Fiji

Fiji 2000-01 Away
Fiji 2016-19 Away
Fiji 2016-19 Home

Am I absolutely sure this is a Fiji shirt? Fiji Football Association name and logo printed into the fabric across the whole shirt, embroidered onto the front and all across the stripes at the start of the sleeves. White really wanted you to know it was a Fiji shirt. Additionally, unlike a lot of Fiji shirts which are a full plain colour, we have the lovely traditional deep blue of the away contrasted nicely by the white sleeves. This shirt really works. OFC nations tend to have one or two spectacular shirts across their history and this is very much Fiji’s.

The travesty is that this shirt was only used for such a short time. Used across the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, Fiji recorded comfortable victories over Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa, scoring 27 and conceding only 2. Australia proved to be a different challenge though, delivering a 2-0 defeat to prevent Fiji from facing New Zealand for the play-off spot.

From the spectacular to the standard, these Fiji shirts have the logo nicely embroidered but otherwise are completely plain with just the Kappa logos on the sleeves. There’s really nothing here, and that’s such a shame considering what there is to work with. But Fiji shirts don’t grow on trees and these are welcome in my collection.

Used across a long period of time, these Fiji shirts saw action in the 2016 Nations Cup, the 2017 Pacific Mini Games, the 2019 Pacific Games along with numerous youth and women’s tournaments. They were eliminated in the group stages of the Nations Cup, losing 3-1 to New Zealand and 3-2 to Vanuatu but beating the Solomon Islands 1-0. This was enough to eke them through the the 3^rd round of 2018 qualifying on goal difference but New Zealand and New Caledonia took ruthless advantage of their shakiness and a 2-2 home draw to the New Caledonians proved to be their oinly point from the 4 games, losing 2-0 twice to New Zealand and 2-1 away in Nouméa.

With 5 titles from the 7 Melanesian Cups, Fiji are traditionally the powerhouse of the Pacific islands. The step up to Australia and New Zealand has almost always been a step too far but otherwise they’ve been a major force. Twice 3^rd in the Nations Cup and twice 4^th, they’ve struggled a little more in recent years. In the pacific Games though, they’ve had two gold medals, four silvers and two bronzes, only struggling really far back in their history. Similarly, in the Pacific Mini Games they’ve earned 2 silver medals from the 3 games.

Women’s football is a little quieter for Fiji, but they’ve still shown their mettle. Three bronzes medals from 5 Pacific Games along with a silver from the only Mini Games tournament proves their credentials in a way that their early Nations Cup appearances can’t. 1983 and 1998 were a miserable time for them (1998 prolonged by their defeat of Samoa sending them into a 17-0 semi-final defeat to Australia and a 7-1 3^rd place play-off defeat to Papua New Guinea). 2010 brought a solitary draw, but narrow scoreline and 2018 showed some of those Pacific Games credentials! Sent through qualification, they dispatched Vanuatu and American Samoa, stumbling briefly in a draw with the Solomons, before beating the Cook Islands, hammering Tonga and getting battered 10-0 by New Zealand. A 5-1 victory against Papua New Guinea sent them into a rematch with the Kiwis where the scoreline was reduced to 8-0 in a respectable 2^nd place, but still very much 2^nd. Youth football has seen some successes, with Fiji reaching the 2016 Olympics after New Zealand’s elimination, and regularly being the team just behind them beforehand. At the U20 level they’ve take a few points off New Zealand and have a string of top 4 finishes (including a 2014 title without New Zealand there), beating Honduras 3-0 at the 2015 U20 World Cup. At the U17 level they have a few top 4 appearances but haven’t quite lived up to the same billing. While otherwise quiet, they also have 2 semi-final appearances at women’s U17 level as well as a 2^nd place at U20 level, all recently.

After initial success, with three 2^nd places in 6 tournaments, Fiji dropped off the futsal radar a little, not attending two of the subsequent Nations Cups and finishing middle of the pack when they did. They’ve not been to a World Cup. Even more anonymous in beach soccer, they only showed up in 2009 and 2011, not winning a single game. Standard football is very much more their forte.

Without 2022 World Cup qualification having a defined format, it is hard to tell how Fiji will perform. The FA aim is to compete, with a target of securing the play-off spot for 2026. Some slightly shaky form in 2019 will concern them, but expect Fiji to press New Zealand to the best of their ability. Unlikely that a shock will be on the cards but let’s wait and see.