Fiji’s netball governing body says its national team will “regroup, rebuild and come back stronger” after failing to qualify for next year’s Netball World Cup in Australia.
Tonga and Samoa secured the top two places at the Oceania qualifier last week. The Tonga Tala finished the tournament undefeated, while Tifaimoana Samoa finished second. In the process, both qualified for the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney.
The Fiji Pearls ended their campaign with two wins, against the Cook Islands (65-63) and Papua New Guinea (61-40), and two losses to Tonga (60-72) and Samoa (56-50).
Fiji was once the most dominant netball team among the Pacific Island nations, and was ranked as high as sixth in the world.
However, in recent years, Tonga and Samoa have overtaken Fiji as the region’s leading teams, with the Fijians struggling to match their rivals’ progress.
The Fiji Pearls are coached by New Zealander Michelle Parsons, who was appointed in February 2026 as part of Netball Fiji’s efforts to lift the national side’s performance.
In a statement on Monday thanking supporters, Netball Fiji said the Fiji Pearls would “rise again”.
“This chapter may have come to an end, but this is not the end of our journey.
“We take the lessons, the memories and the experience with us. We will regroup. We will rebuild. And we will come back stronger,” Netball Fiji said in a Facebook post.
