Samoa secure spot in World Cup qualifiers
Samoa won the clash of the Polynesian nations which saw American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga meet in the first stage of the Russia 2018 qualifiers.
Remarkably, three teams — American Samoa, Cook Islands and Samoa — all ended on six points with the latter advancing by a single goal.
Samoa will line up alongside Tahiti, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea in stage two, with New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu in the other group.
The second stage of the qualifiers will be in Port Moresby from May 28 to June 11.
The top six will advance to the third stage, to be played during 2017, with the overall winner to feature in an intercontinental play-off against a South American opponent in November 2017.
Oceania qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia is a small part of the qualification process for the region’s 11 member associations.
Tahiti and New Zealand are turning their attention to their mid-year matches, but for now the spotlight has been elsewhere.
Post a Comment