veart 86'	Report	Labaste 55'

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 1,200

Referee: Intaz Shah (Fiji)

Third place match

4 October 1998

Fiji	4–2	Tahiti
Masi 26', 31' Lal 28' Seruvatu 43'	Report	Rousseau 81', 82'

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Simon Micallef (Australia)

Final

Main article: 1998 OFC Nations Cup Final

4 October 1998

New Zealand	1–0	Australia
Burton 24'	Report

Lang Park, Brisbane

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Massimo Raveino (Tahiti)

Goalscorers

10 goals

• Damian Mori

4 goals

• Kris Trajanovski
• Vaughan Coveny

3 goals

• Paul Trimboli
• Esala Masi
• Gerald Quennet

2 goals

• Brad Maloney
• Rupert Ryan
• Jean-Loup Rousseau

1 goal

• Alvin Ceccoli
• Carl Veart
• Scott Chipperfield
• Troy Halpin
• Kameli Kilalwaca
• Shailend Lal
• Ulaisi Seruvatu
• Valerio Nasema
• Che Bunce
• Danny Hay
• Mark Burton
• Tinol Christie
• Harold Amaru
• Hiro Labaste
• Teva Zaveroni
• Edwin Rarai
• Peter Roronamahava

Own goal

• Heimana Paama (playing against New Zealand)
• Heath Dickinson (playing against Fiji)