2020 OFC U-16 Championship
The 2020 OFC U-16 Championship will be the 19th edition of the OFC U-16/U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-16/under-17 national teams of Oceania.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Fiji |
| Dates | TBD |
| Teams | 10 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | TBC (in TBC host cities) |
The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Fiji in September 2020.[1] However, on 28 July 2020, the OFC announced that the tournament had been postponed to April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[2] provisionally between 10 and 25 April 2021, as the 2021 OFC U-17 Championship.[3] On 16 December 2020, the OFC announced the tournament had been postponed but would be required to be completed by 5 July 2021, the deadline for team nominations at the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru, scheduled for September 2021, of which the top two teams of the tournament will qualify for as the OFC representatives.[4]
New Zealand are the seven-time defending champions.
Teams
Ten of the 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC are eligible to enter the tournament. The Solomon Islands have been banned from entering a team in this edition due to fielding at least one ineligible player in the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship.[5]
Starting from this edition, male youth tournaments no longer have a four-team qualifying stage, and all teams compete in one tournament.[6]
Note: All appearance statistics include those in the qualifying stage (2017 and 2018).
| Team | Appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|
 American Samoa | 9th | Group stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2011, 2015) |
 Cook Islands | 10th | Group stage (1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2015) |
 Fiji (hosts) | 18th | Runners-up (1999) |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} New Caledonia | 12th | Runners-up (2003, 2013, 2017) |
 New Zealand | 17th | Champions (1997, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018) |
 Papua New Guinea | 10th | Semi-finals (2017), Fourth place (1986) |
 Samoa | 9th | Group stage (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2015, 2017, 2018) |
 Tahiti | 14th | Runners-up (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015) |
 Tonga | 10th | Group stage (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2015) |
 Vanuatu | 15th | Runners-up (2005) |
- Banned
Venues
To be confirmed.
Squads
Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible to compete in the tournament.
References
- "Hosts confirmed for 2020 Youth Tournaments". Oceania Football Confederation. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- "OFC tournaments update". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 July 2020.
- "OFC U-17 Championship 2021". Oceania Football Confederation.
- "More calendar changes for 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 16 December 2020.
- "Solomon Islands Football Federation and player sanctioned". Oceania Football Confederation. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- "OFC male youth tournaments continue to evolve". Oceania Football Confederation. 3 April 2020.