Just a few final touches before the venue of the Oceania U19 World Cup qualifiers are ready with two teams from Pacific getting a chance to qualify for the World Cup.

Football Federation Samoa (F.F.S) Acting Chief Executive Officer Ravinesh Kumar said they were almost done with their tournament preparations.

“The preparations are going well to host the OFC U19 Men’s Championship. The preparations for the venue, are nearly done. The final touches like cutting of the grass for the two main fields and markings, plus the setting up of the field to meet the FIFA and OFC requirements,” he said.

This tournament is unique as it will confirm the two teams who will be able to qualify for the World Cup. The tournament is divided into two pools where Samoa is in Pool B with Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and New Caledonia.

“The winners of the two semi-finals will qualify for the World Cup. There are eight teams competing in the tournament,” he said.

“The winner and the runners-up of the tournament are the two qualified for the World Cup.”

Of the eight teams competing, so far only three are in Samoa so far including hosts Samoa. Other teams are set to arrive on Tuesday night and the last batch arrive on Wednesday.

He mentioned to the Samoa Observer that there are a few issues  New Caledonia but they will have to wait until they arrive.

“We still have a question mark on New Caledonia, they have confirmed a team and they also confirmed that they are coming tomorrow (Wednesday). But there are still some hiccups in New Caledonia but we’ll see tomorrow when they arrive here. It’s good to have them here not only for us but for the tournament as well.”

The political unrest prevented the New Caledonian senior men’s team from competing in the OFC Nations Cup last month. Finger remain crossed that the U19 team is able to make it.

Oceania has 11 teams but only eight are competing in this tournament. Seven teams secured their spots through rankings, while the bottom four including Samoa had to compete in the qualifiers.

The tournament starts this Saturday.