Vanuatu women defeated New Caledonia 5:0 in a friendly international on 23 September 2026. The result marked a complete reversal from their previous encounter, when New Caledonia won 2:1 on 2 March in Port Vila. By then, the visitors carried confidence from that performance. This time, the hosts controlled proceedings from the opening whistle.
Vanuatu's recent record showed inconsistency. They had lost to Fiji and Papua New Guinea, while also securing victories against Solomon Islands. To be fair, the 5:0 victory represented their most comprehensive result in months. The clean sheet suggested defensive organisation improved since their defeat to Fiji in March.
New Caledonia arrived with mixed expectations. Their April matches included a 4:2 defeat to Thailand and a 4:2 loss to Indonesia. The March 2:1 win over Vanuatu had briefly restored belief. And here's the thing—that confidence evaporated quickly against a determined home side.
The goal difference told a straightforward story. Vanuatu scored five without reply, while New Caledonia failed to register a single attempt at goal. Such margins rarely reflect a close contest. The visitors had little to no sustained pressure throughout the ninety minutes.
For Vanuatu, this result offered a chance to build momentum. Five goals in a friendly might not guarantee anything, but the performance quality mattered more than the opposition. By then, they had already shown flashes of potential against Solomon Islands in November 2025.
New Caledonia face questions about their direction. Three defeats in four matches, including heavy losses to Papua New Guinea and Fiji, painted a worrying picture. The 2:1 win over Vanuatu now looked like an outlier rather than a trend. One mistake ends it—and this time, they made several.
