Five teams entered the OFC qualifying process for the 1990 FIFA World Cup™ in Italy, which consisted of two stages. Australia were joined by New Zealand, Israel, Chinese Taipei and Fiji in the qualifying tournament. Israel were given direct progression to the second stage of qualifying, whilst the remaining four sides played off in two two-legged home and away ties to join them.
New Zealand opened up an insurmountable 4-0 deficit in the first leg of their play-off tie with Chinese Taipei in Wellington, before completing the job wth a 4-1 second-leg victory.
Darren McLennan scored once in the first-leg before netting a ha-trick in the second match, to help New Zealand through to the second round. The other tie proved more intriguing, as Fiji pulled off one of their most famous results with a shock 1-0 win over Australia in the first leg in Nadi, thanks to a Ravuame Madigi goal. Australia reacted impressively in the second leg to avoid the upset, winning 5-1 courtesy of two goals from Charlie Yankos in Newcastle to progress and win the tie 5-2 on aggregate.
The second round saw Israel, New Zealand and Australia play each other twice in a group, from which the winner would progress to an intercontinental play-off with a CONMEBOL representative. New Zealand’s chances of progressing to a second World Cup evaporated early, losing their first two games to Israel and Australia.
The two frontrunners played off in Ramat Gan to a 1-1 draw, but Australia fell away after suffering a 0-2 defeat to New Zealand in Auckland. That gave Israel a clear path to the top spot, and they secured it with draws against each of their opponents in the final two games.
One lone goal from Albeiro Usuriaga sunk Israeli hearts in their intercontinental play-off with Colombia for a spot at the 1990 FIFA World Cup™. That was all that separated the two sides in the first leg in Barranquilla, and proved the decisive strike in the tie, as Israel failed to find the back of the net in a 0-0 draw at home in the second, and missed out on a place in Italy.
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