Ten teams entered the OFC qualifying process for the 1998 FIFA World Cup™ in France, another record for the most participants at the time. Three stages made up the process, with Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tahiti given direct entry to the second round by virtue of being the four highest ranked nations in the region according to FIFA rankings.
That left the remaining six nations; Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Western Samoa, and Cook Islands to fight it out for the final two places in the second round.
The six lowest teams were split based on their geographical standing into a Melanesian and Polynesian group respectively, with the winner of the Melanesian group securing progression, and the second placed side facing the winner of the Polynesian pool for the second and final spot in the second round. The Melanesian group was played in Lae, Papua New Guinea, and proved incredibly competitive.
The Solomon Islands drew both of their matches 1-1 with the hosts and Vanuatu, meaning the winner of the group would be decided on the final day. Two very late goals from Batman Furigi and Roy Karang helped Papua New Guinea to a crucial 2-1 win over Vanuatu, progressing through to the second round in top spot, whilst the Solomon Islands finished second for a play-off berth.
Tonga emerged to face them from the Polynesian group, winning both of their matches against the Cook Islands and Western Samoa in Nuku’alofa. It proved one-way traffic for the Solomon Islands in the play-off though, claiming the final spot in the second round with a 13-0 aggregate victory over Tonga.
Australia were drawn alongside Tahiti and the Solomon Islands in Group 1 of the second round of qualifying, whilst New Zealand were joined by Fiji and Papua New Guinea in Group 2. All teams faced each other twice home and away, with the winner of each group progressing to a play-off to decide who would represent OFC in an intercontinental play-off.
Five goals each from John Aloisi and Damian Mori inspired Australia to a massive 13-0 win over the Solomon Islands in the opening match of their campaign, and they cruised through Group 1 with four wins from four. New Zealand had a slightly tougher time of it in their group, and slipped up with a 0-1 defeat to Papua New Guinea away in Port Moresby.
The All Whites recovered though, and gained revenge with a 7-0 win in the reverse fixture, before beating Fiji home and away to secure progression. Again New Zealand and Australia met each other in the OFC play-off, with Australia proving too good. The Socceroos stamped their mark on the tie early, claiming a big 3-0 win away in Auckland, before wrapping up the tie 5-0 on aggregate with a 2-0 win in the second leg in Sydney.
Ned Zelic, Graham Arnold, John Aloisi, Aurelio Vidmar and Craig Foster scored the goals for Australia, who progressed to a two-legged intercontinental play-off with Iran for a place at the World Cup.
Over 100,000 fans crammed into Tehran’s Azadi Stadium for the first-leg, where Australia managed to hold out for a credible 1-1 draw, thanks to a first-half strike from Harry Kewell. With an away goal to their name, the Socceroos returned home for the second leg at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with the advantage.
They appeared to be cruising towards the finals too when Harry Kewell and Aurelio Vidmar gave Australia a 2-0 lead. With fifteen minutes to play however, Iran caught their opponents cold, scoring twice in four minutes courtesy of Karim Beghari and Khodadad Azizi, bringing the tie back level at 3-3, and progressing through to the 1998 FIFA World Cup™ at Australia’s expense on away goals.
Football fans across Australia were left stunned, and the nation’s 24-year wait for a second appearance at the finals continued.
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