World Cup

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="9e700c00dvldtc.jpg" LINK="#FFCC99" ALINK="#009D74" VLINK="#FF9966"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CC3300" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website</B></FONT>     |   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id883.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OFC Overview"><U>OFC Overview</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id880.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oceania Womens Soccer"><U>Oceania Women's Soccer</U></A>   |   <B>World Cup</B>   |   <A HREF="id896.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OFC Nations Cup"><U>OFC Nations Cup</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id882.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Olympic Games"><U>Olympic Games</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id889.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Youth (U20) World Cup"><U>Youth (U-20) World Cup</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id890.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Junior (U17) World Cup"><U>Junior (U-17) World Cup</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id818.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OFC Club World Champs"><U>OFC Club World Champs</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id824.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OFC U16 Pacific Cup"><U>OFC U-16 Pacific Cup</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OFC Academy"><U>OFC Academy</U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04658020.gif" border=0 width="600" height="2" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> World Cup</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="552" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 419 WIDTH="546"><div> Contrary to popular belief, Oceania has only been represented on one occasion at the World Cup Finals - in 1982, when New Zealand qualified for Spain after playing fifteen matches, travelling over sixty thousand miles by air, scoring a record forty-four goals in the process of qualifying, and recorded a then World Cup record victory over Fiji, 13-0.</div> <bR> <div> Two years prior to qualifying for the 1974 World Cup Finals, Australia resigned its membership of the Oceania Football Confederation, in order to pursue membership of the Asian Football Confederation. They did not rejoin Oceania until 1978.</div> <bR> <div> Taiwan were also members of Oceania between 1975 and 1989, either side of which they were part of the Asian Confederation, while in the qualification process for both the 1986 World Cup Finals, Israel was part of the Oceania qualifying process, at the direction of FIFA.</div> <bR> <div> Direct qualification for the World Cup Finals has long been an issue pursued by Oceania on behalf of its member nations, and it is only now that the behind-the-scenes manoeuvres instigated by former OFC President, Charlie Dempsey, throughout the later years of the twentieth century, are beginning to bear fruit in this regard, culminating in the announcement, on December 18, 2002, of the attainment of direct qualification by the Oceania Confederation to the FIFA World Cup Finals of 2006 and beyond.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id897.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Qualifying 19691977"><U><B>Qualifying 1969-1977</B></U></A><B>          </B><A HREF="id898.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Qualifying 19811989"><U><B>Qualifying 1981-1989</B></U></A><B>          </B><A HREF="id899.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Qualifying 19932001"><U><B>Qualifying 1993-2001</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id878.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oceania Soccer"><U><B>Oceania Soccer</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </BODY>