A FIFA World Cup spot beckons for the national men's football and they could create history two spots are available.

The first hurdle is Vanuatu this weekend. The team had two friendly matches in Fiji and now heads to Port Vila.

Coach Jess Ibroim said they are positive about their chances and feel this time the team can make a difference.

"Everything going well here in terms of preparations. We've had a couple of training sessions already here in Nadi. We played Fiji on Saturday in a close door fixture, where we lost 2 - 1. But it was a very good run-out for the players," he said.

"A friendly fixture was an opportunity for us to see players in different positions, and work on different combinations and all towards our preparations for Vanuatu this Saturday.

"Tonight (Tuesday)  we play Lautoka at 7pm which is our final warm up fixture before we depart for Port Villa, Vanuatu."

Their team will depart Fiji on Thursday for Port Villa, Vanuatu for the Oceania World Cup qualifiers. After Vanuatu this weekend, then it's Tahiti in Hamilton and New Zealand in Auckland. The top two teams from Group B will advance to the semi-finals which will be hosted in New Zealand next March.

While Vanuatu poses the immediate challenge, Ibrom and his team have also started preparations for the November matches against Tahiti and New Zealand

For the first time, Oceania has direct entry to the FIFA World Cup™ with the addition of a place in the FIFA Intercontinental Playoff for the team finishing as runners-up.

Ibrom believes it’s not unrealistic for his side to strive for that spot.