The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is a “transformed confederation” thanks to its efforts to develop football in the region and overcoming numerous challenges in the process, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in his address to the 32nd OFC Ordinary Congress in Vancouver, Canada. Recalling his trip in 2023 when he visited all 11 of the FIFA Member Associations (MAs) in Oceania, Mr Infantino thanked OFC President Lambert Maltock, outgoing OFC General Secretary Franck Castillo and the FIFA MAs in the OFC for their efforts to develop football at both grassroots and professional levels.

“The complications… the distances, even within a single country, between the different islands, the complications of travelling from one place to another, the possibility of building infrastructure where there are no, or limited, resources – these are all elements that you had to overcome to be able to organise football,” the FIFA President said. “And today, you are truly a transformed confederation. You not only have a beautiful headquarters, a great organisation, but you organise competitions from the youth level, girls, boys, to women and men at the highest level for clubs and for national teams.”

Mr Infantino said he was proud to see the inaugural edition of the OFC Professional League underway with eight clubs from seven MAs. FIFA has supported the OFC throughout the development of the league, providing strategic expertise and delivering targeted workshops focused on governance, commercial development, player registration and communications, as part of the broader objective of professionalising football across the Pacific.

“I’m proud that FIFA is helping and contributing a little bit to this project, which is a game-changer for football in Oceania, which allows everyone to have the opportunity to play professional football… in addition to the football development scheme (and) the academies that together we are building in respective countries,” he said. New Zealand will represent the OFC at both the FIFA World Cup 2026™ and the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027™, while Papua New Guinea could also qualify for the latter competition via the Play-Off Tournament. The FIFA President also praised New Caledonia for their involvement in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off tournament, where they were eliminated following a narrow 1-0 defeat to Jamaica at the semi-final stage. The FIFA President looked forward to further progress in the future. “There is much more to do, there are many more projects that we want and we can put in place together, but with the base that you have built now in Oceania, with the commitment and the passion that you have now in Oceanian football, the way for all of us to bring the game to the top level is absolutely clear,” he said.