2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)
The Oceanian section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Russia, for national teams which are members of the Oceania Football Confederation. A total of 0.5 slots in the final tournament was available for OFC teams.
The 2016 edition of the OFC Nations Cup once again doubled as the second round of the OFC qualifying competition for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Unlike in 2012, however, the team that won the qualifying competition and advanced to the intercontinental play-off, New Zealand, was the same team that also won the OFC Nations Cup and represented the OFC at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Format
The qualification structure was as follows:- First round: Four teams played a round-robin tournament at a single country. The winner advanced to the second round.
- Second round : Eight teams played the tournament at a single country. For the group stage, they were divided into two groups of four teams. The top three teams of each group advanced to the third round.
- Third round: Six teams which had advanced from the second round were divided into two groups of three teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The two group winners met in a two-legged match with the winner advancing to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Entrants
All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered qualification. The four lowest ranked teams entered the first round, while the other seven teams entered the second round.| Bye to second round | Competing in first round |
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.The inter-confederation play-offs were scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017. First roundThe match schedule was revealed on 30 July 2015, following a draw held at OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.Second roundThe draw for the second round was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK, at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.Knockout stageWhile the results of the OFC Nations Cup knockout stage matches have no effect on the teams qualified for the third round of World Cup qualifying, for statistical purposes these matches are considered part of World Cup qualifying, with FIFA counting goalscorers in the qualifying statistics, and cards given may contribute to suspensions in the third round of World Cup qualifying.Third roundThe draw for the third round was held on 8 July 2016, 11:00 NZST, at the OFC headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.FinalThe draw for the final was held on 15 June 2017, 16:00 NZST, at the OFC headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.The winner of the final advanced to inter-confederation play-offs. Dates were set for the two-legged final as being between 28 August and 5 September 2017. New Zealand defeated Solomon Islands 8-3 on aggregate and advanced to the OFC-CONMEBOL play-off Inter-confederation play-offsThe draw for the inter-confederation play-offs was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK, at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg. The first-placed team from OFC was drawn against the fifth-placed team from CONMEBOL, with the OFC team hosting the first leg.Top goalscorersBelow are full goalscorer lists for each round:
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