2018 OFC Champions League

2018 OFC Champions League
Tournament details
Host countriesQualifying stage:
American Samoa
Group stage:
Vanuatu (Group A)
Tahiti (Group B)
New Zealand (Group C)
Solomon Islands (Group D)
DatesQualifying stage:
20–26 January 2018
Competition proper:
10 February – 20 May 2018
TeamsCompetition proper: 16
Total: 18 (from 11 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsTeam Wellington (1st title)
Runners-upLautoka
Tournament statistics
Matches played40
Goals scored177 (4.43 per match)
Attendance91,636 (2,291 per match)
Top scorer(s)Angus Kilkolly
Emiliano Tade (8 goals each)
Best player(s)Roy Kayara
Best goalkeeperEñaut Zubikarai
Fair play awardAuckland City
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2019 →

The 2018 OFC Champions League was the 17th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and the 12th season under the current OFC Champions League name.

In the final, Team Wellington defeated Lautoka 10–3 on aggregate and qualified as the OFC representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Auckland City are the defending champions, having won the last seven titles straight, but they were eliminated in the semi-finals.

Format change

For this season, the top two teams of each group (instead of only the group winners) in the group stage advanced to the knockout stage, which included a quarter-final round played as a single match hosted by the group winners.[1]

Teams

class=notpageimage|
Location of teams of the 2018 OFC Champions League.
Teams entering the group stage; (H) Group stage host
Teams entering the qualifying stage; (h) Qualifying stage host

A total of 18 teams from all 11 OFC member associations enter the competition.

  • The seven developed associations (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu) are awarded two berths each in the group stage.
  • The four developing associations (American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga) are awarded one berth each in the qualifying stage, with the winners and runners-up advancing to the group stage.
Teams entering the group stage
Association Team Qualifying method
Fiji Fiji Lautoka 2017 Fiji Premier League champions
Ba 2017 Fiji Premier League runners-up
New Caledonia New Caledonia Magenta 2016 New Caledonia Super Ligue champions
Lössi 2016 New Caledonia Super Ligue runners-up
New Zealand New Zealand Team Wellington 2016–17 New Zealand Football Championship finals series champions
Auckland City 2016–17 New Zealand Football Championship regular season premiers
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Toti City 2017 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League regular season premiers
Madang 2017 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League regular season runners-up
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors 2017–18 Solomon Islands S-League champions
Marist 2017–18 Solomon Islands S-League runners-up
French Polynesia Tahiti Dragon 2016–17 Tahiti Ligue 1 champions
Vénus 2016–17 Tahiti Ligue 1 runners-up
Vanuatu Vanuatu Nalkutan 2016–17 VFF National Super League grand final champions
Erakor Golden Star 2016–17 VFF National Super League grand final runners-up
Teams entering the qualifying stage
Association Team Qualifying method
American Samoa American Samoa Pago Youth 2016 FFAS Senior League champions
Cook Islands Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 2017 Cook Islands Round Cup champions
Samoa Samoa Lupe o le Soaga 2017 Samoa National League champions
Tonga Tonga Veitongo 2017 Tonga Major League champions

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[2][3][4]

Stage Draw date Match dates
Qualifying stage 15 September 2017
(Auckland, New Zealand) 		20–26 January 2018
Group stage
  • Group A: 10–16 February 2018
  • Group B: 11–17 February 2018
  • Group C: 25 February – 3 March 2018
  • Group D: 24 February – 2 March 2018
Quarter-finals 5 March 2018
(Auckland, New Zealand) 		7–8 April 2018
Semi-finals
  • First leg: 22 April 2018
  • Second leg: 29 April 2018
Final
  • First leg: 13 May 2018
  • Second leg: 20 May 2018

Qualifying stage

Main article: 2018 OFC Champions League qualifying stage

The draw for the qualifying stage was held on 15 September 2017 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[1] The champions of the four developing associations were drawn from Pot A into each of the four positions 1–4 to determine the fixtures.[5] The four teams in the qualifying stage played each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue. The winners and runners-up advanced to the group stage to join the 14 direct entrants. Matches were played between 20 and 26 January 2018 in Pago Pago, American Samoa.

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TUP LUP VEI PAG
1 Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 3 3 0 0 15 2 +13 9 Group stage — 1–0 — —
2 Samoa Lupe o le Soaga 3 2 0 1 19 2 +17 6 — — 6–0 —
3 Tonga Veitongo 3 0 1 2 3 16 −13 1 2–9 — — 1–1
4 American Samoa Pago Youth (H) 3 0 1 2 2 19 −17 1 0–5 1–13 — —
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

Group stage

Main article: 2018 OFC Champions League group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 15 September 2017 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[1] The 16 teams (14 teams entering the group stage and two teams advancing from the qualifying stage) were drawn into four groups of four, with each group containing two teams from Pot B (which were drawn into positions 1–2 to determine the fixtures) and two teams from Pot C (which were drawn into positions 3–4 to determine the fixtures). Teams from the same association, as well as the two teams advancing from the qualifying stage, could not be drawn into the same group. The teams were seeded based on the following:[5]

  • Pot B contained the champions of the seven developed associations, and the runners-up of New Zealand, by virtue of having the best second team in the 2017 OFC Champions League.
  • Pot C contained the runners-up of the six developed associations apart from New Zealand, and the two teams advancing from the qualifying stage, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw.

The four teams in each group played each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage. The hosts of each group were announced by OFC on 31 October 2017.[6]

  • Group A matches were played between 10 and 16 February 2018 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
  • Group B matches were played between 11 and 17 February 2018 in Pirae, Tahiti.
  • Group C matches were played between 25 February – 3 March 2018 in Auckland, New Zealand.
  • Group D matches were played between 24 February – 2 March 2018 in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

Group A

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification NAL TOT BAF TUP
1 Vanuatu Nalkutan (H) 3 3 0 0 9 1 +8 9 Knockout stage — — 1–0 —
2 Papua New Guinea Toti City 3 2 0 1 9 6 +3 6 1–4 — 1–0 —
3 Fiji Ba 3 1 0 2 4 3 +1 3 — — — 4–1
4 Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 3 0 0 3 3 15 −12 0 0–4 2–7 — —
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

Group B

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification DRA SOL ERA LOS
1 French Polynesia Dragon (H) 3 2 0 1 9 5 +4 6 Knockout stage — — — 4–0
2 Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6 2–1 — — 6–1
3 Vanuatu Erakor Golden Star 3 1 1 1 7 6 +1 4 3–4 2–0 — —
4 New Caledonia Lössi 3 0 1 2 3 12 −9 1 — — 2–2 —
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

Group C

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AUC LAU VEN MAD
1 New Zealand Auckland City (H) 3 3 0 0 13 0 +13 9 Knockout stage — 1–0 — 5–0
2 Fiji Lautoka 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6 — — — 3–1
3 French Polynesia Vénus 3 1 0 2 3 10 −7 3 0–7 1–2 — —
4 Papua New Guinea Madang 3 0 0 3 2 10 −8 0 — — 1–2 —
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

Group D

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification WEL MAR MAG LUP
1 New Zealand Team Wellington 3 2 1 0 13 3 +10 7 Knockout stage — — 5–1 7–1
2 Solomon Islands Marist (H) 3 1 2 0 5 3 +2 5 1–1 — 1–1 —
3 New Caledonia Magenta 3 1 1 1 4 6 −2 4 — — — 2–0
4 Samoa Lupe o le Soaga 3 0 0 3 2 12 −10 0 — 1–3 — —
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

Knockout stage

Main article: 2018 OFC Champions League knockout stage

The eight teams in the knockout stage played on a single-elimination basis. In the quarter-finals, each tie was played as a single match, while in the semi-finals and final, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis.

Bracket

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final) was held on 5 March 2018 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[7][8]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
          
New Zealand Team Wellington 11
Papua New Guinea Toti City 0
New Zealand Team Wellington (a) 0 2 2
New Zealand Auckland City 0 2 2
New Zealand Auckland City 2
Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors 0
New Zealand Team Wellington 6 4 10
Fiji Lautoka 0 3 3
French Polynesia Dragon 1
Fiji Lautoka 2
Fiji Lautoka 1 1 2
Solomon Islands Marist 1 0 1
Vanuatu Nalkutan 1
Solomon Islands Marist 2

Quarter-finals

In the quarter-finals, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group (teams from same group cannot play each other), with the group winners hosting the match, and the matchups decided by draw.

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Team Wellington New Zealand 11–0 Papua New Guinea Toti City
Auckland City New Zealand 2–0 Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors
Dragon French Polynesia 1–2 Fiji Lautoka
Nalkutan Vanuatu 1–2 Solomon Islands Marist

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the four quarter-final winners played in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Lautoka Fiji 2–1 Solomon Islands Marist 1–1 1–0
Team Wellington New Zealand 2–2 (a) New Zealand Auckland City 0–0 2–2

Final

Main article: 2018 OFC Champions League Final

In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the order of legs decided by draw.

Team Wellington New Zealand6–0Fiji Lautoka
 Report
Attendance: 1,200
Lautoka Fiji3–4New Zealand Team Wellington
 Report
Attendance: 1,000

Team Wellington won 10–3 on aggregate.

Top goalscorers

  Team eliminated / inactive for this round.
Rank Player Team QS1 QS2 QS3 GS1 GS2 GS3  QF  SF1 SF2  F1   F2  Total
1 New Zealand Angus Kilkolly New Zealand Team Wellington 1 1 4 1 1 8
Argentina Emiliano Tade New Zealand Auckland City 3 2 1 1 1
2 England Ross Allen New Zealand Team Wellington 3 2 1 1 7
England Sean Latimer Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 1 3 1 1 1
4 Samoa Suivai Ataga Samoa Lupe o le Soaga 5 1 6
Cook Islands Maro Bonsu-Maro Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 3 2 1
7 French Polynesia Tamatoa Tetauira French Polynesia Dragon 2 2 1 5
8 Papua New Guinea Raymond Gunemba Papua New Guinea Toti City 4 4
New Zealand Nathanael Hailemariam New Zealand Team Wellington 1 3
Vanuatu Azariah Soromon Vanuatu Nalkutan 1 3
Samoa Lapalapa Toni Samoa Lupe o le Soaga 2 1 1

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[9]

Award Player Team
Golden Ball New Caledonia Roy Kayara New Zealand Team Wellington
Golden Boot New Zealand Angus Kilkolly New Zealand Team Wellington
Golden Glove Spain Eñaut Zubikarai New Zealand Auckland City
Fair Play Award — New Zealand Auckland City

Note: Although Angus Kilkolly and Emiliano Tade both scored eight goals in the competition, Kilkolly won the Golden Boot as he played less minutes than Tade.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Groups confirmed for Champions League". Oceania Football Confederation. 15 September 2017.
  2. ^ "OFC Champions League schedule revealed". Oceania Football Confederation. 11 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Match Schedule 2018" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation.
  4. ^ "OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2018 KNOCKOUT STAGE" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation.
  5. ^ a b "2018 OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW". YouTube. 15 September 2017.
  6. ^ "Hosts announced for OFC Champions League 2018". Oceania Football Confederation. 31 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Quarter final fixtures confirmed". Oceania Football Confederation. 5 March 2018.
  8. ^ "2018 OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE KNOCKOUT STAGE OFFICIAL DRAW". YouTube. 5 March 2018.
  9. ^ "New club champions crowned". Oceania Football Confederation. 20 May 2018.