2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – OFC First Round
# 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – OFC First Round

The first round of OFC matches for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (and 2016 OFC Nations Cup qualification) was played from 31 August to 4 September 2015 in Tonga.

## Format

In this round, four teams, as determined by the OFC in March 2014, played a single round-robin tournament held in a single country which was later decided to be in Tonga. All matches were held at the Loto-Tonga Soka Centre in Nuku'alofa.

Samoa, the winner, advanced to the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, held from 28 May – 12 June 2016, to join the other seven teams which received a bye into the group stage. The winner of the OFC Nations Cup, New Zealand, represented the OFC at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Moreover, the OFC Nations Cup served as the second round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, with the top six teams advancing to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualifying.

## Participating teams

In April 2014 the OFC announced its executive's decision on the teams to compete in the tournament. The four lowest ranked teams (based on FIFA World Ranking and sporting reasons) among the 11 OFC entrants entered the first round:

Note: Bolded team qualified for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.

| Team | FIFA ranking at start of event |
| - | - |
| American Samoa | 200 |
| Cook Islands | 206 |
| Samoa | 197 |
| Tonga | 198 |

## Venue

All matches were held at the Loto-Tonga Soka Centre in Nuku'alofa

* Loto-Tonga Soka Centre
* Nuku'alofa, Tonga
* Nuku'alofa
* 21°8′S 175°12′W﻿ / ﻿21.133°S 175.200°W﻿ / -21.133; -175.200
* Capacity: 1,500

## Standings

* 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tiebreakers
* In league format, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria (regulations Articles 20.6 and 20.7):
* Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
* Overall goal difference
* Overall goals scored
* Points in matches between tied teams
* Goal difference in matches between tied teams
* Goals scored in matches between tied teams
* Away goals scored in matches between tied teams (if the tie was only between two teams in home-and-away league format)
* Fair play points
* first yellow card: minus 1 point
* indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points
* direct red card: minus 4 points
* yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points
* Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Samoa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 | Advance to 2016 OFC Nations Cup/second round | — | 3–2 | — | — |
| 2 | American Samoa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | | — | — | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| 3 | Cook Islands | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | | 1–0 | — | — | 3–0 |
| 4 | Tonga (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 | | 0–3 | — | — | — |

## Matches

The match schedule was revealed on 30 July 2015, following a draw held at OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand. All times are local, UTC+13.

## Goalscorers

There were 17 goals scored in 6 matches, for an average of 2.83 goals per match.

### 4 goals

* Taylor Saghabi

### 2 goals

* Demetrius Beauchamp
* Justin Manao
* Johnny Hall
* Andrew Mobberley

### 1 goal

* Ryan Aloali'i Mitchell
* Ramin Ott
* Desmond Fa'aiuaso
* Faitalia Hamilton-Pama
* Sione Uhatahi
