Soccer OFC: Tokelau has a national team and amateur tournaments, it can dream of an unofficial league

In this article we will analyze how football develops on this small island in Oceania.

Writer by Sports & News Continental | From New Zealand, OFC

#Episode3 OFC SOCCER ANALYSIS

A New Zealand territory near Samoa with 100% of its territory powered by solar energy, it has a selection and amateur tournaments, and can dream of the development of its young players who practice the sport on the island.

Despite the lack of an official league, the Tokelau national team exists and has participated in some informal matches, demonstrating the growing interest in the sport. The most notable of these unofficial friendlies was in 2011, when the Tokelau national team faced the Tuvalu national team. This was a significant moment for the small country, despite the 3-1 loss to the Tuvalu team. The match serves as one of the few known records of the Tokelau national team's participation in an international football competition. Opponent: Tuvalu national team Date: 2011 (Friendly match) Result: Tokelau 1-3 Tuvalu Venue: Apia, Samoa This match is the main and possibly only record of an international match for the Tokelau national team. The lack of other public and detailed matches reflects the state of football in the territory. Limited infrastructure on the small coral islands means sports like Kilikiti (a Polynesian version of cricket) and rugby are more traditional.

Initiatives such as the OFC's, with FIFA's support, to add regional content to FIFA+ and also the possible creation of the OFC Professional League will professionalize the region's elite and consequently bring the spotlight to countries where football is still.

In short, although football may have a national team with international matches and young players playing occasionally, they are still in the maturation phase to be able to take the next step in the future, which would be to transform amateur tournaments into an unofficial league, but not far from participating in the 2028 OFC Nations Cup qualifiers.