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The Fiji national football team is
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
's national men's team and is controlled by the governing body of football in Fiji, the
Fiji Football Association The Fiji Football Association is the governing body of football in Fiji. It came into existence in 1961. It is the overseeing body of the Fiji National Team and its leagues. History Football started to be played in Fiji ever since the arrival o ...
. The team plays most of their home games at the
HFC Bank Stadium The HFC Bank Stadium ( formally known as ANZ Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Suva, Fiji. HFC Stadium is used primarily for rugby league, rugby union and football matches, and features a track as well as a pitch suitable for worldwide com ...
in
Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...
. Fiji first participated in
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
qualification in 1982; since 1990 Fiji have attempted to qualify for each World Cup without success. Their best result was a final round appearance in
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. The national team also represents Fiji at the
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 ...
having appeared in eight out of ten previous tournaments. Fiji's best result is a third-place finish at the 1998 and
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
editions. They have won the
Melanesia Cup The MSG Prime Minister's Cup, formerly known as Melanesia Cup is an association football championship played between the Melanesian countries, it was used (along with the Polynesia Cup) for qualification to the Oceania Nations Cup. The original ...
five times and competed in the
Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games wer ...
from 1963 until 2015 when the competition became an under-23 tournament.


History


Beginnings (1951–1973)

Fiji's first international football game was against a
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 ...
side that was touring
Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
and had played four games against
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
. The international, which took place on 7 October 1951, saw New Zealand getting the win 6-4.
Jock Newall John White Newall (21 July 1917 – 21 January 2004) was an association football player who represented New Zealand at international level. Early career Newall debuted professionally for his hometown club Ayr United before World War II interrup ...
got a
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
for New Zealand. New Zealand returned the following year, with Fiji losing all three games, including a 9–0 drubbing in the second match. After being absent from the international game for eleven years, the
Fiji Football Association The Fiji Football Association is the governing body of football in Fiji. It came into existence in 1961. It is the overseeing body of the Fiji National Team and its leagues. History Football started to be played in Fiji ever since the arrival o ...
joined
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
in 1963. That same year, the national team entered the first edition of the
South Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games wer ...
, held in Fiji. In that tournament, the country appeared in its first gold medal match after defeating Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, but lost the match to New Caledonia 8–2. Marc-Kanyan Case scored four goals for the opposition and Fiji was relegated to silver. After missing 1966, the team's next tournament appearance was in the 1969 Games held in
Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
, Papua New Guinea. They finished in fourth place out of six teams after losing to
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 ...
in the bronze medal playoff. Two years later, Fiji finished at the bottom of Group two with losses against New Caledonia and New Hebrides. They would, however, defeat the
Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...
in the fifth place play-off.


World Cup qualifying debut and Oceania upsets (1973–1991)

As a member of the
Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...
, Fiji played in the first edition of the
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 ...
held in New Zealand in 1973. They did not win a match in the four games they played during the tournament. Competing at the 1975 South Pacific Games the national team, under coach Sashi Mahendra Singh, made the semi-finals of the competition where they lost to
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 Austr ...
. In the third-place playoff, they lost to 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 capita ...
by a goal. After John Lal became the new coach for Fiji in 1977, his first match as coach was an unofficial game against
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
which ended in a two-all draw before taking on Australia who played Taiwan because of the soccer ban in the country. On 19 March 1977, they took on Australia at Buckhurst Park. Seven national players from Ba F.C. were unavailable due to a planned tour of New Zealand. After holding off the Australians for the first forty-five minutes, Jimmy Okete (who was making his debut) scored the only goal of the game. This was a shock to the locals since the team struggled in the two tours to Australia in 1961 and 1968 against the state teams. Under the orders of new coach, Moti Musadilal, they played some pre-tournament friendlies against New Zealand conceding nine goals in the two games before competing at the 1979 South Pacific Games in
Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...
. After getting a nil all draw against Papua New Guinea, they scored their biggest win against
Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...
winning by twenty-four goals. After defeating
Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (; french: Wallis-et-Futuna or ', Fakauvea and Fakafutuna: '), is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji ...
in the quarter-finals and Solomon Islands in the semis, they made it to their second Pacific Games final against Tahiti. In front of over twenty thousand people, Fiji came up short again with
Erroll Bennett Erroll Bennett (born 7 May 1950) is a former Tahitian footballer, who spent most of his career with AS Central Sport. Bennett placed fifteenth in a 1999 poll by International Federation of Football History & Statistics to find the Player of the Ce ...
scoring a double to give Tahiti the gold medal. Fiji's next tournament was the 1980 OFC Nations Cup where they were grouped with New Zealand, Solomon Islands and Tahiti. After defeating the Solomon Islands in the opening game, they were expected to lose against New Zealand who were the favourites to win the group. On 27 February 1980, they became the first Fijian team to defeat a New Zealand team with
Dewan Chand Dewan Chand is a Indo-Fijian educationist, politician and convicted sex abuser. Chand had been a secondary school principal, and an active member of the Fiji Teachers Union before joining politics. He was elected to Parliament as a Fiji Labour Pa ...
and
Meli Vuilabasa Meli may refer to: People with the surname * Angelo Meli (1897–1969), American mobster * Francis Meli (born 1979), New Zealand rugby league player * Giovanni Meli (1740–1815), Italian poet * Mangi Meli, Tanzanian royalty People with the given ...
both scoring two goals in the victory. Fiji did not make it to the final. They lost first to Tahiti 6–3, and then lost the third-place playoff to New Caledonia 2–1, in what was the last Oceania Cup for sixteen years. The following year saw a new coach with former New Zealand coach Wally Hughes leading the team into their first
World Cup qualifiers The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...
. After opening with a four-goal defeat against New Zealand, they drew with
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
nil-all, before defeating
Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...
2–1 to be in third place with three points. For Fiji that momentum was short-lived. They finished at the bottom of the group after conceding twenty-three goals in the final two games against Australia and New Zealand. Hughes resigned after the Australian game stating, "I wouldn't wish on any coach what I have been through," suggesting that bribery was involved in the defeat to Australia. After two years absence from international football, the national team, under
Rudi Gutendorf Rudolf Gutendorf (30 August 1926 – 13 September 2019) was a German football manager, renowned for managing the highest number of national teams – a total of 18 teams plus Iran's Olympic team in 1988 and the China Olympic team in 1992 ...
, competed at the 1983 South Pacific Games in Samoa. After finishing top of the group that featured New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, they defeated Papua New Guinea 2–0 in the quarter-finals before knocking off New Caledonia in the semi-final. In the final, they lost to Tahiti by a single goal which was contested by the players who attacked the referee and linesmen. Another similar incident in a friendly against New Zealand happened the following year. This led to a one-year ban of international matches being held at Fiji. Fiji's next tournament was the 1988 Melanesia Cup held in the Solomon Islands. The national team won the final against the Solomon Islands 3–1 to claim their first title. Later in that year, they competed in the first round of the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification against Australia, with the motivation of five hundred Fijian dollars bonus for each player if they won. In front of six thousand people, they defeated Australia 1–0 with Ravuame Madigi scoring the goal to take the lead heading into the second leg. The second leg though saw Australia take out the match by a score of 5–1 in what media called the "Battle of Newcastle". It included an all-in brawl in the last part of the match which saw
Charlie Yankos Charlie Yankos (born 29 May 1961) is an Australian former footballer who played for the Australian national team 49 times and scored 7 international goals. He captained the national team on 30 occasions between 1986 and 1989. Charlie Yankos s ...
get a broken nose. After claiming the 1989 Melanesia Cup at home, in the following year they finished in third place behind Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The team headed to Tahiti for the 1991 South Pacific Games where they finished top of the group before defeating Vanuatu in the semi-finals. In the final, they took on the Solomon Islands where Radike Nawalu scored the opening goal of the game in the 29th minute to give Fiji the lead. The game went to penalties with Fiji winning the gold for the first time.


Melanesia powerhouse (1991–2003)

Fiji competed at the
1994 FIFA World Cup qualification The 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 1994 FIFA World Cup featured 24 teams with one place reserved for the host nation, United States, and one place for the defending champi ...
in Group B with Vanuatu and New Zealand. After losing to New Zealand in the opening game of qualifying at
Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, they headed off to Vanuatu to compete at the 1992 Melanesia Cup. They took the cup for the third time with the difference being one goal over New Caledonia. After a 3–0 win over Vanuatu in Suva, they tied with New Zealand at the same ground. In the final game of the group, they defeated Vanuatu in
Port Vila Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate. Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the pr ...
by the same scoreline. That game was a dead rubber as they finished behind New Zealand and were eliminated from contention. After not qualifying for the 1996 OFC Nations Cup having finished second at the 1994 Melanesia Cup, at the 1995 South Pacific Games in Tahiti Fiji won the bronze medal by defeating Vanuatu in the bronze medal playoff. Attempting to qualify for the
1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
, Fiji got a bye into the second round of qualifying where they were paired with New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The top team qualified for the third round. The nation finished in second place with losses to New Zealand both at home (1–0) and away (5–0) being the critical factors in their elimination. Fiji's next tournament was the 1998 OFC Nations Cup after they qualified by taking out the 1998 Melanesia Cup held in Vanuatu. The only blemish being a one–all draw against the Solomon Islands. After losing to the hosts (Australia) 3–0 in their first game, they defeated the
Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...
3–1 to secure a semi-final spot where they fell to New Zealand by a single goal. This put them into the third-place playoff where they defeated Tahiti for their best result to date at the
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 ...
with a third-place.
Esala Masi Esala Masi (born 9 March 1974) is a retired Fijian footballer, who played as a striker. Club career Masi began his football career at his hometown club Ba before he signed with National Soccer League (NSL) club Gippsland Falcons in January ...
was the top goalscorer for the tournament with three goals. Fiji qualified for the following edition of the Nations Cup after winning the title at the 2000 Melanesia Cup in Fiji. But later that year, Fiji withdrew because of political unrest in the country, which led to the
2000 Fijian coup d'état The Fiji coup d'état of 2000 was a civilian coup d'état by hardline i-Taukei (ethnic Fijian) nationalists against the elected government of an Indo-Fijian Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry on 19 May 2000. This was followed by an attempt on ...
. Fiji's
qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
for the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
started at
Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...
when they were grouped with American Samoa, Australia, Samoa and Tonga in Group one. In the opening game of the group, they defeated American Samoa 13–0 to record their biggest win in a FIFA match. Shailemdra Lal scored five goals;
Esala Masi Esala Masi (born 9 March 1974) is a retired Fijian footballer, who played as a striker. Club career Masi began his football career at his hometown club Ba before he signed with National Soccer League (NSL) club Gippsland Falcons in January ...
scored four. After defeating Samoa 6–1, they lost to Australia 2–0 to finish in second place and were eliminated from contention. Only the top team from the group qualified through to the second round. They met Australia again at the
2002 OFC Nations Cup The 2002 OFC Nations Cup took place in New Zealand, between 5 and 14 July 2002. The competition was divided into two group stages, with a knockout tournament at the end. Before the tournament, 11 of the nations were seeded according to their 20 ...
in New Zealand. They finished in third place in the group after only winning against New Caledonia followed by an 8–0 loss against Australia. This eliminated Fiji from the semi-finals and saw the sack of Billy Singh ending a seven-year reign in his third stint as coach of the national team. Fiji claimed the 2003 South Pacific Games gold medal at home. The squad, which consisted mostly of young players, was able to go unbeaten throughout the tournament defeating New Caledonia in the gold medal match.
Esala Masi Esala Masi (born 9 March 1974) is a retired Fijian footballer, who played as a striker. Club career Masi began his football career at his hometown club Ba before he signed with National Soccer League (NSL) club Gippsland Falcons in January ...
was Fiji's top scorer for Fiji with twelve goals which included the seven in the 12–0 win over Kiribati in the group stage.


Recent times (2004–)

Fiji's qualification for the
2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
started in Samoa. They finished in second place in the qualifying group which featured Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and American Samoa. Their only loss was against Vanuatu on the final match-day. This meant that Fiji qualified through to the
2004 OFC Nations Cup The 2004 OFC Nations Cup was the edition of the tournament for the OFC Nations Cup and doubled as the qualification tournament to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, except the two-legged final. A separate playoff between Australia and Solomon Islands wa ...
. After drawing with Tahiti and getting a win over Vanuatu, their World Cup chance ended when Fiji lost the next three matches and were eliminated at the second stage of qualifying. Fiji's next tournament was the 2007 South Pacific Games in Samoa, which was also the first round of qualifying 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 ...
in South Africa. After getting safely through the group, which included Tuvalu, Tahiti, Cook Islands and New Caledonia, they took on Vanuatu for a spot in the semi-finals to qualify for the next round. In the semi-finals, they defeated Vanuatu to advance to the second round of qualifying with a three-goal victory, confirming their spot in the gold medal match. They lost by a single goal to New Caledonia, however, to finish runner-up for the fourth time. The second round of qualifying got off to a rocky start. Goalkeeper,
Simione Tamanisau Simione Tamanisau (born 5 June 1982) is a Fijian international footballer, who plays as a goalkeeper and striker for Suva in the National Football League. Club career Tamanisau has spent his entire domestic career so far in his native Fiji. Du ...
was refused entry because his father had been linked to the
2006 Fijian coup d'état The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 was a coup d'état carried out by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, against the government of President Josefa Iloilo. Iloilo was removed as president, but ...
. The match was moved to the end of the qualifying period with Fiji winning 2–0. During that reschedule, the national team played the rest of their World Cup games. The team finished in third place in the group after getting only one point in their first three games—a three-all draw against New Caledonia. This was a key factor as the later 4–0 loss to the same team ended their hopes for qualifying to the next stage. Under the guidance of Gurjit Singh, the team competed at the
2011 Pacific Games The 2011 Pacific Games (officially known as NC 2011) took place in Nouméa, New Caledonia, from August 27 to September 10, 2011. Nouméa was the 14th host of the Pacific Games. Upon closure of the registration for entries, "some 4,300 athletes" h ...
in New Caledonia. In the group stage, the team qualified for the semi-finals with a game to spare as they would go through with a clean sweep of wins. In the semi-finals, they took the lead against the Solomon Islands in the sixty-ninth minute of play with a goal by
Maciu Dunadamu Maciu Samaidrawa Dunadamu (born 14 June 1986) is a Fijian footballer, who currently plays for Savusavu in the Fiji Senior League. Career Dunadamu started his soccer career in the Labasa Sangam Primary School. After graduating, he left Labasa ...
. But goals from Joses Nawo and
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 ...
, however, gave the Solomon Islands the win and a spot in the gold medal match. Fiji finished in fourth place losing to Tahiti in the bronze medal match 2–1. Juan Carlos Buzzetti returned to Fiji's top job as he led the team to the 2012 OFC Nations Cup. This was also the second part of qualifying for the
2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
. Competing in Group B, they lost the opening game to New Zealand. The only goalscorer of the match was Kiwi player Tommy Smith in the eleventh minute. After a nil-all draw against the Solomon Islands, they got their only goal of the tournament with
Maciu Dunadamu Maciu Samaidrawa Dunadamu (born 14 June 1986) is a Fijian footballer, who currently plays for Savusavu in the Fiji Senior League. Career Dunadamu started his soccer career in the Labasa Sangam Primary School. After graduating, he left Labasa ...
opening the scoring against Papua New Guinea in the fifteenth minute. But a late goal from
Kema Jack Kema Jack (born 10 January 1982) is an international footballer for Papua New Guinea. He played in the 2012 OFC Nations Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a ...
ended the tournament for Fiji with a draw and knocked them out in the group stage. After not competing in a senior international for three years, the national team had two friendlies against A-League side
Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
before entering their under-23 squad for the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea. This was also a qualifier for the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in Brazil. After losing the opening game, they got a draw in the second match with
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 ...
and
Ilimotama Jese Ilimotama Jese (born 16 March 1990) is a Fijian Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Nadi F.C. in the National Football League (Fiji), Fijian National Football League. References

...
each scoring a goal for Fiji. More friendlies took place before the national team headed to Papua New Guinea for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup. This was also the second round of
qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
for the 2018 World Cup. With a squad that only had three outside of the National League, Fiji lost the opening game against New Zealand with Krishna getting the only goal in the 3–1 loss. After defeating the Solomon Islands in their second game with a Krishna goal, they needed to at least draw Vanuatu in the final group game to have a chance at qualifying to the semis. After almost getting the early lead from Krishna, Fiji fell behind by two goals from
Dominique Fred "Dominique" is a 1963 French language popular song, written and performed by the Belgian female singer Jeannine Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French) or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-bo ...
and Fenedy Masauvakalo giving Vanuatu the lead. The second half saw Fiji tie the match at two-all as goals from Samuela Kautoga and Krishna gave the team hope of qualifying. But Fiji was eliminated from the competition as a penalty in the 75th minute by
Brian Kaltack Brian Kaltak (born 30 September 1993) is a Vanuatuan international footballer who plays for Australian club Central Coast Mariners as a central defender. Career Kaltak has played club football with Waterside Karori, Hekari United, Solomon Warri ...
gave Vanuatu a spot in the semis by goal difference. For finishing third place, they qualified through to the
third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...
of qualifying. Fiji was drawn to face New Zealand and New Caledonia in Group A. Before the first game against New Zealand,
Frank Farina Frank Farina OAM (born 5 September 1964) is an Australian football (soccer) coach and former player who played as a forward. His playing career spanned Australia, Belgium, France, Italy and England, and was a major player for the Australian ...
was replaced by Christophe Gamel in the top job with Gamel stating, "We respect our opponents and we know that they are strong" in his first press conference as manager. Fiji only got a single point from their four games. That point was against New Caledonia at
Lautoka Lautoka () is the second largest Local government in Fiji, city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing r ...
with the game ending in a two–all draw.


Kit sponsorship


Home stadium

The first soccer international held in Fiji was held at Albert Park, when New Zealand took on the hosts in 1951. The stadium, the main centre in Fiji during the early 20th century, was also the home of cricket and of the country's first
Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
test match in 1926. In modern times, most games hosted by Fiji are held at the
HFC Bank Stadium The HFC Bank Stadium ( formally known as ANZ Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Suva, Fiji. HFC Stadium is used primarily for rugby league, rugby union and football matches, and features a track as well as a pitch suitable for worldwide com ...
, which was built in 1951 and has been renovated twice. The first renovation was in 1978 for the 1979 South Pacific Games held in Suva. A second renovation took place in 2012 sponsored by ANZ Fiji at a cost 17.5 million Fijian dollars in exchange for the stadium's naming rights. The football team has also played games at
Lautoka Lautoka () is the second largest Local government in Fiji, city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing r ...
, Ba,
Nausori Nausori () is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 57,866 at the 2017 census. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers outside of Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corrido ...
and
Labasa Labasa (pronounced ) is a town in Fiji with a population of 27,949 at the most recent census held in 2007. Labasa is located in Macuata Province, in the north-eastern part of the island of Vanua Levu, and is the largest town on the island. T ...
.


Results and fixtures

''For recent past match results, see the team's 1951–1999 and 2000–present results pages.'' In March 2022, Fiji played their first matches since they took part in the
2019 Pacific Games The 2019 Pacific Games was the sixteenth edition of the Pacific Games. The Games were held in Apia, Samoa, returning there for the first time since 2007. It was the third time overall that the Pacific Games were held in Samoa. The event was init ...
.


2022


Current technical staff


Coaching history

* Sashi Mahendra Singh (1960–1972) *
Mohammed Ali Sahu Khan Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...
(1972–1974) * Sashi Mahendra Singh (1974–1976) * John Lal (1977–1978) * Moti Musadilal (1979) * Sashi Mahendra Singh (1980) * Wally Hughes (1981–1982) *
Rudi Gutendorf Rudolf Gutendorf (30 August 1926 – 13 September 2019) was a German football manager, renowned for managing the highest number of national teams – a total of 18 teams plus Iran's Olympic team in 1988 and the China Olympic team in 1992 ...
(1983) * Michael Thoman (1983–1984) * Billy Singh (1985–1986) *
Rudi Gutendorf Rudolf Gutendorf (30 August 1926 – 13 September 2019) was a German football manager, renowned for managing the highest number of national teams – a total of 18 teams plus Iran's Olympic team in 1988 and the China Olympic team in 1992 ...
(1987) * Billy Singh (1987–1992) * Danny McLennan (1993–1995) * Billy Singh (1995–2002) *
Les Scheinflug Ladislav "Les" Scheinflug (born 1 October 1938) is a former football (soccer) player and coach. Biography Arriving in Australia in the early 1950s he lived as a youth at Villawood Migrant Hostel and played for the hostel soccer team (Villawood ...
(2002) * Tony Buesnel (2003–2004) *
Lee Sterrey Lee Sterrey (born 1 May 1961) is an Australian soccer coach and former player who last coached Macarthur Rams in his home country in 2016. He has managed in the Australian National Soccer League (NSL) and Fiji. Playing career Sterrey played 87 ...
(2005–2006) * Juan Carlos Buzzetti (2006–2009) *
Yogendra Dutt Yogendra Dutt is a Fijian professional football manager. From 2006 to 2009 he worked as manager for Ba F.C. In July 2009 Dutt is a new coach of Fiji national football team. From 2011 he again works as manager for Ba F.C. Honour * League Champi ...
(2009–2010) * Gurjit Singh (2011) * Juan Carlos Buzzetti (2011–2015) *
Frank Farina Frank Farina OAM (born 5 September 1964) is an Australian football (soccer) coach and former player who played as a forward. His playing career spanned Australia, Belgium, France, Italy and England, and was a major player for the Australian ...
(2015–2016) * Christophe Gamel (2016–2019) * Flemming Serritslev (2020–)


Current squad

The following players were called up for the
FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...
matches in March 2022. ''Caps and goals updated as of 27 March 2022 after the game against
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
.''


Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Fiji.''


Most capped players


Top goalscorers


Competition record


World Cup record


Oceania Nations Cup record


Pacific Games record


Head-to-head record

''Up to matches played on 30 September 2022.''


See also

*
Fiji national under-23 football team The Fiji national under-23 football team, also known as Fiji U23, represents Fiji at U23 tournaments. The team is considered to be the feeder team for the Fiji national football team. History Fiji U23 made the maximum of seven appearances so far a ...
* Fiji national under-20 football team *
Fiji national under-17 football team The Fiji national under-17 football team is the national U-17 team of Fiji and is controlled by the Fiji Football Association. Competition Record FIFA U-17 World Cup record OFC U-17 Championship record The OFC U-17 Championship is a tournament ...
*
Fiji women's national football team The Fiji women's national football team represents Fiji in international women's football. The team is controlled by the Fiji Football Association. Results and fixtures The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well ...
*
Fiji women's national under-20 football team The Fiji women's national under-20 football team is the second highest women's youth team of women's football in Fiji and is controlled by the Fiji Football Association. History Fiji participated five times at the OFC U-19 Women's Championship s ...
* Fiji women's national under-17 football team *
Fiji national rugby union team The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union competes every four years at the Rugby World Cup, and their best performances were the 1987 and 2007 tournaments when they defeated Argentina and Wales resp ...
*
Fiji national cricket team The Fiji national cricket team is the men's team that represents the Republic of Fiji in international cricket. Fiji has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1965,


References


External links


Fiji Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiji National Football Team Oceanian national association football teams