By Elijah Lavett – EMTV Sports, Port Moresby
Port Moresby will now be hosting the OFC Nations Cup next year which acts as Stage 2 of Oceania’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Papua New Guinea is fast becoming the regional sporting hub on the 2016 OFC calendar with a growing list of major events to be held in the country.
The OFC Nations cup will take place from the 28th of May to the 11th of June, 2016.
Matches will be played at Sir John Guise Stadium and the National Football Stadium, which will host the FIFA U20 women’s World Cup Matches.
The 2016 Nations Cup will be played out between two groups of four teams, with the top two sides advancing to the semi-finals.
Group A is made up of New Caledonia, Samoa, who won the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifiers OFC Stage 1 in September and defending champions Tahiti with Papua New Guinea.
Group B contains top guns New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji. The winner of the Nations Cup will enter the 2017 Confederations Cup which will be held in Russia.
In order to proceed onto the next round, each team must qualify for the Confederations Cup which is an important part of the process as it guarantees at least three matches against top opponents.
It’s been almost a decade since the men’s National Team has played on home soil and it gives them the opportunity to play against some of the best in the region.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=DHclcTeLLpE%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
