The OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup is the main championship for
beach soccer in
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
, contested between the senior men's national teams of
the members
The Members are a British punk band that originated in Camberley, Surrey, England. In the UK, they are best known for their single "The Sound of the Suburbs", reaching No. 12 in 1979, and in Australia, "Radio" which reached No. 5 in 1982.
Ca ...
of the
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It is the sport's version of the better known
OFC Nations Cup
The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...
in
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
.
The winners of the championship are crowned continental champions; the tournament also acts as the qualification route for Oceanian nations to the upcoming edition of the
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and is therefore also known as the ''FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup OFC qualifier''.
Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2009; the World Cup then became
biennial
Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years.
In particular, it can refer to:
* Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...
, and as its supplementary qualification event, the championship followed suit.
The championship was established in 2006 after
FIFA made it a requirement for
all confederations to begin holding qualification tournaments to determine the best national team(s) in their region and hence those who would proceed to represent their continent in the upcoming World Cup (previously, nations were simply invited to play). FIFA currently allocate Oceania one berth at the World Cup and hence only the winners qualify to the World Cup finals.
Oceania's governing body for football, the
OFC, organise the championship.
Cooperation has also come from
Beach Soccer Worldwide
Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) is the organisation responsible for the founding and growth of association football's derivative sport of beach soccer. The founding partners of BSWW codified the rules of beach soccer in 1992, with BSWW as it is know ...
(BSWW), particularly in the initial tournaments. The competition was held under the title of the ''OFC Beach Soccer Championship'' until 2019 when the name was changed to ''OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup'', bringing it in line with the naming of other OFC senior national tournaments.
The
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...
are the most successful nation with four titles.
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...
are the current champions. These two nations are the only teams to qualify to the World Cup thus far.
Results
For all tournaments, the winners qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
Performance
Successful nations
:
* = Hosts
Awards
All-time top goalscorers
''As of 2019''
The following table shows the all-time top 15 goalscorers.
All-time table
''As of 2019''
Key:
Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out W
P = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points
Appearances & performance timeline
The following is a performance timeline of the teams who have appeared in the OFC Beach Soccer Championship and how many appearances they each have made.
;Legend
* – Champions
* – Runners-up
* – Third place
* – Fourth place
*5th – Fifth place
*× – Did not enter
*•• – Entered but withdrew
* – Hosts
*Apps – No. of appearances
;Timeline
Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup
The following is a performance timeline of the OFC teams who have appeared in the Beach Soccer World Cup since being sanctioned by FIFA in 2005.
;Legend
* – Champions
* – Runners-up
* – Third place
* – Fourth place
* – Hosts
*QF – Quarter-finals
*R1 – Round 1 (group stage)
*q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
*Total – Total times qualified for World Cup
;Notes
References
External links
OFC official website
{{Oceanian Championships
OFC
Oceania Football Confederation competitions
Oceanian championships
Beach soccer competitions
Recurring sporting events established in 2006