MSG Prime Minister's Cup
| Organising body | Melanesian Spearhead Group |
|---|---|
| Founded |
|
| Abolished | 2002 (Melanesia Cup) |
| Number of teams | Between 4 and 6 |
| Last champions |  Papua New Guinea(2nd title) |
| Most successful team(s) |  Fiji(5 titles) |
 2024 MSG Prime Minister's Cup | |
The MSG Prime Minister's Cup, formerly known as Melanesia Cup, is an association football competition played between the Melanesian countries. It was formerly used (along with the Polynesia Cup) for qualification to the OFC Nations Cup. The original tournament used a round-robin format involving every team playing each other once at the tournaments location.
History
[edit]Melanesia Cup (1988–2000)
[edit]The Melanesia Cup was founded in 1988, with Fiji becoming the inaugural champions following a 3–1 victory against Solomon Islands. The tournament was played on an annual basis until the 1990 tournament saw the Melanesia Cup become a biennial tournament.[1] It was then played every two years until 2000 except for 1996.
The 1996 Melanesia Cup was cancelled for unknown reasons, and the scheduled 2002 Melanesia Cup was cancelled due to security issues in Honiara as the tournament was moved from July to September 2002.[2]
The tournament also served as OFC Nations Cup qualifiers, first doing so in 1994.[3]
2002–2022
[edit]In 2008, the Wantok Cup was established as a competition between Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It was described by the Oceania Football Confederation as "a tournament reminiscent of the now defunct Melanesian Cup".[4]
This tournament was also abolished, with the last two editions played in 2011.[5][6]
MSG Prime Minister's Cup (2022–present)
[edit]In 2022 the tournament was revived under the current name, the MSG Prime Minister's Cup, after more than twenty years.[7] The name was changed at the impetus of FIFA.[7] It is organised by the Melanesian Spearhead Group.[8]
The inaugural tournament was won by first-time champions Papua New Guinea in 2022, and the 2022 MSG Prime Minister's Cup also saw the introduction of "B" teams into the tournament.[9]
Participants
[edit]The seven the competition is currently played between are:[10]
Total wins
[edit]| 5 | Fiji |
1988, 1989, 1992, 1998, 2000 |
| 2 | Papua New Guinea |
2022, 2024 |
| 2 |  Solomon Islands |
1994, 2023 |
| 1 |  Vanuatu |
1990 |
Results
[edit]| Year | Host | Winner | Runner-up | 3rd Place | 4th Place | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melanesia Cup | |||||||||
| 1988 Details |
Solomon Islands |  Fiji |
 Solomon Islands |
 Vanuatu |
 New Caledonia | ||||
| 1989 Details |
Fiji | Fiji |
New Caledonia |
Solomon Islands |
 Papua New Guinea | ||||
| 1990 Details |
Vanuatu | Vanuatu |
New Caledonia |
Fiji |
Solomon Islands | ||||
| 1992 Details |
Vanuatu | Fiji |
New Caledonia |
Solomon Islands |
Vanuatu | ||||
| 1994 Details |
Solomon Islands | Solomon Islands |
Fiji |
Papua New Guinea |
New Caledonia | ||||
| 1998 Details |
Vanuatu | Fiji |
Vanuatu |
Solomon Islands |
Papua New Guinea | ||||
| 2000 Details |
Fiji | Fiji |
Solomon Islands |
Vanuatu |
New Caledonia | ||||
| MSG Prime Minister's Cup | |||||||||
| 2022 Details |
Vanuatu | Papua New Guinea |
Vanuatu (Development Team) |
Fiji |
Solomon Islands | ||||
| 2023 Details |
New Caledonia | Solomon Islands |
New Caledonia |
Vanuatu |
Papua New Guinea | ||||
| 2024 Details |
Solomon Islands | Papua New Guinea |
Fiji |
Solomon Islands |
Vanuatu | ||||
Source: RSSSF
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Melanesian Cup". RSSSF.
- ^ "2002 Melanesian Cup". RSSSF.
- ^ "OFC Men's Nations Cup 1996". Oceania Football Federation. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Wantok Cup Honiara 2008 – Solomon Islands name 64-man squad". Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine. Oceania Football Confederation. June 19, 2008.
- ^ "Bonitos fall to Vanuatu" Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Solomon Star, 1 August 2011
- ^ Solomon Islands men's football team fixtures and results, July to September 2011, FIFA
- ^ a b Ewart, Richard (September 2022). "FIFA back revival of the Melanesian Cup, but insist on a new competition name". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ "Sports Development – Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat". Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- ^ Romena, Romeka. "Fiji in Pool B for MSG PM Cup". Fiji Live. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ Mamu, Moffat (2024-11-12). "Preparations to host MSG cup underway". Solomon Star News. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
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