{"id":605348,"date":"2026-09-19T13:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T13:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605348\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T13:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T13:54:13","slug":"new-zealand-maintain-perfect-ofc-u-16-womens-championship-record-with-eighth-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605348\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand maintain perfect OFC U-16 Women\u2019s Championship record with eighth title"},"content":{"rendered":"

A second half double from Bonnie Rice has helped\u00a0New Zealand to their eighth OFC U-16 Women\u2019s Championship title, defeating New Caledonia 4-0 in the final of the 2026 edition at the National Stadium in Honiara. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The result maintains New Zealand\u2019s 100% winning record at the tournament dating back to its inauguration in 2010, scoring 19 goals without reply across their five games in the Solomon Islands, to add\u00a0yet another continental title. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Captain Rice scored twice for the Young Football Ferns, winning the player of the match award in the decider, before Kodi Wilson and Louisa Egley-Turner rounded the scoring off the bench in the closing stages. \u00a0<\/p>\n

For 45 minutes the organisation and physicality of the New Caledonian defence did well to blunt the New Zealand attack though, led superbly by central defender and captain S\u00e9lapai\u00e9 Sameke, and Golden Glove winner Bernadette Nyikeine. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Young Football Ferns failed to create any clear-cut opportunities in the first half and were forced to hold their breath down the other end when goalkeeper Philippa Bromley made a fingertip save to deny Gis\u00e8le Hace from a direct free kick. \u00a0<\/p>\n

That changed after the break however, Rice stepping up to get\u00a0the decisive breakthrough in the 48th minute after cutting off the left flank and beating Nyikeine at her near post with pinpoint right-footed strike from the edge of the box. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Rice\u2019s second goal then made sure of the title for New Zealand midway through the second period, picking out the bottom-left corner again from the top of the box.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s bench added the icing on the cake late on, Kodi Wilson lifting an effort over the head of the goalkeeper, and Louis Egley-Turner relying on a heavy deflection off Hace to beat the goalkeeper with practically the last kick of the match. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The final whistle brought scenes of celebration for New Zealand to conclude another dominant campaign. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Both nations can now turn their attention towards preparing for FIFA U-17 Women\u2019s World Cup 2027\u2122 in Morocco, where New Caledonia will make their debut, and join New Zealand in representing OFC next year. \u00a0<\/p>\n

New Zealand: 4 (Bonnie RICE 48\u2019, 66\u2019, Kodi WILSON 87\u2019, Louisa EGLEY-TURNER 90+5\u2019)
New Caledonia: 0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

HT: 0-0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Earlier in the day, Fiji came from behind to finish third at the championship with a convincing 6-1 victory over Papua New Guinea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Mini Kulas scored five second half goals, including a double from Temalesi Masi,\u00a0to recover from an early deficit and finish inside the top three at the tournament for the first time since their run to the final in 2023. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Glenda Danny gave Papua New Guinea the lead in the 38th minute with a blistering strike from the edge of the box,\u00a0but that was as good as it got for them,\u00a0Esther Vunivi kickstarting the Fijian comeback with the\u00a0equaliser before half-time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Masi completed the turnaround three minutes into the second half, and\u00a0Adi Reva scored her sixth goal of the championship with a driven effort from the top of the box that snuck through the opposing goalkeeper\u2019s hands. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Masi scored her second and Fiji\u2019s fourth in the 70th minute, before substitutes Titilia Latui and Varanisese Naiqarau rounded the scoring in the closing stages. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite defeat, Papua New Guinea cap their remarkable rise at this year\u2019s OFC U-16 Women\u2019s Championship with a fourth-place finish, whilst Fiji end on a high with the bronze medal in Honiara. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Papua New Guinea: 1 (Glenda DANNY 38\u2019)
Fiji: 6\u00a0(Esther VUNIVI 40\u2019, Temalesi MASI 48\u2019, 70\u2019 Adi REVA 59\u2019, Titilia LATUI (P) 76\u2019, Varanisese NAIQARAU 85\u2019)<\/p>\n

HT: 1-1\u00a0
Photo credit: OFC Media via Phototek \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A second half double from Bonnie Rice has helped\u00a0New Zealand to their eighth OFC U-16 Women\u2019s Championship title,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-605348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605348","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=605348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}