Tahiti, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand were expected to bid to host the event. On 16 October 2015, OFC President David Chung confirmed that Papua New Guinea was the only member association to present a bid to host the 2016 OFC Nations Cup. The OFC confirmed Papua New Guinea as hosts on 30 October 2015.
Group stage: The eight teams were divided into two groups of four teams. The top two teams of each group advanced to the knockout stage. Moreover, the top three teams of each group advanced to the third round of 2018 World Cup qualifying.
Knockout stage: The four teams played a single-elimination tournament to decide the champions of the OFC Nations Cup.
The OFC had considered different proposals of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup. A previous proposal adopted by the OFC in October 2014 had the eight teams divided into two groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches in the second round, followed by the top two teams of each group advancing to the third round to play in a single group of home-and-away round-robin matches to decide the winner of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup which would both qualify to the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and advance to the inter-confederation play-offs. However, it was later reported in April 2015 that the OFC had reversed its decision, and the 2016 OFC Nations Cup will be played as a one-off tournament similar to the 2012 OFC Nations Cup.
Venues
The tournament was played at a single venue in Port Moresby.
The draw for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK, at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia. The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings of July 2015. The eight teams were seeded into two pots:
Pot 1 contained the direct qualifiers ranked 1–4.
Pot 2 contained the direct qualifiers ranked 5–7 and the first round winner.
Each group contained two teams from Pot 1 and two teams from Pot 2. As the draw was held before the first round was played, the identity of the first round winner was not known at the time of the draw. The fixtures of each group were decided based on the draw position of each team. Note: Bolded teams qualified for the World Cup qualifying third round.
Pot 1
Pot 2
Group stage
All times are local,.
Group A
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Group B
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Knockout stage
If tied after regulation, extra time and, if necessary, penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner. All times are local,.
Bracket
Semi-finals
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Final
Goalscorers
There were 48 goals scored in 15 matches, for an average of goals per match. ;5 goals
