Second round : A total of eight teams played the tournament at a single country. For the group stage, they were divided into two groups of four teams. The top three teams of each group advanced to the third round of World Cup qualifying. The top two teams of each group also advanced to the knockout stage to decide the 2016 OFC Nations Cup winner which would play in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Third round: The six teams which had advanced from the second round were divided into two groups of three teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The two group winners met in a two-legged match with the winner advancing to the inter-confederation play-offs in November 2017 where they will play a team from another confederation for a place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The OFC had considered different proposals of the qualifying tournament. 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.
Entrants
All 11 FIFA-affiliated national teams from the OFC entered qualification. The four lowest ranked teams entered the first round, while the other seven teams entered the second round.
Bye to second round
Competing in first round
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.
The inter-confederation play-offs were scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017.
While the results of the OFC Nations Cup knockout stage matches have no effect on the teams qualified for the third round of World Cup qualifying, for statistical purposes these matches are considered part of World Cup qualifying, with FIFA counting goalscorers in the qualifying statistics, and cards given may contribute to suspensions in the third round of World Cup qualifying.
Third round
The draw for the third round was held on 8 July 2016, 11:00 NZST, at the OFC headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.
Groups
Group A
Group B
Final
The draw for the final was held on 15 June 2017, 16:00 NZST, at the OFC headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand. The winner of the final advanced to inter-confederation play-offs. Dates were set for the two-legged final as being between 28 August and 5 September 2017.
Inter-confederation play-offs
The draw for the inter-confederation play-offs 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. The first-placed team from OFC was drawn against the fifth-placed team from CONMEBOL, with the OFC team hosting the first leg.
