Four of the eight nations competing in Oceania's first full round of qualification have taken a great stride in the draw towards the FIFA 2026 World Cup finals.

For the first time in the history of Oceania Football Confederation, the winner of the Pacific region's qualifiers over a three-round stage will automatically qualify for the World Cup jointly held in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Only Australia for the 1974 World Cup, New Zealand for 1982, Australia for 2006 and New Zealand again in 2010 have qualified, but always through multiple play-off matches outside of soccer's OFC qualification.

Samoa joined the top-seven ranked teams in the second stage of qualifying this year after the Indigenous Lapita won the pre-qualifying knockout OFC matches ahead of Tonga in the final playoff.

It came after both of the neighbours eliminated American Samoa and Cook Islands first from the 11-nation confederation.

But the Samoans were on the end of a reality check after facing a far-more polished Vanuatu in a 4-1 defeat on Saturday.

A vocal home crowd at Port Vila witnessed the Vanuatuans go ahead inside the seventh minute as Mitch Cooper bundled the opener from close range.

The hosts went further up courtesy of midfielder John Alick steering the ball into the net from an acute angle to send Vanuatu to half-time two goals up.

Samoa did show fight after the break, pegging a goal back as a lofted ball from the back was controlled by second-half substitute Nathan Viliamu, who raced towards goal and fired a shot past Dick Sablan in the 54th minute.

Alick volleyed his second home from the top of the box after a blocked save from Samoan goalkeeper Paul Taupau had rebounded into Alick's path for a 3-1 lead.

Bong Kalo rounded out the three-goal winning margin for Vanuatu from a stunning ball from long range to top the early Group B standings.

"I am very proud of the team; very happy for the three points," Vanuatuan coach Juliano Schmeling said in the press conference.

"We knew they would look to counter and they punished us once there, but outside of that, the spirit, fighting, working on things we've been training on, all that went well."

Vanuatu move level with New Zealand, it's next opponent on November 15 in the cutthroat second-round of qualifying.

The participants play just the three times that include one fixture on neutral turf before the eight nations are cut to four for the final around to advance to the Cup finals more than 18 months away.

Samoa coach Jess Ibrom was not expecting an easy match against the traditionally fast-ball moving opponents.

"It's always tough when you come to Vanuatu – we have to do everything we can to stay as competitive as long as we can, but their third goal sucked the wind out of us," he said.

"We have a young squad; this will be a great learning experience."

New Zealand predictably put away Tahiti, representing the French Polynesian overseas collectivity, for a 3-0 away win in Papeete.

When 24-year-old Maori gun, Elijah Just, curled home a stunning shot from the edge of the top of the box after only 91 seconds, it looked as though the floodgates may open up for the All Whites.

That was not how things turned out against a well-organised and, at times, a stubborn Tahiti outfit that would frustrate the Oceanian powerhouse for long periods.

But Tahiti coach Samuel Garcia was left unimpressed by his side's overall performance.

"We made things hard by conceding so early and then we conceded further goals, so it was a difficult match," Garcia said after the game.

New Zealand captain Chris Wood found a way and a second goal, heading in a corner at the back post midway through the second half for his 35th international goal.

Substitute Ben Waine grabbed a third late, sweeping home from close range after a scuffed shot from Matthew Garbett fell to Waine at the top of the six-yard box to continue the Kiwis dominance across the OFC qualifiers to 24 matches without tasting defeat.

"It was difficult game," New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley said.

"We knew it would be challenging, but we got off to good start.

"We had a lot of possession and it was pretty comfortable, but we know we can be better in breaking teams down."

Fiji celebrated in Suva the nation's anniversary of its 1970 independence by collecting three invaluable three points against the Solomon Islands.

The Bula Boys took those celebrations from the streets to the pitch of the National Stadium with a 1-0 victory, after the iconic Roy Krishna handed Fiji a 13th-minute lead following two poorly attempted clearances from the Solomons.

Just moments after scoring, Krishna missed a chance to double the lead after firing over the bar before the hosts were reduced to ten men.

The chaotic period that had Aporosa Yada red-carded for a studs-up challenge before the break had Fiji hanging onto the lead for much of the second half.

The Solomons start to wrestle control of the contest with the extra man, but they struggled to carve out any meaningful shots against a side that defended clinically.

"If you make a mistake that will cost you and we just weren't good enough in the final areas," Solomon Islands coach Joshua Smith said.

"We have to get back and we have to improve.

"The intensity was there. but we didn't make enough good decisions."

The miss for Krishna after his opener was the closest Fiji got to safeguarding its lead, which Fiji coach Robert Sherman recognised after the final whistle.

"It was an incredibly hard-earned win," Sherman said.

"I'm really proud of lads to fight with ten men for 60 minutes – just incredible.

"Our character showed, our heart showed and we did Fiji proud."

In its first competitive outing in 10 months, Papua New Guinea's 3-1 loss clearly showed out against New Caledonia.

"We played very poorly in the first (half) and although we were better in the second half, we couldn't take our chances," Papua New Guinea coach Felipe Vega-Arango said.

But there was little sign of rust from Les Cagous that immediately went on the attack and not long after were rewarded for a positive mindset, as captain Cesar Zeoula earned a penalty in the 20th minute that defender Joseph Athale tucked away from the spot.

As the rain started to tumble down, Papua New Guinea forward Tommy Semmy came within a whisker of restoring parity as a shot from a tight angle flew off the gloves of keeper Rocky Nyikeine and trickled across the face of goal.

New Caledonia veteran Georges Gope-Fenepej fired away a shot into an empty net following a poor clearance from opposition keeper Ronald Warisan to surrender a two-goal advantage right on the interval.

But hope was not entirely lost for PNG when Semmy rose to thump home a header in the 78th-minute and pull back the Kapuls right into the contest against the run of play.

New Caledonia, however, reasserted their supremacy from Germain Haewegene, who the second-half substitute was left unmarked by the defence to sweep in a superb 83rd-minute corner to seal the win.

New Caledonia coach Johann Sidaner applauded his side's character after the match.

"We absolutely needed to fight and we did," he said.

"The players showed real heart, at half-time we had the 2-0 advantage, and you don't know whether to attack or preserve it – we had to deal with that.

"PNG's goal put us in a bit of doubt, but the third goal came at just the right time."