Professional footballers who are eligible to represent the Fiji passports done before the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Oceania Qualifiers in March.

This was highlighted by Fiji football head coach Rob Sherman as a priority after captain and star striker Roy Krishna is ruled out due to an ACL injury.

Fiji faces a mammoth task when they take on favourites New Zealand in Wellington on March 21. The other semi-final is between New Caledonia and Tahiti.

“In terms of preparation, very little will change in terms of process and tactical approach,” Sherman told SUN-sports.

However, he highlighted the issue they face in accessing players who are playing professionally but do not hold a Fiji passport. They are eligible for both a passport and to play for Fiji under FIFA rules.

“We have players at Leeds United, Vancouver, Toronto and Auckland FC to name a few, who could all add to our dynamic if we could get them passported,”

With Roy out, Sherman said they would obviously work with the other strikers in the team.

“This is in the essence of about creating chances regardless of who the key striker is. So that is our priority!”

Roy has played over 50 matches with 44 international goals under his belt.

With his absence, the onus is now strikers like Sairusi Nalaubu, Setareki Hughes, Thomas Dunn, Merrill Nand, Nabil Begg, Gabriel Matanasiga, Christopher Wasasala, Saula Waqa, Etonia Dogalau and so on to step up to the task.

“We have a number of proven goal scorers in the squad and I have every confidence that if they are presented with goal scoring opportunities they are more than capable of scoring,” Sherman added.

The Welshman said there are a number of areas that need to be improved.

Firstly, how quickly we recover our defensive shape when the ball is lost. Then our rest defense (how to reduce being countered when we lose possession).

Also, defending at set plays,” he added.

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