OFC Qualifying Begins

The minnows of Oceania get their qualifying campaigns underway today, with the four lowest-ranked nations competing in a round-robin tournament.

American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga will all play one another over the next week for the right to win the group and advance to the second round. They will join the rest of the Oceania nations in the second round. The teams that have a bye to round two are New Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

Here is a brief look at the sides competing in round one.

American Samoa

FIFA rank: 203

Traditionally regarded as the worst team in FIFA, coming into qualifying American Samoa have never won, drawn or even led a FIFA sanctioned match. The side's only ever win was a non-sanctioned match way back in 1983 against Wallis and Fatuana.

The side is best known for its humiliating 31-0 defeat to Australia in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, the largest margin in history. Thomas Rongen, the former head coach of the United States' U-20 team, is the new manager of the side.

American Samoa is hosting the tournament and will hope that the friendly confines will help them obtain its first ever points in qualifying.

Cook Islands

FIFA rank: 196

The Cook Islands are probably one of the two favorites to advance from this tournament, although that really is not saying much. They are the highest ranked team in the tournament, with 10 points good enough for 196th.

The team's first ever match was a 30-0 defeat to Tahiti in 1971. They have gotten considerably better since and did win one match in 2010 qualifying.

In the opening match of its tournament, the Cook Islands will face Samoa in a match that could be the difference in deciding the group.

Tonga

FIFA rank: 201

Tonga only has three ranking points or else they would join the five nations who are ranked 203rd with zero points, which means zero wins in the last four years.

This minnow only had one win in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, a 4-0 victory against American Samoa. They also lost to Samoa 2-1 in that edition.

Similar to American Samoa, they suffered an awful defeat to Australia in 2002 qualifying, 22-0. While this is a wide open tournament filled with four minnows do not expect Tonga to be the one that advances.

Samoa

FIFA rank: 203

Despite being ranked joint-last in FIFA, Samoa may be the team most likely to win the tournament.

Way back in 2007, the side defeated fellow group members American Samoa and Tonga in qualifying. While that is nothing to write home about, it may be enough to get the job done in this group as six points could win it.

Recently, Samoa played one of the better islands in Oceania, Fiji, twice and lost only 3-0 and 5-1, a much better result than what the other sides in this tournament would likely produce.

Predicted Group Winner: Samoa