Stage 1 Preliminary Round 4 teams, round robin, central tournament
Stage 2 Group Stage 8 teams, 2 groups, 6 home-and-away matches per team
Stage 3 Semi-Finals 4 teams, 2 home-and-away matches per team
Stage 4 Final 2 teams, 2 home-and-away matches per team
Seeding and groups to be confirmed by regulation.
Stage 1 – Preliminary Round
Venue TBC
Dates 8-16 June 2015
Teams American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga
Format Round robin – League system
Qualification The winner qualifies to Stage 2
Stage 2 – Group Stage
Dates Match Day 1 and 2 5-13 October 2015
Match Day 3 and 4 21-29 March 2016
Match Day 5 and 6 30 May – 7 June 2016
Format 2 groups of 4 teams playing a round robin, home-and-away basis
Qualification The winner and runner-up of each group qualifies to Stage 3
Stage 3 – Semi-Finals
Dates 29 August – 6 September 2016
Format Group winners will be paired up with runners-up to play 2 matches on home-and-away basis
Qualification The winner of each semi-final series qualifies to Stage 4
Stage 4 – Finals
Dates 7-18 November 2016
Format 2 semi-final winners will play 2 matches on home-and-away basis
Qualification The winner of the final playoff series qualifies for both the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 and 2018 FIFA World Cup™ Intercontinental Playoff in November 2017.
• A proposal from the OFC Secretariat to delete Stage 3 and Stage 4 above and amend the semi-finals and finals format with a further 4 team round robin played on a league basis exists as follows:
Stage 3 – Group Stage Finals
Dates Match Day 1 and 2 29 August/6 September
Match Day 3 and 4 3-11 October
Match Day 5 and 6 7-18 November
Format Group winners will play each other on home-and-away league system basis
Qualification The winner of the league qualifies for the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 (as the OFC Nations Cup winner) and 2018 FIFA World Cup™ Intercontinental Playoff in November 2017.