Association football is one of the popular sports in Oceania, and 2 members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) have competed at the sport's biggest event – the men's FIFA World Cup. OFC countries have never hosted the finals so far.

Overview

1930 (13) 1934 (16) 1938 (15) 1950 (13) 1954 (16) 1958 (16) 1962 (16) 1966 (16) 1970 (16) 1974 (16) 1978 (16) 1982 (24) 1986 (24) 1990 (24) 1994 (24) 1998 (32) 2002 (32) 2006 (32) 2010 (32) 2014 (32) 2018 (32) 2022 (32) 2026 (48) 2030(48) 2034(48) Total Teams 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Top 32 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 0 0 Top 16 — — — — — — — — — — — 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Top 8 — 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Top 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Top 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st 0 2nd 0 3rd 0 4th 0

Country # Years Best result   1982, 2010, 2026 GS 1974, 2006 (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 from the AFC) R16 Bold indicates year(s) of best finish

Results Tournament standings Table only includes appearances of teams when qualified as members of OFC. Team Champions Final Semi-finals Quarter-finals Round of 16 Round of 32 0 0 0 0 1 0

Team results by tournament

The team ranking in each tournament is according to FIFA. The rankings, apart from the top four positions (top two in 1930), are not a result of direct competition between the teams; instead, teams eliminated in the same round are ranked by their full results in the tournament.

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

+FIFA World Cup results of OFC members Team1930(13)1934(16)1938(15)1950(13)1954(16)1958(16)1962(16)1966(16)1970(16)1974(16)1978(16)1982(24)1986(24)1990(24)1994(24)1998(32)2002(32)2006(32)2010(32)2014(32)2018(32)2022(32)2026(48)2030(48)2034(48)TotalQual.Comp. rowspan=2 colspan=7 •• GS1 ••••••• R16 GS GS GS R16 R32 TBDTBD 2 11 Member of AFC colspan=3 ••• GS •••••• GS ••• GS TBDTBD 3 15

Legend

1stChampions2ndRunners-up3rdThird place4thFourth placeQFQuarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, 1986–present)R16Knockout round of 16 (1934–1938, 1986–present)R32Knockout round of 32 (2026–present)GSGroup stage (1930, 1950–1970, 1986–present)GS1First group stage (1974–1982)GS2Second group stage (1974–1982)

QQualified for upcoming tournamentTBDTo be determined (may still qualify for upcoming tournament)•Did not qualifyDid not enterstyle="width:10px" Not a FIFA member

Overall team records As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. 3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss. Table only includes appearances of teams when qualified as members of OFC.

Team 27124511−6539045824−164

Appearances

Ranking of teams by number of appearances Only includes appearances of teams when qualified as members of OFC. TeamAppearancesRecord streakActive streakDebutMost recentBest result 3 1 1 1982 2026 2 1 1974 2006 (2006)

Team debuts Year Debutants Total 1974 1 1982 1 Total 2

Not qualified 10 of the 11 active FIFA and OFC members have never qualified for the final tournament.

Country Number of qualifyingattempts 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 2034 11 colspan=7 • ••••••••••TBDTBD 9 colspan=13 •••••••••TBDTBD 9 colspan=14 •••••••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=15 •••••••×•TBDTBD 8 colspan=13 •••••••×•TBDTBD 7 colspan=13 ו•••••×•TBDTBD 7 colspan=14 ••••••×•TBDTBD 6 colspan=16 •••••×•TBDTBD 6 colspan=8 • •×••••TBDTBD 6 colspan=17 ••••••TBDTBD

Legend TBDTo be determined (may still qualify for upcoming tournament)•Did not qualify•×Withdrew or disqualified during qualification (after playing matches)×Withdrew before qualification / Banned / Entry not accepted by FIFADid not enterstyle="width:10px" Not a FIFA member

Summary of performance

This table shows for each world cup the number of countries at the World Cup, the number of entries (#E) from around the world including any rejections and withdrawals, the number of Oceanian entries (#A), how many of those Oceanian entries withdrew (#A-) before/during qualification or were rejected by FIFA, the Oceanian representatives at the World Cup finals, the number of World Cup Qualifiers each Oceanian representative had to play to get to the World Cup (#WCQ), the furthest stage they reached, their results, and their coaches. Year Host(s) Size #E #A #A- Oceanianfinalists #WCQ Stage Results Coach1930 Uruguay131300 – 1934 Italy163200 – 1938 France153700 – 1950 Brazil133400 – 1954 Switzerland164500 – 1958 Sweden165600 – 1962 Chile165600 – 1966 England1674 1Entered in Africa and Asia. 0- 1970 Mexico16 75 2Entered in Asia. 0- 1974 West Germany1699 2 0 11 Group stage lost 0–2 , lost 0–3 , drew 0–0 Ralé Rašić1978 Argentina16107 2 0- 1982 Spain24109 3 0 15 Group stage lost 2–5 , lost 0–3 , lost 0–4 John Adshead1986 Mexico24121 4Israel and Chinese Taipei were also assigned to the Oceanian zone despite not being OFC members. 0- 1990 Italy24116 5Chinese Taipei and Israel were also assigned to the Oceanian zone despite not being OFC members. 0- 1994 USA24147 7 1Western Samoa withdrew.- 1998 France32174 10 0- 2002South Korea and Japan32 199 10 2Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia did not enter- 2006Germany32 197 12 0 9 Round of 16 won 3–1 , lost 0–2 , drew 2–2 R16: lost 0–1 Guus Hiddink2010South Africa32 204 11 0 8 Group stage drew 1–1 , drew 1–1 , drew 0–0 Ricki Herbert2014 Brazil32207 11 0- 2018 Russia32210 11 0- 2022 Qatar32210 11 5Before qualification began, FIFA reported that American Samoa and Samoa had withdrawn. During qualification, Tonga withdrew due to the effects of the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami whilst the Cook Islands and Vanuatu withdrew due to COVID-19 cases in both of their camps- 2026Canada, Mexico, United States48 208 11 0 5 Group stage drew 2–2 , lost 1–3 , lost 1–5 Darren Bazeley

Competitive record

1930–1970: World Cup without Oceania

Until 1966 Oceanian nations did not enter the FIFA World Cup. Australia started first time at the 1966 World Cup qualification. In First Round Australia byes and advanced to the AFC–OFC first round directly. In Final Round the AFC winner would have to play the 3 African teams on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify. South Africa was suspended by FIFA due to apartheid. All fifteen remaining African teams withdrew in protest against there being no automatic qualification for an African team, leaving the AFC–OFC winner to qualify by default. South Korea then withdrew because the 3 team tournament was moved from Japan to Cambodia, leaving only Australia and North Korea to contest the final place. North Korea easily won both legs to qualify. At the 1970 World Cup qualification participated 2 countries from Oceania. New Zealand bye and advanced to the Second Round directly, Australia, Japan and South Korea, played against each other twice in South Korea. The group winner Australia advance to the Second Round. In the Second Round group 1 Australia won against Rhodesia and advanced to the Final Round. New Zealand in the Second Round group 2 lost by Israel and withdrew. In the Final Round Australia lost on aggregate 1–2 by Israel.

1974: First Oceanian team at the World Cup

Australia was the first (OFC) nation at the FIFA World Cup. The road to the 1974 World Cup began with a series of home and away matches against Iraq, New Zealand, and Indonesia. New Zealand lost all three matches. The Socceroos, having won this tournament, then played and won a two-legged fixture against one of the Socceroos' biggest rivals Iran, managing to hold on to a slim overall lead in front of 120,000 Iranian fans in the Azadi Stadium, Tehran, during the second leg. South Korea, having itself knocked out Israel at the equivalent stage, was then drawn as Australia's final hurdle. Over the course of another two-legged playoff the scores remained even, and so a deciding match was played in Hong Kong. Australia won this match, through a Jimmy Mackay goal, scored off a free kick. Australia were drawn into Group A consisting of hosts and favourites West Germany, East Germany and Chile. Australia held the East German's 0–0 at half-time before defender Colin Curran deflected the ball into his own net early in the second half. East German striker Joachim Streich then secured the points with a goal halfway through the second half, with the game finishing 2–0. Australia lost their following match to West Germany 3–0 with goals to Wolfgang Overath, Bernhard Cullmann and star-striker Gerd Müller. Having lost both their opening games, Australia could not proceed further in the tournament and the Australians managed to hold Chile to a scoreless draw, seeing Australia earn its first ever World Cup finals point. It was to be the last appearance for the Australian team until the World Cup tournament returned to Germany more than three decades later.

1978: The successful qualification

A total of 21 AFC and OFC teams and IsraelIsrael left the AFC in 1974 entered the competition. Australia and New Zealand competed in Group 5. New Zealand remained 2 place, Australia 1. Australia advanced to the Final Round and remained 4th place of 5 nations.

1982: New Zealand qualifying to the World Cup

A total of 21 AFC and OFC teams entered the competition. However, Iran withdrew before the draw was made. For the first time, the World Cup finals expanded from 16 to 24 teams. This allowed more teams, especially from Africa and Asia, to participate. New Zealand, Australia, Fiji got to group 1 and respectively ranked 1, 2, 5 places. Only New Zealand advanced to the Final Round. China PR and New Zealand finished level on points and goal difference, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify. Match between New Zealand – China was played in Singapore. New Zealand won 2–1 and participated in the World Cup for the first time. New Zealand lost 2–5 Scotland in their first game at the World Cup, 0–3 USSR, 0–4 Brazil and were eliminated. At the ranking finished 23 of 24.

1986–2002: Five World Cups in a row without Oceania

In the 1986 World Cup qualification the Oceanian zone was allocated 0.5 places (out of 24) in the final tournament. Two OFC teams entered the competition. Moreover, Israel and Chinese Taipei were also assigned to the Oceanian zone despite not being OFC members. New Zealand remained in position 3, Australia in 1 position. The winning team of the OFC qualification tournament will play with UEFA member Scotland in a home-and-away play-off. The winner of this play-off qualifies for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Australia lost 0–2 on aggregate and did not qualifying to the World Cup.

In the 1990 World Cup qualification entered five OFC teams. There were two rounds of play. In the first round Israel received a bye and advanced to the final round directly. The remaining four teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. Australia and New Zealand easily won and go to the second round. Israel won Second Round, eliminated Australia and New Zealand.