Papua New Guinea end decade-long wait and join New Caledonia in semi-finals

Papua New Guinea are back in the semi-finals of the OFC U-16 Women’s Championship for the first time since 2016, after defeating Samoa 2-0 on the final matchday in Group B at the National Stadium in Honiara.  

Second half goals from Delma Duadak and Chriszanne Sifas secured the historic result for the young Bilums, who edged into second spot ahead of their opponents with two wins and six points from their three group matches.  

The result is made even more significant by the fact that Papua New Guinea didn’t originally qualify for the championship, replacing Tahiti after they withdrew, to appear at the tournament for the first time in a decade. 

Samoa had the better openings in a quiet first half, but it was Duadak who found the breakthrough for Papua New Guinea in the 68th minute, finishing from close range, after Sifas had held up the ball in the penalty box.  

Sifas then scored the second, muscling her way through the Samoan defence and rolling the ball into the bottom-left corner to make sure of the win in the 85th minute, and set up a semi-final with New Zealand on Wednesday.  

The full-time whistle brought tears of joy for Papua New Guinea, but disappointment for Samoa, ending their hopes of qualifying for a third consecutive FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, after reaching the last two championship finals. They’ll play the Solomon Islands in the fifth place play-off on Thursday instead. 

Papua New Guinea: 2 (Delma DUADAK 69’, Chriszanne SIFAS 85’)
Samoa: 0  

HT: 0-0 

Earlier in the day, New Caledonia claimed top spot in Group B with a 4-1 win over Tonga, setting up a semi-final with Fiji. 

Wylone Haewegene scored twice as they finished atop the group standings with nine points and three wins from three – the first time they’ve achieved such a feat in OFC U-16 Women’s Championship history.  

Heidra Adjouhgniope opened the scoring inside the first four minutes, finding the back of the net in all three of her group games, after pouncing on a rebound from Tonga goalkeeper Juanita Kiu inside the penalty box.  

Haewegene got the second ten minutes later, latching onto a perfectly weighted pass in-behind the defence from Gisele Hace, before Emma Jiako scored the third shortly before half-time with a right-footed effort into the bottom-left corner, wrapping up the contest inside the first 45 minutes.  

Haewegene’s second for the fourth New Caledonian goal was a cracker, picking out the top-right corner from the edge of the box in the 51st minute, and rounding out a dominant afternoon for Kenjy Vendegou’s side.  

Finishing bottom of Group B, Tonga will face the Cook Islands in the 7th place play-off on Thursday but did at least score a consolation. A flighted free kick delivery towards the penalty box found Anne Tali to scramble the ball into the net.  

New Caledonia will move on to face Fiji in the semi-finals at the National Stadium on Wednesday, whilst Papua New Guinea will take on New Zealand, with the winners to also book their tickets to FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2027™. 

Tonga: 1 (Anne TALI 68’)
New Caledonia: 4 (Heidra ADJOUHGNIOPE 4’, Wylone HAEWEGENE 13’, 51’, Emma JIAKO 41’)  

HT: 0-3
Photo credit: OFC Media via Phototek