The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six "continental" confederations of international football. It promotes the game in Oceania and allows the member nations to qualify for the Football World Cup.

The confederation was formed in 1966 and the founding members were the Australian Soccer Federation (now Football Federation Australia), New Zealand Soccer Inc , and Fiji Football Association . On May 24, 2004, New Caledonia became the 12th member of the OFC.

OFC became a fully-fledged confederation in 1996, for the purposes of World Cup qualification for the 1998 Cup, with only "half a place" (the right to compete in a home-and-away playoff with the team ranked fifth in the South American (CONMEBOL) qualifying competition). The OFC members also play for the OFC Nations Cup, which is held every second year.

Despite occasional giant-killing performances by New Zealand against Australian sides without their full complement of overseas-based professionals, only the Australian national side, commonly called "the Socceroos", is regarded as even a potential force in world soccer. In the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, which doubled as the Oceania qualifying tournament for the 2006 World Cup, the Solomon Islands unexpectedly made the finals against Australia, knocking out New Zealand in the second group phase. Australia easily won the local competition, beating the Solomons 5:1 in Honiara and 6:0 in Sydney. The two teams will meet again in a two-legged World Cup qualifying final in September 2005 for the right to play the CONMEBOL representative for a place in the World Cup final.

The OFC, and its "half place", is regarded by most Australian football enthusiasts as an impediment to World Cup qualification. Former Australia captain the late Johnny Warren, for example, was vocal in advocating the disbanding of the Oceania confederation and that the top two sides from the region (which would be Australia and New Zealand for the foreseeable future) should play in Asia's qualification tournament where they would have a chance to qualify in a sequence of matches rather than only in a do-or-die playoff.

Early in 2005, Australia's national federation entered into talks with the Asian Football Confederation with the goal of a possible move from the OFC to the AFC. On March 23, the AFC executive committee unanimously approved the Australian proposal. The next step in Australia's move to the AFC was a formal request to resign from the OFC, which was unanimously approved by the OFC executive committee on April 17. Before the move can take place, FIFA must give its approval; FIFA is expected to make its decision by the end of 2005.

External links

• Oceania Football Confederation Official Site