OFC qualifying for the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in the USA was hosted in Auckland, New Zealand, with all matches played at Mt Smart Stadium. It doubled as the 1998 OFC Women’s Nations Cup and consisted of six participants, the most in tournament history up to that point.
The competition also underwent a format change, consisting of two groups of three teams each, with the top two in each group progressing to the semi-finals. Hosts New Zealand were paired with Fiji and Samoa in Group A, whilst defending champions Australia were joined by Papua New Guinea and American Samoa in Group B.
Group A proved routine for New Zealand, who wrapped up top spot with a 21-0 victory of Samoa and a big 14-0 win over Fiji. The second semi-final place was secured by Fiji, who beat Samoa 5-0 on the final day of the group.
Australia also faced little trouble in claiming top spot in Group B, beating American Samoa 21-0 and Papua New Guinea 8-0. Papua New Guinea joined them in the semi-finals with a 9-0 win over American Samoa in the final group stage fixture.
Both Trans-Tasman sides continued their fine form in the semi-finals, with New Zealand booking their place in the final after beating Papua New Guinea 5-0 in the first semi. Australia joined them following a 17-0 victory over Fiji in the second semi-final, led by hat-tricks from Julie Murray, Sharon Black, and Joanne Peters.
Australia made it back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup™ qualifications with a 3-1 victory over New Zealand in the final. Goals from Julie Murray and Bridgette Starr propelled them into the lead inside the first fifteen minutes, and they never looked back against the tournament hosts at Mt Smart Stadium, also securing a second OFC Women’s Nations Cup title.
With 15 goals, Australia’s Pernille Andersen finished as the tournament’s top scorer. History was made when Australia became the first OFC member to record a point at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ following a 1-1 draw with Ghana in their opening group game of the 1999 event in Foxborough. Julie Murray gave the Matildas the lead, but Ghana responded two minutes later to hold them to a stalemate. They fought hard in their two remaining group matches, but ultimately fell to 1-3 defeats to both Sweden and China, condemning Australia to another first round exit.
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