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Group A of the second round of OFC qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has two hosts, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Despite the latter, this game is actually being played in Fiji’s capital city, Suva.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Thursday 10th October, 2024 - UK – 5:00am / US ET – 12:00am / Wednesday 9th October, 2024 - US PT – 9:00pm
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – Not televised
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – FIFA+ / US – FIFA+
NEW CALEDONIA PREVIEW: PUSHING FOR HISTORY
New Caledonia come into this one having not played since the final of the Pacific Games all the way back in December of last year where they defeated the Solomon Islands on penalties to win the title.
They were rampant In the group stages and semi-final of that tournament, scoring 16 goals without conceding and would still rank themselves as one of the teams most likely to get into the intercontinental playoffs behind New Zealand, who should be the automatic qualifiers.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA PREVIEW: IMPROVED PNG
Papua New Guinea, on the other hand, most recently played in the group stages of the OFC Nations Cup where they were eliminated after three matches, winning one, drawing one and suffering one defeat against Fiji, Tahiti and Samoa.
Their slender 2-1 defeat of Samoa, who are one of the four lowest ranked sides in Oceanian qualification, ended what was a 12-match unbeaten run of form since a slender defeat of upcoming opponents New Caledonia back in March 2022.
NEW CALEDONIA TEAM NEWS: FULLY FIT NEW CALEDONIANS
The New Caledonians have no injury concerns or suspension issues for this one with a reliance on the experience of attackers such as Cesar Zeoula and Gianni Manmieu.
PREDICTED XI (4-5-1): Ulile; Vakoume, Vakie, Welepane, Iwa; Zeoula, Katrawa, Mathelon, Ranchain, Read; Waya
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
PAPUA NEW GUINEA TEAM NEWS: NO ISSUES
Much like their opponents, Papua New Guinea do have a fully fit and available squad for this one and once again are reliant on experience in the form of captain Alwin Komolong.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-3): Warisan; Haro, A. Komolong, F. Komolong; Joe, Simon, Yasasa, Paul; Semmy, Dobbin, Ben
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
NEW CALEDONIA VS PAPUA NEW GUINEA PREDICTION
Civil unrest has harmed New Caledonia’s recent months and their overall preparations. They do still have some pedigree in the squad but defeat to Papua New Guinea in the previous FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign will be a fresh memory. PNG have been able to play a fair bit more but when they have done they have done so really poorly. It is not expected to be a high-scoring affair regardless of the eventual outcome but New Caledonia are slight favourites.
NEW CALEDONIA VS PAPUA NEW GUINEA TIP: NEW CALEDONIA TO WIN & UNDER 3.5 GOALS