Papua New Guinea stun Tahiti to keep World Cup dream alive

Updated: May 17, 2023, 12:46 am

Papua New Guinea are in control of their own destiny in Oceania World Cup qualifying after winning 2-1 in Tahiti.

Patrick Aisa headed PNG into the lead just after the hour, and 12 minutes later he set up Raymond Gunemba for the second.

Tauhiti Keck scored a consolation for Tahiti in injury time but their hopes of booking a meeting with Group A winners New Zealand in the final Oceania playoff look slim.

Tahiti lead Group B on six points, ahead of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands on three points. However, Tahiti have completed their match schedule with the other two nations playing their back-to-back double header in June.

Tahiti can now only definitely win the group if both of those fixtures are draws, though they could finish top on goal difference if all three sides are locked on six points.

For PNG, and for that matter Solomon Islands, a win and a draw would send them through.