{"id":533503,"date":"2026-07-19T10:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T10:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/533503\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T10:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T10:34:11","slug":"new-zealand-edge-towards-qualifying-spot-for-2027-fifa-u-17-mens-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/533503\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand edge towards qualifying spot for 2027 FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand have moved to within one game of clinching a place at next year\u2019s FIFA U-17 Men\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n

An emphatic win against Vanuatu in their group has set up a semi-final between New Zealand and Papua New Guinea at the OFC U-16 Men\u2019s Championship on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The other semi-final will be between Fiji and the Solomon Islands.<\/p>\n

The finalists will automatically qualify to represent Oceania at the\u00a048-team 2027 FIFA U-17 Men\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n

Having already secured their place in the semi-finals, New Zealand entered the match against Vanuatu looking to maintain their unbeaten record, while Vanuatu were determined to end their campaign on a positive note.<\/p>\n

The Kiwis wasted little time asserting their dominance. Zack Cashmore opened the scoring in the fifth minute, turning home Reuben Lee Sang\u2019s inviting cross with a first-time finish.<\/p>\n

Five minutes later, Cashmore doubled the advantage with another composed one touch finish after a perfectly weighted pass through the middle.<\/p>\n

The striker completed a remarkable hat trick inside 15 minutes, racing onto another through ball before calmly finishing past the advancing goalkeeper. Cashmore wasn\u2019t done yet, adding his fourth goal of the afternoon in the 31st minute to cap an outstanding first-half performance.<\/p>\n

New Zealand extended their lead before the break when Ethan Amyes found the back of the net in the 39th minute, sending the defending champions into half-time with a commanding 5-0 advantage.<\/p>\n

Vanuatu showed determination after the restart and created their best opportunity from a set piece, but Rohan Masauvakalo headed over the crossbar.<\/p>\n

New Zealand remained in complete control, with second-half captain Ben Trenberth adding a sixth goal before the 70th minute, while Davi Valle dos Santos rounded off the scoring two minutes later to complete an emphatic victory.<\/p>\n

Main photo: New Zealand\u2019s Zach Cashmore celebrates a goal with teammates. Photo credit: OFC Media \/ DJ Mills \/ Phototek<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Solomon Islands booked their place in the semi-finals with a 3-1 win against Tahiti.<\/p>\n

Solomon Islands adopted an aggressive defensive approach from the outset, pressing high up the pitch and looking to exploit the pace of Greggy Gau and George Lea\u2019i on the counterattack.<\/p>\n

Their persistence paid off in the 26th minute. George Lea\u2019i latched onto a perfectly weighted pass from Walcott Kona before bursting beyond Tahiti defender Steevy Peckett. The forward then unleashed a powerful right-footed strike into the top-left corner to give Solomon Islands a deserved lead heading into the break.<\/p>\n

The advantage doubled just three minutes into the second half when Gau raced beyond the Tahiti defence before slipping the ball into the path of Jayer Makarani, who calmly drilled a low finish into the near post from outside the area.<\/p>\n

\"\"Solomon Islands \u2026 go through to the last four. Photo credit: OFC Media \/ DJ Mills \/ Phototek<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tahiti responded immediately through Esdras Jamet in the 53rd minute, who turned home Akahi Paoa\u2019s low corner to reduce the deficit and ignite hopes of a comeback.<\/p>\n

Despite the pressure, Solomon Islands remained composed, controlling possession and frustrating Tahiti\u2019s patient build-up play. A late free kick from Hyrum Jones was comfortably gathered by goalkeeper Eddie Aefi before the decisive moment arrived in the closing stages.<\/p>\n

A long clearance from Soka released Gau from halfway, and the speedy forward surged clear of the defence before coolly slotting home to seal an impressive 3-1 victory.<\/p>\n

Acknowledgement<\/p>\n

We thank OFC Media for providing information for this story.<\/p>\n

Results<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Games played on Sunday July 19, 2026<\/p>\n

Group B<\/p>\n

Solomon Islands 3 (George Le\u2019ai 26\u2032, Jayer Makarani 48\u2032, Greggy Gau 90+6\u2032)
Tahiti 1 (Esdras Jamet 53\u2032)<\/p>\n

Vanuatu 0
New Zealand 7 (Zack Cashmore 5\u2032, 10\u2032, 15\u2032, 31\u2032, Ethan Amyes 39\u2032, Ben Trenberth 70\u2032, Davi Valle dos Santos 72\u2032)<\/p>\n

OFC U-16 Men\u2019s Championship Group B<\/p>\n

Team
\nP
\nW
\nD
\nL
\nGF
\nGA
\nGD
\nPts<\/p>\n

New Zealand
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n18
\n2
\n16
\n9<\/p>\n

Solomon Islands
\n3
\n2
\n0
\n1
\n6
\n7
\n-1
\n6<\/p>\n

Tahiti
\n3
\n1
\n0
\n2
\n6
\n11
\n-5
\n3<\/p>\n

Vanuatu
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n3
\n3
\n13
\n-10
\n0<\/p>\n

OFC U-16 Men\u2019s Championship Group A<\/p>\n

Team
\nP
\nW
\nD
\nL
\nGF
\nGA
\nGD
\nPts<\/p>\n

Fiji
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n10
\n0
\n10
\n9<\/p>\n

Papua New Guinea
\n3
\n2
\n0
\n1
\n5
\n3
\n2
\n6<\/p>\n

New Caledonia
\n3
\n0
\n1
\n2
\n1
\n4
\n-3
\n1<\/p>\n

Samoa
\n3
\n0
\n1
\n2
\n1
\n10
\n-9
\n1<\/p>\n

Fixtures<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Games to be played on Wednesday July 22, 2026<\/p>\n

Semi-final 1<\/p>\n

Fiji v Solomon Islands
PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby, 6pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

Semi-final 2<\/p>\n

New Zealand v Papua New Guinea
PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby, 9.30pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Games to be played on Thursday July 23, 2026<\/p>\n

Play-off for 7th<\/p>\n

Samoa v Vanuatu
Sir Hubert Murray Stadium, Port Moresby, 12pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

Play-off for 5th<\/p>\n

New Caledonia v Tahiti
Sir Hubert Murray Stadium, Port Moresby, 6pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Games to be played on Saturday July 25, 2026<\/p>\n

Play-off for 3rd<\/p>\n

Loser of semi-final 1 v loser of semi-final 2
PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby, 6pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

Final<\/p>\n

Winners of semi-final 1 v winners of semi-final 2
PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby, 9.30pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

This story was first published on July 19, 2026.<\/p>\n

More football stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand have moved to within one game of clinching a place at next year\u2019s FIFA U-17 Men\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69,252828],"class_list":["post-533503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ofc-u-16-mens-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}