The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six FIFA-recognised continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 member associations, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. The OFC promotes football in Oceania and allows its member nations to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
OFC is predominantly made up of island nations where association football is not the most popular sport, with low GDP and low population meaning very little money is generated by the OFC nations. The OFC has little influence in the wider football world, either in terms of international competition or as a source of players for high-profile club competitions. OFC is the only confederation to have no international titles, the best result being then-member Australia making the final of the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup.
In 2006, Football Federation Australia, representing the OFC's then-largest and most successful nation, left for a second time to join the Asian Football Confederation, leaving New Zealand Football as the largest federation within the OFC. Since then, New Zealand have served as the dominant force in Oceanian football, winning every FIFA World Cup qualification tournament and all but one OFC Nations Cups in that span.
OFC runs club competitions such as the Champions League and the Pro League, whose inaugural season began in January 2026. Northern League side Auckland City are widely considered to be the most successful club in the region, winning a record 13 Champions Leagues and routinely represent the continent in the FIFA Club World Cup. Prior to the establishment of the Pro League, Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix were the region's only professional clubs and have played as expatriate members in Australia's A-League. In the past year, S-League side Real Kakamora have established a significantly-sized international fanbase due to their notable on-field results and social media presence and are also considered to be one of the most popular clubs in the region.
The president of OFC is Lambert Maltock since April 2018. The vice presidents are Thierry Ariiotima, John Kapi Natto and Lord Ve'ehala while Franck Castillo is the general secretary. The confederation is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand.
Contents
History
The confederation formed in 1966 with the purpose of representing countries in the Pacific, following Australia and New Zealand's failed attempts to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The idea of forming a Pacific confederation was first raised in 1964. This proposal was pushed by Sid Guppy of the New Zealand Football Association (NZFA), Jim Bayutti of the Australian Soccer Federation and then-FIFA president Stanley Rous, with Guppy and Bayutti both being spurred on by the AFC's rejections. After initial discussions were held in Tokyo in 1964, Scottish-born Charlie Dempsey was approached by the NZFA to work with Bayutti in putting together the bid to create the Oceania Football Confederation. The two garnered enough support for their bid to be approved by FIFA's congress in 1966. The founding OFC members were the following:
the Australian Soccer Federation (subsequently rebranded Football Australia in 2005)
New Zealand Football Association (also known as New Zealand Soccer: subsequently rebranded New Zealand Football)
the Fiji Football Association
the Papua New Guinea Football Association
Representatives from New Caledonia were also involved in the 1966 OFC founding, but New Caledonia could only be a provisional member, as the territory did not have sporting autonomy from France at that time.
Australia resigned as an OFC member in 1972 to again pursue membership with the AFC, but rejoined the OFC in 1978, and were never official members of the AFC during the 1970s. After the 1972 departure from the OFC, Lou Gautier of Australian publication Soccer World said, "[we] have contended from the very start that the conception of an Oceania Confederation was a pipe dream, with no tangible advantages for Australian soccer." Bayutti resigned from the OFC in 1970, in preparation for Australia's planned move to the AFC, with Charles Dempsey being appointed OFC acting secretary as a result. Dempsey also served as the head of the New Zealand national body. Dempsey remained the OFC acting secretary for the next ten years, and he was eventually elected president in 1982. Previous presidents included New Zealanders William Walkley and Jack Cowie, and Australians Vic Tuting and Arthur George. Dempsey served as president until 2000, and he convinced smaller Pacific states to join the confederation, including Samoa (in 1986), Vanuatu (in 1988), Tahiti (in 1990), Tonga and the Cook Islands (both in 1994) and American Samoa (in 1998). Dempsey is currently the last OFC president to have been based in either New Zealand or Australia, with all subsequent presidents having emerged from other countries in the Pacific.
Criticism
Throughout the OFC's history, there have been numerous calls to either merge it with the AFC, or dissolve the OFC and have its members join the AFC, in order to form an Asia-Pacific Football Confederation. The calls grew louder in 2003 when FIFA reversed a decision to grant Oceania an automatic spot at the World Cup. Australia's lack of World Cup participation prior to 2006 has been blamed by many on the OFC qualification process, with football writer Matthew Hall stating in 2003, "For World Cup qualification, the Socceroos will win games by cricket scores and then face a sudden-death play-off against a desperate, battle-hardened opponent given a second, or even third, life."
A major reason for Australia's 2006 switch to the AFC was the unpredictable nature of the mandatory inter-confederation playoffs. Australia and New Zealand's 1974 and 1982 qualifications both came in qualifying tournaments where OFC teams were competing alongside AFC teams; the two countries did not have a playoff with a team from outside these two confederations. When the OFC was given a separate qualification process for the 1986 World Cup, their teams lost five consecutive inter-confederation playoffs (usually against South American nations), with Australia being involved in four of the five losses. Another reason cited for Australia's move was their dominance against the smaller OFC teams, which was causing political tension within the confederation. When announcing Australia's move in June 2005, then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter remarked, "the Oceania delegates have thought for many years that Australia was too powerful and blocked the way of the other 11 countries. Now New Zealand, and the Pacific islands at least have a chance."
In 2005, shortly before Australia left the OFC, there was an unsuccessful proposal to merge the AFC and the OFC. The plan was to divide Asia into two distinct confederations. A new Asia-Pacific confederation would have encompassed the OFC nations (including Australia) and AFC nations to the east of India and Bangladesh, or alternatively, to the east of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The Japanese Football Association was said to be keen on the idea of splitting the AFC, but there was resistance from the Middle Eastern countries.
The mandatory inter-confederation playoff for the best-performing OFC team was abolished starting with the 2026 World Cup, following the tournament's expansion from 32 teams to 48. Beginning with the qualification for the 2026 tournament, the best performing OFC team is granted an automatic World Cup berth, with the second best being given an inter-confederation playoff spot.
Presidents
Current leaders
Source:
Member nations
Current members
OFC is made up of 11 full member associations and 2 associate members. Those two are associate members of the OFC, but are not FIFA members.
Potential future members
Federated States of Micronesia: The Federated States of Micronesia were announced as new associate members of the OFC following the 2006 Extraordinary Congress. It is unclear when they were removed from the association. In 2010 the Federated States of Micronesia Football Association submitted an application to the East Asian Football Federation in hopes of taking the steps to join FIFA. However, the application was not successful. In 2017 Englishman Paul Watson who was connected to the association said, "I think it's starting to look like Micronesia is best off looking to Oceania rather than Asia. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't get into OFC within the next year or two, but it'll all depend on the people inside the organisation." The FSMFA reformed in 2023 and identified gaining membership in the AFC or OFC and FIFA as a main priority. In a July 2023 interview with the Daily Mirror, association President Brian Southwick stated that the goal was to join the OFC because of the level of competition and proximity to other members.
Marshall Islands: The Marshall Islands Soccer Federation was created in 2020. The organisation's goal is to join the regional and world governing bodies "in the coming years." The Marshall Islands national soccer team played their first football matches at the 2025 Outrigger Challenge Cup.
Nauru: Nauru is one of the few fully-sovereign nations that is not a member of FIFA or a regional confederation. The Nauru Soccer Federation has reportedly applied for membership in both the OFC and FIFA but was denied. In 2009 the Nauruan Minister of Sport Rayong Itsimaera indicated that there were challenges preventing them from joining both bodies, presumably the lack of a league system and a preference for Australian rules football by the population. Nauru has been participating in some OFC initiatives since at least 2020. In 2023 the federation was relaunched under the auspices of the Nauru Olympic Committee with the stated purpose of fielding a national team and joining the OFC and FIFA. The Nauru Soccer Federation have now started to focus on youth development and identifying diaspora instead of creating a senior national team or league.
Palau: The Palau Football Association has been a member of the OFC in the past, being announced as a new member at the organisation's 2006 Extraordinary Congress, alongside the Federated States of Micronesia. In 2009 the association asked to join the East Asian Football Federation, a sub-regional body under the Asian Football Confederation.
Former members
Israel had its men's national team enter the OFC qualifying tournaments for the FIFA World Cup in 1986 and 1990 due to political reasons, though it was never an OFC member.
Non-members
Three associations are geographically in Oceania but not affiliated with the OFC but are instead members of the Asian Football Confederation:
Australia
Guam
Northern Mariana Islands
Most of the island states off the Pacific coast of Asia (including Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines) had already joined the AFC prior to the formation of the OFC. The island state of Chinese Taipei (also known as Taiwan) was in the OFC throughout the 1970s and 1980s, as a result of Chinese political tensions. It had been affiliated with the AFC prior to the OFC move, and eventually rejoined it.
Three CONIFA members are geographically in Oceania but not affiliated with the OFC nor FIFA as they do not meet membership requirements:
Hawaii
West Papua
Easter Island (unconfirmed membership at CONIFA)
The Juan Fernández Islands in the eastern Pacific are a special territory of Chile and members of Conselho Sul-Americano de Novas Federações de Futebol, which is for teams that are not recognised by CONMEBOL. They also have played games against Chile's other special territory of Easter Island, since they are their nearest island group.
Competitions
National teams
Men's
OFC Men's Nations Cup
OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
OFC U-19 Men's Championship
OFC U-16 Men's Championship
OFC Futsal Championship
OFC Youth Futsal Tournament
OFC Beach Soccer Championship
Women's
OFC Women's Nations Cup
OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
OFC U-20 Women's Championship
OFC U-17 Women's Championship
OFC Women's Futsal Cup
Clubs
Men's
OFC Champions League
OFC Professional League
OFC Futsal Champions League
Women's
OFC Women's Champions League
Former tournaments
Clubs
Oceania Cup Winners' Cup
OFC President's Cup
FIFA World Rankings
Major tournament records
Legend
1st – Champion
2nd – Runner-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
QF – Quarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present: knockout round of 8)
R3 – Round 3 (2026–present: knockout round of 16)
R2 – Round 2 (1974–1978: second group stage, top 8; 1982: second group stage, top 12; 1986–2022: knockout round of 16; 2026–present: knockout round of 32)
R1 – Round 1 (1930, 1950–1970 and 1986–present: group stage; 1934–1938: knockout round of 16; 1974–1982: first group stage)
•• — Qualified but withdrew
• — Did not qualify
× — Did not enter / withdrawn / banned / disqualified
— Hosts
For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.
FIFA World Cup
Oceania has sent representatives to the FIFA World Cup five times: Australia in 1974 and 2006, and New Zealand in 1982, 2010, and 2026. Of these, only Australia in 2006 progressed beyond the first round.
The OFC was previously the only FIFA confederation that did not have a guaranteed spot in the World Cup finals. Between 1966 and 1982, OFC teams joined the Asian zone qualification tournament, while from 1986 onwards, the winners of the Oceanian zone qualification tournament had to enter the intercontinental play-offs against teams from other confederations in order to gain a spot in the FIFA World Cup.
Beginning in 2026, the OFC had a guaranteed spot in the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history, as a result of the competition's expansion from 32 to 48 teams.
1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (Africa, Asia and Oceania)
1970 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)
1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)
1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)
1986 UEFA–OFC play-off
1990 CONMEBOL–OFC play-off
Israel played in the OFC zone for political reasons.
1994 CONCACAF–OFC play-off
1994 CONMEBOL–OFC play-off
1998 AFC–OFC play-off
2002 CONMEBOL–OFC play-off
2006 CONMEBOL–OFC play-off
2010 AFC–OFC play-off
OFC Women's Nations Cup
Notes
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Notes
Former tournaments
Notes