Draw for Sol2023 Pacific Games football competition set

The draw for the football competition at the Sol2023 Pacific Games has been made with the teams placed based on the current FIFA rankings as stipulated in the Pacific Games 2023 manual.

A total of 12 has placed in three pools for the men’s competition with Kiribati withdrawing from the competition resulting in a slight revision of the final fixtures by the Games Organizing Committee (GOC).

Group A features 2011 gold medalists New Caledonia, Tonga and Cook Islands while Melanesian heavy-weights Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu are placed in Group B alongside Tuvalu.

An exciting Group C sees 5-times gold medalists Tahiti meeting rivals Fiji and Northern Marianas. Hosts Solomon Islands will be looking to win their first ever Pacific Games gold medal as they meet Samoa and American Samoa in Group D.

In the women’s competition, 10 countries were drawn in three groups with Group A features favorites Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, New Caledonia and American Samoa.

Group B includes Tonga, Tahiti and Samoa while it will be an all-Melanesian affair in Group C with Fiji pooled alongside Vanuatu and hosts Solomon Islands.

Football matches will commence on November 17th with matches to be played at Lawson Tama Stadium and the Solomon Islands Football Federation’s (SIFF) Academy with finals for both competition happening at the Nation Stadium.