Fiji vs Papua New Guinea Match Analysis and Prediction

5 years ago 710

Fiji and Papua New Guinea will have an encounter at the Grand Hamad Stadium in Qatar on Thursday in the final OFC group-stage qualifier for the 2022 World Cup.

The hosts currently sit above New Guinea on goal difference in Group B, and victory for either nation will see them advance to the semi-final stage of the qualification process.

After 20 month away from international football, Fiji began their 2022 World Cup qualification campaign with a 2-1 victory against New Caledonia last month, courtesy of a brace from Sairusi Nalaubu.

Their second qualifier came on Monday, however they were unable to come out on top against New Zealand, who took a 4-0 victory, with the Bula Boys suffering their heaviest defeat in nearly 15 years.

Flemming Serritslev’s side now turn their attention to Thursday’s fixture agains Papua New Guinea, a nation they are unbeaten against in each of their last five meetings.

The Bula Boys, who have never qualified for the World Cup, have finished third in each of the last two qualification group-stage campaigns for the 2014 and 2018 tournaments.

Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea only require a draw to advance to the next stage of qualification as they are currently sitting above Fiji on a goal difference.

A narrow 1-0 defeat against New Zealand last month was followed by a narrow victory by the same scoreline against New Caledonia on Monday, with Tommy Semmy’s goal in the eight minute enough to secure three crucial points.

Marcos Gusmao took charge of the Kapuls in December 2021, and is hoping his side can improve on their perfomance in 2018 qualifying and reach their first ever World Cup competition this year.

Victory for Papua New Guinea on Thursday could see them face either the Solomons Island or Tahiti in the semi-finals of the second round.

Fiji vs Papua New Guinea head to head

The two teams have previously met on only five occasions, where Fiji have taken three victories while Papua New Guinea have won once, and they have drawn once. Fiji have scored nine goals and conceded six. In their last encounter, Fiji won through penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Pacific Games.

Fiji 4-2 Papua New Guinea 12/05/04

Papua New Guinea 0-2 Fiji 05/09/11

Papua New Guinea 1-1 Fiji 06/06/12

Papua New Guinea 2-1 Fiji 17/07/15

Papua New Guinea 1-1(P) Fiji 19/07/19

Fiji latest home form

Fiji have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their nine most recent matches. Their last home defeat came on November 19 2017 when they lost 2-0 to Estonia in a friendly game. In their last five matches, they have scored 16 goals and conceded six.

Fiji 1-0 Mauritius 24/03/19

Fiji 1-1 Tahiti 06/06/19

Fiji 0-0 Vanuatu 10/06/19

Fiji 10-1 Tuvalu 15/07/19

Fiji 4-4 Solomon Islands 18/07/19

Fiji latest away form

Fiji have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost only two of their last six matches, winning each of the other four. The lost their last away game 4-0 to New Zealand. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded seven.

American Samoa 0-9 Fiji 10/07/19

New Caledonia 1-0 Fiji 12/07/19

Papua New Guinea 1-1(P) Fiji 19/07/19

New Caledonia 1-2 Fiji 18/03/22

New Zealand 4-0 Fiji 21/03/22

Papua New Guinea latest home form

The Kapuls have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won only three of their seven most recent matches. In their last home game, they defeated New Caledonia 1-0 in the World Cup Qualification. In their last five, they have scored 12 goals and conceded only two.

Papua New Guinea 2-0 Vanuatu 10/07/19

Papua New Guinea 8-0 Tonga 17/07/19

Papua New Guinea 1-1(P) Fiji 19/07/19

Papua New Guinea 0-1 New Zealand 18/03/22

Papua New Guinea 1-0 New Caledonia 21/03/22

Papua New Guinea latest away form

The Kapuls have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won only two of their last seven matches. In their last away game, they lost 2-0 to New Zealand in the Pacific Games. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded eight.

Malaysia 2-1 Papua New Guinea 14/11/16

Tahiti 1-2 Papua New Guinea 29/03/17

Solomon Islands 3-2 Papua New Guinea 09/06/17

Samoa 0-6 Papua New Guinea 08/07/19

New Zealand 2-0 Papua New Guinea 15/07/19

Fiji news

Despite suffering defeat last time out, Serrislev is unlikely to make many changes to his starting lineup.

Antonio Tuivuna, Lekima Gonerau, Kishan Sami and Remueru Tekiate could all retain their places in the back four, while captain Roy Krishna is set to start in attack alongside Nalaubu in the Thursday’s contest.

Papua New Guinea news

The Kapuls are set to keep a 4-4-2 formation against Fiji, with captain Alwin Komolong starting alongside his brother Felix Komolong at centre-back.

Jacob Sabula, Michael Foster, Emmanuel Simon and Stahl Gubag could all keep their places in midfield, while Kolo Kepo is likely to start in the attack with Semmy.

Prediction and Odds

Both sides will fancy their chances of a victory on Thursday, although Fiji will have the psychological edge against the Kapuls considering they are unbeaten in each of the last five meetings.

Here we feel Fiji will overcome their opponents, though there is little to separate them, and secure a victory.

Odds: 1 1.90 X 2.05 2 2.26