New Caledonia have advanced to the semi-finals and kept
their OFC U-19 Men’s Championship campaign alive with a
7-0 victory over Papua New Guinea at the Samoa Football HQ
in Apia.
Attempting to qualify for a second
consecutive FIFA U-20 World Cup at this year’s
championship, New Caledonia sealed their place in the
knockout stage from Group A with four first half goals, and
a double from striker Jemmanuel Siwoine.
The result is
New Caledonia’s fourth consecutive victory over Papua New
Guinea at the U-19 Men’s Championship, following on from a
2-1 success at the same stage at the last edition of the
tournament two years ago.
OFC Media via Phototek)
Captain
Sipae Qaeze opened the scoring inside the first quarter of
an hour, starting a dominant afternoon for the
French-speaking nation with a long-range shot that deflected
into the bottom-left corner.
Three goals in a
five-minute stretch before half-time then put the contest to
bed, Gregory Diko scoring from the penalty spot, Jemmanuel
Siwoine slotting home from close range, and Kynaï Toto
converting from a cross to the back post.
Siwoine
scored his second late in regular time, as New Caledonia
completed the resounding win with three more goals in the
second half. Substitutes Bento Lages and Alexis Ijelipa also
added their name to the scoresheet.
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Papua New Guinea:
0
New Caledonia: 7 (Sipane QAEZE 15’, Gregory DIKO
(P) 40’, Jemmanuel SIWOINE 43’, 80’, Kynaï TOTO
45’, Bento LAGES 90’, Alexis IJELIPA 90+2’)
HT:
0-4
OFC Media via Phototek)
Later in
the day, captain Jayroll Patty found the back of the net
again as the Solomon Islands secured top spot in Group A
with a 2-0 victory over Samoa.
Fresh off scoring a
hat-trick in his team’s previous match with New Caledonia,
Patty scored both goals, increasing his tally to five in two
games at the championship, as the Solomon Islands topped
their group for the third time in six editions.
Patty
got the opening breakthrough in the 20th minute, picking out
the bottom-right corner of the net on his left foot after
being set-up by Wilkenson Siosi.
He then added the
icing on the cake in the 90th minute, breaking into the
penalty box and rounding the goalkeeper to seal the three
points.
Meeting at the U-19 Men’s Championship for
the first time in 19 years, Samoa had their opportunities in
front of a home crowd in Apia too. Javier Arratia-Pio came
close with an effort that hit the left post, after latching
onto a long ball in-behind the Solomon Islands defence, but
the tournament hosts couldn’t finish their group stage
campaign with a positive result.
The Solomon Islands
will now move on to face the runner-up of Group B, whilst
New Caledonia will play the winner of Group B (likely to be
New Zealand), in the semi-finals of OFC U-19 Men’s
Championship 2026 on Friday.
Meanwhile Samoa will play
in the play-off for 7th place, and Papua New Guinea will
compete in the play-off for fifth place, both on
Saturday.
Samoa: 0
Solomon Islands: 2
(Jayroll PATTY 20’, 90′)
HT:
0-1
