| Championnat d'Océanie de football des moins de 19 ans 2018 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Qualifying stage: Cook Islands Final tournament: Tahiti |
| Dates | Qualifying stage: 26 May – 1 June 2018 Final tournament: 5–18 August 2018 |
| Teams | Final tournament: 8 Total: 11 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  New Zealand (7th title) |
| Runners-up |  Tahiti |
| Third place |  New Caledonia |
| Fourth place |  Solomon Islands |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 22 |
| Goals scored | 82 (3.73 per match) |
| Attendance | 12,000 (545 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Max Mata (5 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Joe Bell |
| Best goalkeeper | Moana Pito |
The 2018 OFC U-19 Championship was the 22nd edition of the OFC U-19/U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-19/under-20 national teams of Oceania. The qualifying stage was held in the Cook Islands between 26 May – 1 June 2018, and the final tournament was held in Tahiti between 5–18 August 2018.[1]
Before the tournament in 2016, the age limit was reduced by a year to 19 years of age. However, the last tournament remained the name U-20 Championship. For this tournament, the name has changed to U-19 Championship. So, players who wanted to participate in the tournament needed to be born on or after 1 January 1999. At an OFC Executive Committee meeting held at its Auckland headquarters in November 2013 the competition format was modified. The competition was brought forward a year and the age limit was lowered to 19 years of age. The changes were made in order to allow the winner of the competition plenty of time for preparation and player development for upcoming World Cups at Under 20 level.[2]
In March 2015, FIFA decided that the OFC gets two slots at every FIFA U-20 and U-17 World Cup.[3] So, the top two teams of the tournament qualified for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland as the OFC representatives. New Zealand, the defending champions, won the title for the seventh time, and qualified together with runners-up Tahiti.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
calendarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "OFC Executive meeting outcomes announced". Oceania Football Confederation. 23 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- ^ "Competition calendar outlined". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2013.