The 2007 Pacific Games men's football tournament was held at the

Toleafoa J.S. Blatter Complex The National Soccer Stadium is a football stadium located in Apia, Samoa. It is the national stadium of Samoa and the home of the Samoa national football team and the Samoa National League. It also was the venue for the 2012 OFC Nations Cup Qu ...

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

in from 25 August to 7 September 2007. The men's tournament formed the first stage of the Oceania Football Confederation's (OFC) qualification tournament for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

and the qualification tournament for the

2008 OFC Nations Cup The 2008 OFC Nations Cup was the eighth edition of the OFC Nations Cup and the first under a new format. It took place as a series of as a home-and-away round-robin tournament on FIFA match dates in 2007 and 2008. Doubling as the qualification to ...

Tournament

The final accredited athlete list at th
SPG website
shows 10 entered sides.

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, although listed by FIFA as having applied for the 2010 World Cup, did not enter.

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

did enter (although they were not eligible for the World Cup). The group stage draw, undertaken by

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his a ...

, was held on 12 June 2007 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. New Caledonia's captain, Pierre Wajoka scored a ninth-minute penalty against Tahiti in the opening fixture of the games, earning him the distinction of being the scorer of the first goal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification process.

Group seedings

Notes: * Tuvalu was unranked by FIFA as it was not a member (and not an entrant to the World Cup). * Although the draw took place in June, FIFA rankings are shown as of February 2007, which accords with press reports of the rankings used in the draw seeding.

Squads

Group stage

Group A

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

Third Place Match

Final

''(Note):'' The three medallists, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu, advanced to the

(together with automatic qualifier

Advancement questions

Tuvalu

There remained some uncertainty as to what procedure would occur to

advance - as they were not members of FIFA (and therefore did not enter the

). While no explicit ruling was communicated on this matter, comments in the press release for the OFC Second Stage draw referred to "nine eligible nations", suggesting that Tuvalu would not have advanced to the OFC Nations Cup regardless of their performance in the South Pacific Games. Had Tuvalu finished in a medal position, the fourth place team would presumably have qualified for the next round of qualifying with the other two medal winners and New Zealand. Tuvalu's early elimination from the competition put an end to any complication over the qualifying process for the next round. This was the first time ever that a non-FIFA nation has competed in the World Cup.Long World Cup qualifying road starts in Samoa
Reuters; 23 August 2007 The closest situation in the past was the case of New Caledonia during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. However, they were at the time in the process of accession to the organisation, and were eliminated from contention for the finals just days before their final admission to the FIFA family.

Papua New Guinea

, having initially entered the 2010 World Cup and indicated their intention to enter the South Pacific Games, were involved in a dispute with their sporting authorities and failed to meet the official accreditation deadline for the South Pacific Games. This meant they were effectively disqualified from the World Cup.

Goalscorers

There were 110 goals scored in 24 games, for an average of 4.58 goals per game. Players in bold advanced to the next round. ;10 goals *

Osea Vakatalesau Osea Vakatalesau (born 15 January 1986) is a Fijian footballer who plays for Nadroga and the Fiji national team. International career Nicknamed ''Ozzy'', he participated in South Pacific Games 2007 (where he was the tournament's top goalscore ...

;9 goals * Seule Soromon ;7 goals * Commins Menapi ;5 goals * Iamel Kabeu ;4 goals *

Roy Krishna Roy Krishna (born 30 August 1987) is a Fijian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Bengaluru FC and the Fiji national team. Club career Early career Krishna joined the New Zealand Football Championship ...

Henry Fa'arodo Henry Samuel Luito'o Fa'arodo Jr. (born 5 October 1982 in Honiara) is a former professional footballer from the Solomon Islands who played as a striker or a midfielder. Club career Fa'arodo attended Nelson College from 2000 to 2001, playing ...

Benjamin Totori Benjamin Totori (born 20 February 1986) is a Solomon Islands association football, footballer who plays as a striker for Kossa FC, Kossa. Club career A small but speedy striker, Totori made his name at New Zealand Football Championship, NZFC ...

* Etienne Mermer * François Sakama ;3 goals * Pita Baleitoga * Pita Rabo ;2 goals * Teariki Mateariki * Malakai Kainihewe * Malakai Tiwa * Taniela Waqa * Pierre Wajoka * Chris Cahill *

Desmond Fa'aiuaso Desmond Fa'aiuaso (born 24 February 1984) is a Football striker from Samoa who currently plays for Vailima Kiwi. He currently has both the most caps and the most goals for his home country, Samoa. Career Club Fa'aiuaso had his first stint in ...

* Penitito Tumua * Godwin Bebeu *

Alick Maemae Alick Leonard Maemae (born 10 December 1985) is a football midfielder from the Solomon Islands. He hails from Suraina, North East coast of Malaita. Club career He played soccer at a very early age. His interest in soccer forced him to abandon ...

* Stanley Waita * Pio Palu *

Richard Iwai Richard Iwai (born 15 March 1979, Vanuatu) is a former Vanuatuan international footballer who played most of his career for Tafea as a forward. He's currently assistant coach of Ifira Black Bird and the head coach of the Vanuatu under-23 te ...

Moise Poida Moise Poida (born 2 April 1979) is a Vanuatuan Association football, football Association football manager, manager and former player. He manages the Vanuatu national football team, Vanuatu men's national team and has been a former manager of clu ...

;1 goal * Ramin Ott * Thomas La Mouton * Kunda Tom * Joasaia Bukalidi * Peni Finau * José Hmaé * Yohann Mercier * Poulidor Toto * Damien Fonoti *

Junior Michael Junior Michael is a former association footballer from Samoa, who played as a forward during his career. Michael played for 5 clubs as well as the Samoa national football team. Club career Titavi FC Michael began his career with the club fro ...

Lionel Taylor Lionel Thomas Taylor (born August 15, 1935) is a former American football wide receiver who led the American Football League (AFL) in receptions for five of the first six years of the league's existence. College football Taylor attended New ...

* Judd Molea * Samson Takayama * Temarii Tinorua *

Axel Williams Axel Williams (born 3 December 1983 in Pirae) is a Tahitian footballer currently playing for AS Tefana. Career Club Williams started his professional career 2005 with AS Pirae. After five years left Piraé and joined to AS Tefana, who played ...

* Unaloto Feao * Lafeale Moala * Malakai Savieti * Kaisani Uhatahi * Viliamu Sekifu * Andrew Chichirua * Victor Maleb * Jean Nako Naprapol * Tom Tomake ;Own goals * Stephen Willis (playing against

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Football At The 2007 South Pacific Games 1 Football at the 2007 South Pacific Games 2007 Pac 2007 South Pacific Games