TribalFootball.com also talked exclusively with Ashleigh Walsh, the women’s football manager at the Oceania Football Confederation, about her thoughts on the growth of the game in New Zealand and the region.
We also look at the results of Kansas City Current’s second Teal Rising Cup, involving the host side and three top clubs from Mexico and Brazil. We finally present the qualifiers for the 24 team FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Finals in September of 2026 in Poland, with only four nations from Africa yet to be determined for the final field.
OFC 2027 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers—New Zealand returns to WWC from Oceania; PNG off again to the Intercontinental Playoffs
On April 15, New Zealand advanced to their sixth consecutive WWC Finals (since 2007 in China) and seventh overall (they were at the inaugural FIFA tournament in 1991, also in China) with a 1-0 win over Papua New Guinea. The Football Ferns are still looking for their first entry into the knockout stages beyond the initial group stage at the FIFA Finals.
Papua New Guinea used a strong defense to keep the attacking Football Ferns off the scoreboard until the 55th minute, when Katie Kitching (27), of Sunderland in the WSL2, scored on a header from Gabbie Rennie’s (24), of Eskilstuna United of Sweden, excellent cross, in front of 3,984 at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.
PNG survived a late first-half flurry from New Zealand, when the host side was awarded a penalty in injury time after defender Olivia Upaupau (29) of Olympic FC in Queensland’s WNSL in Australia, brought down midfielder Maya Hahn (25), with Viktoria Berlin of the German Bundesliga 2, with a sliding challenge in the penalty box, but a VAR review overturned the decision. Still in injury time, defender Rebekah Stott’s (32) long-range effort caromed off the crossbar—Stott currently plays with 2025-26 Ninja A-League Premiership winners Melbourne City.
On April 10, in the semifinals, forward Keren Kalapai (20) of Lae City in Papua New Guinea scored the only goal of the match just before halftime to give PNG Bilums a 1-0 semifinal win over American Samoa in the first FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 Oceania Qualifiers semi-final at FMG Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand in front of 481 fans. PNG had their fourth consecutive shutout of the multi-stage tournament.
American Samoa’s WWC Finals hopes came to an end, but their run to the semifinals was one of the stories of the year in women’s football. American Samoa made history this year by winning four straight tournament matches (over Tonga 3-0 and hosts Cook Islands 4-0 in the first round in late November/early December in the Cook Island and defeated Solomon Islands (1-0) and Samoa (1-0) in the second round in March in the Solomon Islands before falling to New Zealand 3-0, when they entered the tournament as the lowest rated women’s national team side by FIFA in the tournament at 153 (see our review of the previous round of OFC qualifying from our column last month: The Week in Women's Football: NWSL review (P3); World Cup playoffs; East Bengal success - TribalFootball.com).
Keren Kalapai (#19 in red) of Papua New Guinea celebrates after scoring the only goal of the OFC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers semifinal to defeat American Samoa 1-0 on April 11, 2026 in Hamilton, New Zealand, to advance to the OFC Final, with 2027 WWC Finals and Intercontinental Playoffs berths at stake. Photo credit: Oceania Football Confederation Media via Phototek.
American Samoa had the first chance of the game just after the ten minute mark, when Mattyn Summers (22) of BYU in Utah sent a cross to her twin sister Aaliyah Summers, but her shot was wide of the goal. The game was evenly contested between the two sides, with both sides launch dangerous attacks at times, particularly as the game opened up in the last 25 minutes of the match.
In the other semifinal, also on April 11 in Hamiton, New Zealand’s Football Ferns scored four first half goals enroute to a 5-0 win over Fiji in front of 3,267 for the second game of the doubleheader, with the games being moved forward a day to avoid the expected impact of Cyclone Vaianu. With the late change in the day for the games, the OFC allowed free-entry to the games and a refund to those who already had purchased tickets, which is a hugely positive statement and one that other football tournament organizers should follow in emergency situations.
The winning goal came in the fifth minute as Grace Jale (27) of Wellington Phoenix took a shot that Fijian goalkeeper Mereseini Waqali (22) of Ba in Fiji could only parry away, but Kelli Brown (25) of Newcastle Jets followed up to score New Zealand’s first goal in the 11th minute. Hamilton native Michaela Foster (27) of Durham in England’s WSL2 took a cross which found captain Kate Taylor (22) of Dijon in France, who nodded home into the bottom left corner in the 21st minute; Foster soon scored the Football Ferns’ third goal six minutes later. Katie Kitching added a fourth goal in the 38th minute.
New Zealand scored a final goal in the 74th minute through when Katie Kitching laid the ball off to substitute Hannah Blake (25), also of Durham in the WSL2, as Fiji’s defensive play was much more robust in the second half.
New Zealand’s squad for the semifinals and finals brought in four regular members in Ally Green, Jacqui Hand, Gabi Rennie, and Kate Taylor, who had not played in the previous round in the Solomon Islands. The full squad (23) was:
Liz ANTON (27 caps/0 goals) Canberra United, Australia
Hannah BLAKE (10/3) Durham FC, England
Kelli BROWN (11/4) Newcastle Jets, Australia
Claudia BUNGE (40/1) Melbourne Victory, Australia
Milly CLEGG (23/4) Vittsjö GIK, Sweden
Victoria ESSON (32/0) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Michaela FOSTER (33/1) Durham FC, England
Ally GREEN (19/2) FC Copenhagen, Denmark
Maya HAHN (8/1) FC Viktoria Berlin, Germany
Jacqui HAND (37/9) FC Basel, Switzerland
Deven JACKSON (8/1) Melbourne City FC, Australia
Grace JALE (37/10) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Katie KITCHING (26/7) Sunderland AFC, England
Charlotte LANCASTER (3/0) Newcastle Jets, Australia
Meikayla MOORE (77/4) Calgary Wild, Canada
Emma PIJNENBURG (11/0) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Gabi RENNIE (45/2) Eskilstuna United DFF, Sweden
Indiah-Paige RILEY (37/9) Crystal Palace, England
Alina SANTOS (2/0) University of Denver, USA
Rebekah STOTT (110/4) Melbourne City, Australia
Kate TAYLOR (30/2) Dijon FCO, France
Pia VLOK (3/1) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Grace WISNEWSKI (7/0) FC Nordsjælland, Denmark
Six of the players are based with squads in Australia, four in New Zealand (all with Wellington Phoenix), four in England, two each in Denmark and Sweden and one each from Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland and the U.S.
Ford Football Ferns head coach Michael Mayne said ahead of the OFC semifinals and final: “These are really important games for us to achieve the first of our goals in our campaign plan, qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in Brazil. Because of these games coming so quickly after the group stage (in the Solomon Islands) we have made the decision to retain the vast majority of that squad so we have real consistency and can hit the ground running once the players are back home.
"The tournament in the Solomon Islands was a great start to the year, and while the scores reflected the difference in quality we have over those OFC nations, what was pleasing was the way in which we stayed connected to what we wanted to get from the fixtures in the way we played and approached those matches very professionally as a group…
"The reality is, we have not played in New Zealand in over a year, so being back in Aotearoa is a real privilege and the prospect of qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in front of our home fans and families is very special and not something we get to do very often.”
Ashleigh Walsh, the OFC’s Women’s Football Manager, discusses the state of the game and the recent WWC qualifiers in the region.
TribalFootball.com talked to Ashleigh Walsh, OFC Women’s Football Manager, in early April ahead of the semifinals and final game of the 2027 WWC OFC qualifiers, which she described as: “A great tournament. It is a different format with 3 rounds—Cook Islands hosting the first round, (the) second round was held across Fiji and Solomon Islands, (with) the third round finals out of New Zealand in a couple of weeks’ time. This change of format has been great because it allows all teams to have competitive fixtures with similar ranked teams.”
She also felt that one of the huge stories of the tournament was that American Samoa making the semifinals: “American Samoa has been exciting to watch and am looking forward to seeing them play here in New Zealand. They should give a few other teams a run for their money…
"The gap between the teams (in the region) is getting closer. Solomon Islands actually didn’t get out of their group (see: The Week in Women's Football: NWSL review (P3); World Cup playoffs; East Bengal success - TribalFootball.com) and they won the (OFC) Women’s Nations Cup (last summer, with a 3-2 win over heavily favored Papua New Guinea in Fiji). It’s showing (that) the competitiveness across the region is improving and the gap is getting smaller. Nations are far better prepared than they have been (and are) preparing for longer for the tournament… There are increased resources for the teams’ management.”
We asked Ashleigh Walsh about the knock-on effect from New Zealand co-hosting the 2023 WWC in New Zealand, with Australia seeing an initial boost in Ninja A-League gates and then record crowds for last month’s AFC Asian Women’s Cup Finals games.
She said: “We have to acknowledge that we are very different from Australia; the regions are different; the Asian Confederation is large with populations by country (and) are significant when comparing to the Oceania region. But certainly, the visibility and interest in the women’s game has improved within the region. New Zealand has seen an increase over the past two seasons in participating and female coaches—we are starting to see a shift in leadership as well with more females getting involved in football.”
She did indicate that there was a difference within New Zealand versus other Oceania Football Confederation members when she explained that: “The biggest participation rate in New Zealand is in grassroots and again at seniors. It tips the other way through the (rest of the) region for youth ages to 18, (where) you start to see a pickup in numbers. Outside of New Zealand, we see more participation at seniors than grassroots. I’m not sure whether if, after COVID, there was not as much staff in grassroots areas across the region and if that comes into play in the youth ages. Fiji ran a pilot and doubled their numbers from 2023-2025, which is huge.
"The opportunities for girls and women in Fiji is significant. We’re seeing a strong display throughout the pathway for girls in Fiji… Now the priority has shifted throughout the region and the grassroots is really important so we can retain players and ensure that the pathway is continuing for girls and women.”
We wanted to know Ashleigh Walsh’s thoughts on the new men’s OFC Pro League and whether it could be a format for a future women’s professional or a semi-professional league throughout the region (see our column earlier this year: The Week in Women's Football: Reviewing UK World Cup Bid & new Oceania book - TribalFootball.com): “It’s really important for Oceania Football to establish this pro league within the region and create more opportunities for more players to be involved in professional environments, (which) creates more consistent highs, high performance environments for the men. It’s something we would love to see for the women.
"There are key challenges however, the sustainability of it, the cost to travel, some things to come into consideration. For the women’s game right now, it provides a blueprint or like a reference point, but right now the focus is how we strengthen our foundations first; we need to ensure that the (OFC) Women’s Champions League is strong, that we have competitive games at clubs—we have a lot of work to do to ensure that those foundations are strong before we can really look to a remit for a women’s professional leagues… It is on the radar and we will be looking to compare (for) our next strategy (document) for 2027. It is on the radar.”
She added that she wanted to see: “Associations with really strong leagues locally that are ready to have clubs put forward for a women’s pro league.”
2026 Kansas City Current Teal Rising Cup Results
During the long FIFA international window in mid-March, the NWSL’s Kansas City Current brought three teams into Kansas City for their second annual Teal Rising Cup—Club America of Mexico along with Sao Paulo rivals Palmeiras and Corinthians of Brazil. Palmeiras and Corinthians competed in the inaugural tournament in 2025, along with Chicago Stars, with KC winning the title.
Kansas City won the 2026 tournament on April 12 with an astounding 6-1 win over Palmeiras in the championship match, building up a 6-0 lead by half-time. Forward Haley Hopkins scored a hat trick, only the second in club history—after forward Kristen Hamilton during an NWSL Challenge Cup match on July 23, 2023 in a 3-1 home win (at Mercy Park) over Houston Dash. Hopkins (27), who is in her second season with KC after two seasons with the North Carolina Courage, was named the tournament’s MVP for the second consecutive Teal Cup.
The Current opened the scoring in the second minute with an own goal by Palmeiras. Forward Bia Zaneratto (32)—who played with the Current in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, scoring 12 regular season goals in 40 matches and has over 100 caps for Brazil—notched a goal for her new club Palmeiras in the 82nd minute.
Head coach Chris Armas said after the title game: “To the three other clubs that made this possible—Corinthians, Palmeiras, Club América—we’re grateful that they took part in this competition with us and they came and took it as seriously as we did. Every time there’s a trophy on the line of any sort, that should never get old... We had many objectives in this tournament here, and (winning) was certainly one of them. For the players, a big congratulations to the group that they got to lift the trophy.”
In the first match of Sunday’s doubleheader, Brazil’s Corinthians SC took home third place honors after crushing past Mexican side Club América, 8-0. Corinthians scored seven second half goals, with braces from Brazilian international forwards Jaqueline Ribeiro (26) and Ariel Godoi (31). Godoi has scored 10 goals in 42 regular season matches since joining the Sao Paulo side in January of 2025 from cross-city rivals Sao Paulo FC.
In the semifinals on April 9, KC Current defeated Corinthians thanks to an 82nd minute header from their KC Current II side (WPSL Summer Amateur League) striker Avery Clark (21), for a 2-1 win. In the first match of the doubleheader, Brazil’s SE Palmeiras notched a 1-0 victory over Mexican side Club América. Palmeiras scored the only goal in the 68th minute from their Brazilian international defender Poliana, heading home after a long-free kick from near the penalty spot. Poliana has played her entire career in Brazil, except for a spell from 2015-2018, where she played with Stjarnan in Iceland, two seasons with the NWSL Houston Dash (2016 and 2017) and with the Orlando Pride in 2018.
Club América. known as “Las Aguilas” (“The Eagles”), finished in fourth place during the 2024-25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup. Club América currently is 12-3-1 (W-D-T) for second place in the 2025-26 Liga MX Femenil Clausura, with one game left before the playoffs.
Corinthians reactivated their women’s team in 2016, which transformed the women’s football scene in Brazil. Nicknamed as “Brabas” (“The Fierce Ones”), Corinthians has won seven Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino titles, six Copa Libertadores Feminina titles (including the latest title in 2025, for more see: The Week in Women's Football: Isabelle Kadzban exclusive on Chilean development; Copa Libertadores review - TribalFootball.com), four Campeonato Paulista (state league championship) titles, three Supercopa do Brasil titles, one Copa do Brasil title and one Copa Paulista (state league cup) title. This past January, Corinthians finished as the runner-up in the 2026 FIFA Women’s Champions Cup in England (see: The Week in Women's Football: Champions Cup review and examining NWSL marketing report hopes - TribalFootball.com).
The team has also accounted for four of the five largest attendances in Brazilian women’s soccer history, and the highest women’s football attendance in South America. The club currently sits atop Brasileiro Feminino A1 standings with 13 points and a plus-10 goal differential behind a 4-1-1 record.
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (SE) has won nine major trophies: one Copa Libertadores Femenina title, one Copa do Brasil title, one Supercopa do Brasil title, four Campeonato Paulista titles and two Copa Paulista titles. The club had one of its best seasons in 2025, winning three championships and securing its first-ever national title. Palmeiras currently sits in second place in Brasileiro Feminino A1 standings with 13 points, a plus-9 goal differential and a 4-1-1 record.
2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers Update
In April, the Asian Football Confederation determined their four finalists for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Finals in September in Poland—with Japan defeating Korea DPR 1-0 in the final on April 18, with a goal from midfielder Momoka Sano in the 56th minute, the day after she turned 18. Korea DPR largely dominated the game but Japan held on to their one goal advantage.
Japan won its seventh AFC title at this age level. Korea DPR were the reigning U-20 Asian Women’s Cup Champions as well as the current FIFA U-20 champions, while their U-17 side has won the last two FIFA U-17 titles. The two nations could meet again in the latter stages of the U-20 FIFA Finals as well as at next year’s WWC Finals in Brazil—as Japan won the Asian title in Australia last month while Korea DPR also qualified for Brazil, though they lost by 2-1 scores to China in the group stage and Australia in the quarterfinals, but dispatched Chinese Taipei 4-0 in the play-in matches. Japan and Korea DPR are certainly well positioned to go deep into the final stages of both the U-20’s this summer and next year’s senior finals.
In the AFC U-20 semifinals, Japan shut out China 2-0 and Korea DPR defeated neighbors Korea Republic 3-0 on April 15. The quarterfinals on April 11 and 12 were crucial as the winners advanced automatically to the U-20 WWC Finals. Those sides who fell at the quarterfinals included Vietnam (to Japan 4-0), Uzbekistan (2-1 to China), Australia (3-0 to Korea DPR) and Thailand (2-1 to Korea Republic after extra time). The entire U-20 Asian Cup tournament was held in Thailand, utilizing two stadiums in Pathum Thani and one in Nonthaburi.
The four Asian sides join Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica from CONCACAF, Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and Colombia from CONMEBOL, New Caledonia and New Zealand from Oceania, along with England, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain and host nation Poland from UEFA, with four spots from Africa to be determined in regional qualifying in May. Thus far, the only debutants for the U-20 FIFA Finals are Ecuador, New Caledonia, Poland and Portugal.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey