New Caledonia national football team

The New Caledonia men's national football team (), nicknamed (), is the national team of New Caledonia; it is controlled by the Fédération Calédonienne de Football. Although they were only admitted to FIFA in 2004, they have been participating in the OFC Nations Cup since its inception. They have been one of this relatively small region's strongest teams, finishing second in 2008 and 2012, and third in 1973 and 1980. They were the top ranked OFC nation at number 95 in September 2008, making them only the fourth country from the confederation to have reached the global top 100.

History

The New Caledonian Football Federation, although created in 1928, did not join FIFA or the OFC until 2004, becoming the 205th member of the former.

Previously the New Caledonian selection, due to the attachment of local institutions to the French Football Federation, could only line up during friendly matches or regional competitions, such as the Pacific Games, as well as the Oceania Football Cup, but only as a guest.

The Cagous distinguished themselves during these competitions, winning the Pacific Games on several occasions, and finishing in third place, during the first two editions of the OFC Nations Cup.

After failing to qualify for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, the New Caledonian Football Federation hired Didier Chambaron as the team's new coach. During the 2007 South Pacific Games in Apia, the Cagous were placed in group A and won over their great rival Tahiti (1–0), this meeting was the first of the playoffs for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They then won against Tuvalu and the Cook Islands (1–0) and (3–0). For their last group match, they drew against Fiji (1–1). The New Caledonians finished second in their group, and then beat the Solomon Islands (3–2), then in the final won the trophy against Fiji (1–0).

The Pacific Games football tournament serving as the first qualifying round for the World Cup in South Africa, the team found themselves qualified for the second round, where New Zealand blocked their way by taking first place. The Cagous however finish second in front of Fiji and Vanuatu.

In May 2011, the selection faced Reunion twice in Nouméa, matches counting for the preparation of the games of the islands of the Indian Ocean in the Seychelles of the Reunionese. The New Caledonians lost both matches. However, a few months later, during the 2011 Pacific Games, New Caledonia won in the final against the Solomon Islands, with the score of (2–0), after a victory against Tahiti (3–1).

In June 2012, on the occasion of the OFC Nations Cup, the Cagous succeeded in beating New Zealand in the semi-finals, with a score of 2–0 (goals from Bertrand Kai and Georges Gope-Fenepej), but failed in the final against their Tahitian rivals (1–0). Nevertheless, the competition serving as a second qualifying round for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, New Caledonia found itself, along with Tahiti and the semi-finalists New Zealand and the Solomon Islands qualified for the next round.

Rivalries

A historical sporting rivalry exists between the two French Pacific overseas collectivities, New Caledonia and Tahiti. They compete regularly in regional and, since 2006, international competitions. In 2012, Tahiti led the number of titles won (1 OFC Nations Cup, 5 gold medals at the South Pacific Games, 2 at the South Pacific mini-games, against 6 gold at the South Pacific Games for New Caledonia). As of their last match in 2018, out of the 62 matches played since 1953, the New Caledonia has 28 wins against 25 for Tahiti and 9 draws.

Kit

Macron are the current kit provider for the national team since 2025. As of 2012, the national team's home kit is a grey jersey with red shorts and red socks. The away kit is a red jersey with red shorts and white socks.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;"

! Kit supplier

! Period

|align="Left"| Puma ||2004–2006

|align="Left"| Nike ||2010–2012

|align="left"| Erreà || 2013–2017

|align="left"| Kappa || 2017–2019

|align="left"| Select || 2020–2021

|align="left"| Givova || 2022–2025

|align="left"| Macron || 2025–

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2025

2026

Coaching history

Guy Elmour (1971–1973)
Jules Hmeune (1977)
Rudi Gutendorf (1981)
Jacques Zimako (1995)
Michel Clarque (2002)
Serge Martinengo de Novack (2002–2004)
Didier Chambaron (2007–2010)
Christophe Coursimault (2010–2012)
Alain Moizan (2012–2015)
Thierry Sardo (2015–2021)
Dominique Wacalie (2021–2022)
Johann Sidaner (2022–2026)

Players

Current squad

The following 26 players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup inter-confederation play-off game against Jamaica on 26 March 2026.

Caps and goals correct after the match against Jamaica.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the New Caledonia squad within the last twelve months.

;Notes

INJ Withdrew due to injury
PRE Preliminary squad / standby
WD Withdrew due to non-injury issue

Player records

:Players in bold are still active with New Caledonia.

Most appearances

thumb|200px|right|[[César Zeoula is the most capped player of the national team.]]

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

!width=30px|Rank

!class="unsortable" style="width:175px;"|Name

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Goals

!class="unsortable" style="width:100px;"|Career

|align=left|César Zeoula

|47

|13

|2008–present

|align=left|Bertrand Kaï

|43

|23

|2008–2022

|align=left|Emile Béaruné

|42

|2010–present

|rowspan=2|4

|align=left|Pierre Wajoka

|39

|13

|2003–2011

|align=left|Joël Wakanumuné

|39

|2011–2022

|align=left|Iamel Kabeu

|34

|20

|2002–2013

|align=left|Rocky Nyikeine

|33

|2011–present

|align=left|Roy Kayara

|31

|2008–2019

|align=left|Michel Hmaé

|28

|22

|2003–2011

|rowspan=2|10

|align=left|André Sinédo

|27

|2002–2011

|align=left|Georges Gope-Fenepej

|27

|18

|2011–present

Top goalscorers

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"

!width=30px|Rank

!class="unsortable" width=175px|Name

!width=50px|Goals

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Ratio

!class="unsortable" width=100px|Career

|align="left"|Bertrand Kaï

|23

|43

|2008–2022

|align="left"|Michel Hmaé

|22

|28

|2003–2011

|align="left"|Iamel Kabeu

|20

|34

|2002–2013

|align="left"|Georges Gope-Fenepej

|18

|27

|2011–present

|rowspan=2|5

|align="left"|Pierre Wajoka

|13

|39

|2003–2011

|align="left"|César Zeoula

|13

|47

|2008–present

|align="left"|Jean-Philippe Saïko

|12

|10

|2016–2022

|align="left"|Joris Pibke

|11

|2000–2002

|align="left"|Paul Poatinda

|10

|2003–2004

|10

|align="left"|Jacques Haeko

|13

|2011–2012

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

{|class="wikitable nowrap" style="text-align: center;"

!colspan=9|FIFA World Cup record

!rowspan=39|

!colspan=7|Qualification record

!Year

!Round

!Position

| 1930

|colspan=8 rowspan=17|Not member of FIFA

|colspan=7 rowspan=17|Not member of FIFA

| 1934

| 1938

| 1950

| 1954

| 1958

| 1962

| 1966

| 1970

| 1974

| 1978

| 1982

| 1986

| 1990

| 1994

| 1998

| 2002

| 2006

|colspan=8 rowspan=6|Did not qualify

|3rd

|16

| 2010

|2nd

|12

|22

|13

| 2014

|2nd

|11

|36

|13

| 2018

|2nd

|13

| 2022

|4th

|10

| 2026

|2nd (PO)

|10

| 2030

|colspan=8 rowspan=2|To be determined

|colspan=7 rowspan=2|To be determined

| 2034

!Total

!–

!—

!44

!21

!14

!99

!54

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: center;font-size:90%;"

!colspan=5|FIFA World Cup qualification History

!Year!!Round!!H/A/N!!Score!!Result

|rowspan=4|2006

|Group 1||N||align="left"| 0 – 0 ||Draw

|Group 1||A||align="left"| 0 – 2 ||Loss

|Group 1||N||align="left"| 8 – 0 ||Win

|rowspan=12|2010

|South Pacific Games||N||align="left"| 1 – 0 ||Win

|South Pacific Games||N||align="left"| 3 – 0 ||Win

|South Pacific Games||N||align="left"| 1 – 1 ||Draw

|South Pacific Games||N||align="left"| 3 – 2 ||Win

|South Pacific Games||N||align="left"| 1 – 0 ||Win

|OFC Nations Cup||A||align="left"| 3 – 3 ||Draw

|OFC Nations Cup||H||align="left"| 4 – 0 ||Win

|OFC Nations Cup||A||align="left"| 1 – 1 ||Draw

|OFC Nations Cup||H||align="left"| 3 – 0 ||Win

|OFC Nations Cup||H||align="left"| 1 – 3 ||Loss

|OFC Nations Cup||A||align="left"| 0 – 3 ||Loss

|rowspan=9|2014

|OFC Nations Cup||N||align="left"| 5 – 2 ||Win

|OFC Nations Cup||N||align="left"| 3 – 4 ||Loss

|OFC Nations Cup||N||align="left"| 9 – 0 ||Win

|Third Round||H||align="left"| 0 – 2 ||Loss

|Third Round||A||align="left"| 4 – 0 ||Win

|Third Round||A||align="left"| 6 – 2 ||Win

|Third Round||H||align="left"| 5 – 0 ||Win

|Third Round||A||align="left"| 1 – 2 ||Loss

|Third Round||H||align="left"| 1 – 0 ||Win

|rowspan=7|2018

|OFC Nations Cup||N||align="left"| 1 – 1 ||Draw

|OFC Nations Cup||N||align="left"| 7 – 0 ||Win

|OFC Nations Cup||N||align="left"| 1 – 1 ||Draw

|Third Round||A||align="left"| 0 – 2 ||Loss

|Third Round||H||align="left"| 0 – 0 ||Draw

|Third Round||A||align="left"| 2 – 2 ||Draw

|Third Round||H||align="left"| 2 – 1 ||Draw

|rowspan=3|2022

|Group Stage||N||align="left"| 1 – 2 ||Loss

|Group Stage||N||align="left"| 0 – 1 ||Loss

|Group Stage||N||align="left"| 1 – 7 ||Loss

|rowspan=3|2026

|Second Round||N||align="left"| 3 – 1 ||Win

|Second Round||N||align="left"| 2 – 3 ||Win

|Second Round||N||align="left"| 1 – 1 ||Draw

OFC Nations Cup

{| class="wikitable nowrap" style="text-align: center;"

!colspan=9|Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup record

!rowspan="26"|

!colspan=6|Qualification record

!Year

!Round

!Position

|- bgcolor="#cc9966"

| 1973

|Third place

|3rd

|10

|colspan=6 rowspan=2|No qualification

|- bgcolor="#cc9966"

|style="border: 3px solid red"| 1980

|Third place

|3rd

|14

|12

|1996

|colspan=8 rowspan=3|Did not qualify

| 1998

|10

| 2000

|11

| 2002

|Group stage

|8th

|14

|25

| 2004

|colspan=8|Did not qualify

|16

|- bgcolor=silver

|2008

|Runners-up

|2nd

|12

|10

|bgcolor=silver| 2012

|bgcolor=silver|Runners-up

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

|bgcolor=silver|5

|bgcolor=silver|3

|bgcolor=silver|0

|bgcolor=silver|2

|bgcolor=silver|19

|bgcolor=silver|7

|colspan=6 rowspan=3|Qualified automatically

|- bgcolor="#cc9966"

| 2016

|Semi-finals

|3rd

| 2024

|colspan=8|Qualified but withdrew

!Total

!Runners-up

!6/11

!27

!12

!11

!65

!52

!26

!13

!11

!71

!39

Pacific Games

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;font-size:100%;"

!colspan=9|Pacific Games record

!Year

!Host

!Round

|1963||align="left"|||style="background:gold;"|Gold medal||2||2||0||0||10||3

|1966||align="left"|||style="background:silver;"|Silver medal||4||3||0||1||17||2

|1969||align="left"|||style="background:gold;"|Gold medal||5||4||1||0||20||3

|1971||align="left"|||style="background:gold;"|Gold medal||4||3||1||0||12||2

|1975||align="left"|||style="background:silver;"|Silver medal||5||4||0||1||16||4

|1979||align="left"|||style="background:LemonChiffon;"|Fourth place||5||3||0||2||26||8

|1983||align="left"|||style="background:#c96;"|Bronze medal||6||4||0||2||16||11

|1987||align="left"|||style="background:gold;"|Gold medal||6||5||0||1||26||4

|1991||align="left"|||style="background:#c96;"|Bronze medal||5||3||0||2||13||8

|1995||align="left"|||Group stage||4||2||0||2||19||3

|2003||align="left"|||style="background:silver;"|Silver medal||6||4||1||1||29||3

|2007||align="left"|||style="background:gold;"|Gold medal||6||5||1||0||10||3

|2011||align="left"|||style="background:gold;"|Gold medal||7||6||0||1||36||3

|2015||align="left"|||colspan=8|See New Caledonia national under-23 football team

|2019||align="left"|||style="background:silver;"|Silver medal||6||5||0||1||23||2

|2023||align="left|||style="background:gold;"|Gold medal||4||3||1||0||18||2

!colspan="2"|Total

!8 titles

!69

!52

!13

!268

!59

MSG Prime Minister's Cup

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;font-size:100%;"

!colspan=9|MSG Prime Minister's Cup record

!Year

!Host

!Position

|1988||align="left"|||Fourth place||4||1||0||3||6||5

|1989||align="left"|||style="background:silver;"|Runners-up||4||3||0||1||9||5

|1990||align="left"|||style="background:silver;"|Runners-up||4||2||1||1||5||3

|1992||align="left"|||style="background:silver;"|Runners-up||3||2||1||0||4||2

|1994||align="left"|||Fourth place||4||1||0||3||5||9

|1998||align="left"|||Fifth place||4||0||0||4||4||10

|2000||align="left"|||Fourth place||4||2||0||2||11||11

|2022||align="left"|||Sixth place||2||0||0||2||0||2

|2023||align="left"|||style="background:silver;"|Runners-up||3||2||0||1||7||2

|2024||align="left"|||colspan=7|Withdrew

!colspan="2"|Total

!Runners-up

!32

!13

!17

!51

!49

Head-to-head record

Up to matches played on 26 March 2026.

Honours

Continental

OFC Nations Cup
Runners-up (2): 2008, 2012
Third place (2): 1973, 1980

Regional

Pacific Games
Gold medal (7): 1963, 1969, 1971, 1987, 2007, 2011, 2023
Silver medal (4): 1966, 1987, 2003, 2019
Bronze medal (2): 1983, 1991
Melanesia Cup / MSG Prime Minister's Cup
Runner-up (4): 1989, 1990, 1992, 2023

Awards

OFC Nations Cup Fair Play Award: 2016

Summary

{| class="wikitable" width=30% style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

!Competition !! !! !! !!Total

|align=left|OFC Nations Cup

|0||2||2||4

!Total!!0!!2!!2!!4

Historical kits

{| class="wikitable"

Sources:

Notes

References

External links

New Caledonian Football Federation
New Caledonia at OFC
New Caledonia at FIFA