2021 OFC U-17 Championship

2021 OFC U-17 Championship
Tournament details
Host countryFiji
DatesCancelled
Teams10 (from 1 confederation)
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The 2021 OFC U-17 Championship, originally to be held as the 2020 OFC U-16 Championship, was originally to be the 19th edition of the OFC U-16/U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-16/under-17 national teams of Oceania.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Fiji in September 2020.[1] However, on 28 July 2020, the OFC announced that the tournament had been postponed to April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[2] provisionally between 10 and 25 April 2021, with the name of the tournament changed from "2020 OFC U-16 Championship" to "2021 OFC U-17 Championship".[3][4] On 16 December 2020, the OFC announced the tournament had been postponed but would be required to be completed by 5 July 2021, the deadline for team nominations at the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru, scheduled for September 2021, of which the top two teams of the tournament would have qualified for as the OFC representatives.[5]

Following FIFA's decision to cancel the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup on 24 December 2020,[6] the OFC announced on 18 January 2021 that the tournament would remain on track to be held in 2021, with the new dates to be decided in the coming months.[7] However, on 4 March 2021, the OFC announced that the tournament had been cancelled, and Fiji would be retained to host the next edition in 2022.[8]

New Zealand were the seven-time defending champions.

  1. ^ "Hosts confirmed for 2020 Youth Tournaments". Oceania Football Confederation. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. ^ "OFC tournaments update". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 July 2020.
  3. ^ "OFC U-17 Championship 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 14 September 2020.
  4. ^ "OFC Competitions 2021 Calendar (updated 4/06/2021)" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Fédération Tahitienne de Football. 4 June 2021.
  5. ^ "More calendar changes for 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 16 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Update on FIFA Women's World Cup and men's youth competitions". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Men's youth tournaments postponed". Oceania Football Confederation. 18 January 2021.
  8. ^ "OFC confirms schedule changes". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 March 2021.