Football at the 2023 Pacific Games – Men's tournament

Main article: Football at the 2023 Pacific Games

The men's football tournament at the 2023 Pacific Games was the 16th edition^[1] of the men's football tournament at the Pacific Games, held from 17 November to 2 December, in Honiara, Solomon Islands.^[2][3][4]

2023 Pacific Games
men's football tournament

Tournament details
Host country	Solomon Islands
City	Honiara
Dates	17 November–2 December
Teams	12 (from 2 confederations)
Venue(s)	3 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	New Caledonia (8th title)
Runners-up	Solomon Islands
Third place	Fiji
Fourth place	Vanuatu
Tournament statistics
Matches played	21
Goals scored	102 (4.86 per match)
Top scorer(s)	John Orobulu (8 goals)
← 2019 2027 →

New Zealand's Under-23s were the defending champions after beating New Caledonia in the final in 2019.^[5]

Teams

Twelve teams entered the tournament. Originally, Kiribati was drawn into Group B with Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu but withdrew on 3 November 2023. It would have been the nation's first appearance in the competition since 2011.^[6]

•  American Samoa^[7]
•  Cook Islands^[8]
•  Fiji^[9]
•  Kiribati
•  New Caledonia^[10]
•  Northern Mariana Islands^[11]
•  Papua New Guinea^[12]
•  Samoa^[13]
•  Solomon Islands (hosts)^[14]
•  Tahiti^[8]
•  Tonga^[15]
•  Tuvalu
•  Vanuatu^[16]

Venues

There are three confirmed football venues for the tournament, all in Honiara:^[17]

Stadium	Capacity
National Stadium	10,000
Lawson Tama Stadium	20,000
SIFF Academy Field	500
Honiara

Source: ^[17]

Squads

Main article: Football at the 2023 Pacific Games – Men's team squads

Group stage

The team list and draw were confirmed on 21 October 2023.^[18][19]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Caledonia	2	2	0	0	15	0	+15	6	Semi-finals
2	Cook Islands	2	1	0	1	2	9	−7	3	5th-8th placement
3	Tonga	2	0	0	2	1	9	−8	0	9th-12th placement

Source: SOL23

New Caledonia	7–0	Tonga
Waya 2', 56', 62' Vakié 5' Zeoula 16' (pen.) Wélépane 24' Katrawa 26'	Report

18 November 2023 (2023-11-18)

16:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)

---

Tonga	1–2	Cook Islands
Kendler 71'	Report	Tiputoa 67' Rimene-Albrett 90+8'

21 November 2023 (2023-11-21)

16:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara

Referee: David Yareboinen (Papua New Guinea)

---

Cook Islands	0–8	New Caledonia
	Report	Zeoula 7', 13' Xowi 64' Waya 75', 78', 81' Katrawa 82', 90+5'

24 November 2023 (2023-11-24)

16:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara

Referee: Kavitesh Behari (Fiji)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Vanuatu	2	1	1	0	7	1	+6	4	Semi-finals
2	Papua New Guinea	2	1	1	0	4	1	+3	4	5th-8th placement
3	Tuvalu	2	0	0	2	0	9	−9	0	9th-12th placement

Source: SOL23

Papua New Guinea	3–0 (w/o)	Tuvalu
	Report

17 November 2023

12:00

Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara

---

Tuvalu	0–6	Vanuatu
	Report	T. Kalotang 6', 53' Tenene 11', 70' Alefaio 35' (o.g.) Moses 71'

20 November 2023 (2023-11-20)

12:00

Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara

Referee: Shama Maemae (Solomon Islands)

---

Vanuatu	1–1	Papua New Guinea
Soromon 52'	Report	Kepo 45+7'

23 November 2023 (2023-11-23)

12:00

Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Fiji	2	1	1	0	10	0	+10	4	Semi-finals
2	Tahiti	2	1	1	0	5	0	+5	4	5th-8th placement
3	Northern Mariana Islands	2	0	0	2	0	15	−15	0	9th-12th placement

Source: SOL23

Fiji	10–0	Northern Mariana Islands
Begg 1' Krishna 6', 8', 35' Nalaubu 18', 43' Dogalau 56' Pablo 61' (o.g.) Dunn 66' Matanisiga 82'	Report

18 November 2023 (2023-11-18)

19:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara

Referee: Timothy Niu (Solomon Islands)

---

Fiji	0–0	Tahiti
	Report

21 November 2023 (2023-11-21)

19:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)

---

Northern Mariana Islands	0–5	Tahiti
	Report	T. Tehau 30', 38' (pen.) Tinirauarii 43' Degrumelle 69' Kaspard 71'

24 November 2023 (2023-11-24)

19:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara

Referee: Timothy Niu (Solomon Islands)

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Solomon Islands (H)	2	2	0	0	12	0	+12	6	Semi-finals
2	Samoa	2	1	0	1	10	1	+9	3	5th-8th placement
3	American Samoa	2	0	0	2	0	21	−21	0	9th-12th placement

Source: SOL23
(H) Hosts

Solomon Islands	1–0	Samoa
Orobulu 50'	Report

17 November 2023 (2023-11-17)

15:00

Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)

---

Samoa	10–0	American Samoa
Kwan 10', 49' Tumua Leo 15', 41', 54', 88', 90+7' Trainor 24' (pen.) Tumua 61' Taualai 80'	Report

20 November 2023 (2023-11-20)

15:00

Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara

Referee: Ben Aukwai (Solomon Islands)

---

American Samoa	0–11	Solomon Islands
	Report	Orobulu 6', 45+3', 72', 80', 90+3' Leslie 16' Feni 25', 41', 66' Molea 28', 34'

23 November 2023 (2023-11-23)

15:00

Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara

Referee: Calvin Berg (New Zealand)

Knockout stage

Brackets

	9th–12th placement				9th place play-off
	27 November – SIFF Academy Field
	Northern Mariana Islands	4
					30 November – SIFF Academy Field
	American Samoa	0
					Northern Mariana Islands	1
	27 November – SIFF Academy Field
					Tuvalu	4
	Tonga	0
	Tuvalu	4
					11th place play-off
					30 November – SIFF Academy Field
					American Samoa	2
					Tonga	6

	5th–8th placement				5th place play-off
	27 November – SIFF Academy Field
	Tahiti	2
					30 November – SIFF Academy Field
	Samoa	1
					Tahiti	2
	27 November – SIFF Academy Field
					Papua New Guinea	0
	Cook Islands	0
	Papua New Guinea (w/o)	3
					7th place play-off
					30 November – SIFF Academy Field
					Samoa (w/o)	3
					Cook Islands	0

	Semi-finals				Final
	28 November – Honiara
	New Caledonia	1
					2 December – Honiara
	Vanuatu	0
					New Caledonia (p)	2 (7)
	28 November – Honiara
					Solomon Islands	2 (6)
	Fiji	0
	Solomon Islands	2
					Bronze Playoff
					1 December – Honiara
					Vanuatu	2
					Fiji	4

9th–12th placement

Northern Mariana Islands	4–0	American Samoa
Yobech 32' R. Guerrero 46', 70' Ngewakl 90+4'	Report

27 November 2023

10:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara

Referee: Torika Delai (Fiji)

Tonga	0–4	Tuvalu
	Report	Sapele 5' Pelekata 42' Vine 81', 84'

27 November 2023

13:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara

Referee: Shama Maemae (Solomon Islands)

---

American Samoa	2–6	Tonga
Vaitoelau 37' Silao 55'	Report	Polovili 43', 88' Fifita 47', 81' Tu'ifangaloka 61' Rajani 76' (pen.)

30 November 2023

10:00

11th place play-off

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Referee: David Yaraboinen (Papua New Guinea)

Northern Mariana Islands	1–4	Tuvalu
Toves 50'	Report	Vailine 8', 22' Ualesi 42', 45+3'

30 November 2023

13:00

9th place play-off

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Referee: Torika Delai (Fiji)

5th–8th placement

Tahiti	2–1	Samoa
Tinirauarii 49' Lossec 88'	Report	Tumua 2'

27 November 2023

16:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara

Referee: David Yaraboinen (Papua New Guinea)

Cook Islands	0–3 (w/o)	Papua New Guinea

27 November 2023

19:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara, Solomon Islands

---

Samoa	3–0 (w/o)	Cook Islands

30 November 2023

16:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Tahiti	2–0	Papua New Guinea
Tinirauarii 21' T.Tehau 83'	Report

30 November 2023

19:00

SIFF Academy Field, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Referee: Kavitesh Behari (Fiji)

Semi-finals

New Caledonia	1–0	Vanuatu
Xowi 45+3'	Report

28 November 2023

12:00

Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)

Fiji	0–2	Solomon Islands
	Report	Lea'i 39' (pen.) Lea'alafa 82'

28 November 2023

15:00

Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)

Bronze final

Vanuatu	2–4	Fiji
Soromon 28', 45+3'	Report	Dunn 22', 55' Begg 73' Nand 90+2'

1 December 2023

15:00

Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Referee: Ben Aukwai (Solomon Islands)

Final

New Caledonia	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Solomon Islands
Waya 7' Wélépane 45+4'	Report	Orobulu 32', 72'
Penalties
Ranchain Bako Richard Waya Zeoula Iwa Waia Vakié	7–6	Lea'alafa Supa Kaua Ohasio Lea'i Peter Kofana Orobulu

2 December 2023

10:00

National Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)

Goalscorers

There have been 102 goals scored in 21 matches, for an average of 4.86 goals per match (as of 2 December 2023).

8 goals

• John Orobulu

7 goals

• Lues Waya

5 goals

• Michael Tumua Leo

3 goals

• Thomas Dunn
• Roy Krishna
• Jean-Jacques Katrawa
• César Zeoula
• Gagame Feni
• Teaonui Tehau
• Roonui Tinirauarii
• Azariah Soromon

2 goals

• Nabil Begg
• Sairusi Nalaubu
• Ruben Guerrero
• Shene Wélépane
• Makalu Xowi
• Alman Kwan
• Dilo Tumua
• Tigi Molea
• Amoni Fifita
• Hemaloto Polovili
• Matti Ualesi
• Paolo Vailine
• Keni Vine
• Tonly Kalotang
• Godine Tenene

1 goal

• Tia Silao
• Billjay Vaitoelau
• Tremaine Rimene-Albrett
• Dwayne Tiputoa
• Etonia Dogalau
• Gabrielle Matanisiga
• Merril Nand
• Vincent Vakié
• Nolan Ngewakl
• Markus Toves
• Jireh Yobech
• Ati Kepo
• Va'a Taualai
• Pharrell Trainor
• Micah Lea'alafa
• Raphael Lea'i
• Bobby Leslie
• Matéo Degrumelle
• Eddy Kaspard
• Teva Lossec
• Elias Kendler
• Mohammed Rajani
• Sione Tu'ifangaloka
• Andrew Pelekata
• Yvan Sapele
• Joe Moses

1 own goal

• Daniell Pablo (against Fiji)
• Maalosi Alefaio (against Vanuatu)

Final rankings

Rank	Team
	New Caledonia
	Solomon Islands
	Fiji
4	Vanuatu
5	Tahiti
6	Papua New Guinea
7	Samoa
8	Cook Islands
9	Tuvalu
10	Northern Mariana Islands
11	Tonga
12	American Samoa

Broadcasting

All matches will be broadcast live on SBS in Australia.^[20]

See also

• Football at the 2023 Pacific Games – Women's tournament
• Football at the 2023 Pacific Games
• Football at the Pacific Games