00:04The Oceania Football Confederation is FIFA's smallest and most overlooked.
00:13It contains just 11 full members, all Pacific Island nations, stretching from New Zealand in the south to Papua New
00:23Guinea in the north.
00:27Australia were founder members of the OFC in 1966, but they left in 2006 to join the Asian Football Confederation.
00:39Australia and New Zealand are the only countries to qualify for the Men's World Cup as members of the OFC.
00:47The Socceroos accomplished the feat in 1974 and 2006, the All-Whites in 1982 and 2010.
00:58Those four appearances have delivered a return of just one solitary victory.
01:07The expansion of the World Cup finals means teams from the region will be guaranteed further opportunities to improve on
01:14this record.
01:15But the standard of football is so historically poor, it will take an enormous transformation for anything resembling competitiveness on
01:25a consistent basis.
01:29Since Australia left, New Zealand have been the dominant force in the OFC, but their average rank over the past
01:3630 years has been around 100 in the world, only very occasionally piercing the top 50.
01:46Behind them, Fiji and New Caledonia are the only other nations to periodically graze the top 100.
01:57The reasons for such lowly status are obvious.
02:01Most of the members of the OFC contain tiny populations, with only New Zealand and Papua New Guinea measuring in
02:09the millions.
02:12And there is the lack of economic development, meaning many members lack the infrastructure to support a high-performance football
02:19community.
02:23On top of that, some of these members do not consider football a priority sport.
02:29New Zealand is a world-renowned rugby union nation, while Papua New Guinea is obsessed with rugby league.
02:38A further consideration is the status of many Pacific islands as dependent territories.
02:45For example, New Caledonia is enshrined in the constitution of France.
02:50So when a talent emerges, like Christian Carambeur, they are absorbed into the French pathway.
02:59Carambeur's roots were celebrated when he helped France with the 1998 World Cup, and he remains the most significant player
03:07to emerge from the region.
03:09For that reason, he is often the de facto spokesperson for football in the area, such as with the recent
03:15expansion of the Club World Cup, and how it can benefit the OFC.
03:28When you have this opportunity to take part in an international competition like the World Cup, you obviously need to
03:34be ready and to focus on the tournament.
03:39It means that ahead of it, professionalization work needs to be carried out in terms of resources, be it human
03:45or material resources.
03:51It also requires appropriate sports facilities, which meet the elite level standard.
03:59So yes, integrating and including several teams in this competition drives local and regional development within both confederations and countries.
04:14Unlike FIFA's other confederations that operate to service the game from the very top down to the grassroots, the OFC
04:22is more strongly focused at the entry level.
04:26In fact, it means that there is no need to be a part of the competition.
04:31Although, should New Zealand follow Australia into the AFC, the rationale for persisting with the OFC diminishes.
04:39But that eventuality seems some way off, with the recent Women's World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand,
04:47an example of how the confederations can operate effectively, in tandem.
04:55We are in a good space with regards to Oceania, but we are also on the doorstep of Asia and,
05:01you know, we share a lot of cultural similarities and we share a lot of opportunities to collaborate further between
05:08Asia and Oceania.
05:10So that partnership, which you have seen in the Women's World Cup bid and the hosting, is only the beginning
05:16of how the two confederations could work together in the future.
05:20The 2023 Women's World Cup is the only major international competition ever to be staged in the OFC.
05:28And hopes are high that its success will drive long term growth for football in the region.
05:34We have another first for this tournament and it's the first time that we've brought both the member associations, the
05:42confederations and FIFA together to look at legacy and it's for the tournament.
05:49So it's not just about legacy now, it's about legacy beyond at the end of the tournament.
05:54How are we working together to elevate the game, to increase participation?
05:59Small, but perfectly formed, the Oceania Football Confederation makes for a unique collection of football nations.
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