OFC qualifying for the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in the USA, was held in Canberra, Australia, with all matches played at the Belconnen Soccer Centre. It doubled as the 2003 OFC Women’s Nations Cup, and was contested between five teams; hosts Australia were joined byNew Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Cook Islands.
The tournament reverted to its older format, with all five nations playing each other in a single group and the highest finishing side winning both the OFC Women’s Nations Cup title and qualifying for the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup™.
Once again Australia and New Zealand asserted their strength, confidently winning all of their first three matches. Papua New Guinea recorded the lowest losing margin against one of the two, falling to a 0-5 defeat to New Zealand. With nine points each, qualification came down to a decider between the Trans-Tasman rivals, once more in the final match of the tournament.
Strikes from Joanne Peters and Danielle Small inspired Australia to a 2-0 win over New Zealand at the Belconnen Soccer Centre, confirming qualification for a third straight FIFA Women’s World Cup™ and another OFC Women’s Nations Cup title. New Zealand’s Maia Jackman was the tournament’s top goalscorer, scoring three hat-tricks across the group.
Again the Australians fought valiantly in the USA, taking the lead against Russia in their opening group match, before falling to a 1-2 defeat, and losing by the same scoreline to Ghana. The highlight of their campaign was undoubtedly holding defending champions China to a 1-1 draw in Carson, for just Australia’s second FIFA Women’s World Cup™ point. It wasn’t enough to progress though, suffering a third consecutive group stage exit.
QUICK LINKS
OFC LOCATION
