The Melanesia Cup was founded in 1988, with Fiji becoming the inaugural champions following a 3–1 victory against Solomon Islands.

The 1996 Melanesia Cup was cancelled for unknown reasons, and the scheduled 2002 Melanesia Cup was cancelled due to security issues in Honiara as the tournament was moved from July to September 2002.

[3] In 2008, the Wantok Cup was established as a competition between Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

It was described by the Oceania Football Confederation as "a tournament reminiscent of the now defunct Melanesian Cup".

[5][6] In 2022 the tournament was revived under the current name, the MSG Prime Minister's Cup, after more than twenty years.