2023 OFC Champions League
Tournament details
Host countryGroup stage:
Vanuatu
DatesQualifying:
11 February – 18 March
Competition proper:
14 – 27 May[1]
TeamsTotal: 18 (from 11 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsNew Zealand Auckland City (11th title)
Runners-upFiji Suva
Tournament statistics
Matches played14
Goals scored50 (3.57 per match)
Attendance70,650 (5,046 per match)
Top scorer(s)New Zealand Ryan De Vries
(5 goals)

The 2023 OFC Champions League was the 22nd edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 17th season under the current OFC Champions League name.

Defending champions Auckland City FC, defeated Fijian Suva to win a record eleventh title and earned the right to play at the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia.[2] As they also won the 2021 OFC Champions League and the 2022 OFC Champions League, they also earned the right to play at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.[3]

Teams

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

  • The seven associations (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu) are awarded a berth each in the groups stage, after playing a national playoff between the top 2 clubs in the league.
  • The four associations (American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga) are awarded one berth each in the qualifying stage, with the winners advancing to the group stage.
Location of teams of the 2023 OFC Champions League.
Teams entering the National playoffs; (H) Group stage host
Teams entering the qualifying stage; (h) Qualifying stage host
Association Team Qualifying method
Teams entering the National playoffs
Fiji Fiji Rewa 2022 Fiji National Football League champions
Suva 2022 Fiji National Football League runners-up
New Caledonia New Caledonia AS Tiga Sport 2022 New Caledonia Super Ligue champions
Hienghène Sport 2022 New Caledonia Super Ligue runners-up
New Zealand New Zealand Auckland City 2022 New Zealand National League grand final champions
Wellington Olympic 2022 New Zealand National League grand final runners-up
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Lae City 2022 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League champions
Hekari United 2022 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League runners-up
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors 2022–23 Solomon Islands S-League champions
Kossa 2022–23 Solomon Islands S-League runners-up
French Polynesia Tahiti AS Pirae 2021–22 Tahiti Ligue 1 champions
AS Dragon 2021–22 Tahiti Ligue 1 runners-up
Vanuatu Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird F.C. 2022 VFF National Super League grand final champions
Sia-Raga F.C. 2022 VFF National Super League grand final runners-up
Teams entering the qualifying stage
American Samoa American Samoa Ilaoa and To'omata 2022 FFAS Senior League champions
Cook Islands Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 2022 Cook Islands Round Cup champions
Samoa Samoa Lupe ole Soaga 2022 Samoa National League third place
Tonga Tonga Veitongo 2022 Tonga Major League champions

Qualifying stage

Preliminary group

The draw for the qualifying stage was held on 1 February 2023 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[4] The four teams in the qualifying stage played each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue. The winners will advance to the group stage to join the 7 direct entrants.[4] The qualifying stage is hosted in Apia by Football Federation Samoa.[5]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LUP TUP VEI ITO
1 Samoa Lupe ole Soaga (H) 3 3 0 0 29 1 +28 9 Group stage — 7–1 9–0 —
2 Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 3 2 0 1 10 7 +3 6 — — 1–0 8–0
3 Tonga Veitongo 2 0 0 2 0 10 −10 0 — — — Canc.[lower-alpha 1]
4 American Samoa Ilaoa and To'omata 2 0 0 2 0 21 −21 0 0–13 — — —
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ↑ The Veitongo v Ilaoa and To'omata match was cancelled due to the threat of a cyclone closing in on Samoa.[6][7] Both teams were already eliminated prior to the cancellation.

National play-offs

On 10 February 2023, OFC announced that 7 sets of national playoffs would take place to determine which side from those nations would take part in this year's Champions League. [8]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Suva Fiji 3–2 Fiji Rewa 1–1 2–1
Hienghène Sport New Caledonia 1–5 New Caledonia Tiga Sport 1–3 0–2
Wellington Olympic New Zealand 4–6 New Zealand Auckland City 1–1 3–5
Hekari United Papua New Guinea 4–1 Papua New Guinea Lae City 2–1 2–0
Kossa FC Solomon Islands 2–3 Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors 1–1 1–2
Dragon French Polynesia 3–9 French Polynesia Pirae 0–2 3–7
SiaRaga FC Vanuatu 0–4 Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird FC 0–3 0–1

Group stage

The four teams in each group will play each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue in Vanuatu.[9] The winners and runners-up of each group will advance to the semi-finals of the knockout stage.

The draw of the group stage were announced by the OFC on 23 March 2023.[10][11] The 8 teams were drawn into two groups of four. Ifira Black Bird were pre-determined to play in Port Vila and so were automatically drawn into group B.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AUC SUV SOL LUP
1 New Zealand Auckland City 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 9 Knockout stage — — 3–1 —
2 Fiji Suva 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6 1–3 — — 3–0[lower-alpha 1]
3 Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3 — 0–2 — 3–0[lower-alpha 2]
4 Samoa Lupe ole Soaga 3 0 0 3 0 9 −9 0 0–3[lower-alpha 3] — — —
Source: OFC
Notes:
  1. ↑ The Lupe ole Soaga v Suva match was cancelled due to injuries in the Lupe ole Soaga squad. Lupe ole Soaga SC will have all its matches cancelled and considered null and void. OFC will award victory and the resultant three points to the opposing team as well as the score of 3–0.[12]
  2. ↑ The Lupe ole Soaga v Solomon Warriors match was cancelled due to injuries in the Lupe ole Soaga squad. Lupe ole Soaga SC will have all its matches cancelled and considered null and void. OFC will award victory and the resultant three points to the opposing team as well as the score of 3–0.[12]
  3. ↑ The Lupe ole Soaga v Auckland City match was cancelled due to injuries in the Lupe ole Soaga squad. Lupe ole Soaga SC will have all its matches cancelled and considered null and void. OFC will award victory and the resultant three points to the opposing team as well as the score of 3–0.[12]

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PIR IFI HEK TIG
1 French Polynesia Pirae 3 2 1 0 7 3 +4 7 Knockout stage — — — 3–0
2 Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird (H) 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4 2–2 — 0–2 —
3 Papua New Guinea Hekari United 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3 1–2 — — —
4 New Caledonia Tiga Sport 3 1 0 2 1 4 −3 3 — 0–1 1–0 —
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

Knockout stage

The four teams in the knockout stage played on a single-elimination basis, with each tie played as a single match at VFF Freshwater Stadium.

Bracket

The bracket was determined as follows:

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
24 May 2023
 
 
New Zealand Auckland City (p) 2 (5)
 
27 May 2023
 
Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird 2 (4)
 
New Zealand Auckland City (a.e.t.)4
 
24 May 2023
 
Fiji Suva 2
 
French Polynesia Pirae 2
 
 
Fiji Suva (a.e.t.)4
 

Semi-finals

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Auckland City New Zealand 2–2 (5–4 p) Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
Pirae French Polynesia 2–4 (a.e.t.) Fiji Suva

Final

Main article: 2023 OFC Champions League final

In the final, the two semi-final winners played against each other. The final was played on 27 May 2023.

Auckland City New Zealand4–2 (a.e.t.)Fiji Suva
  • Kilkolly 34' (pen.)
  • De Vries 45+3', 120+4'
  • Howieson 109'
 Report
Attendance: 5,420
Referee: David Yareboinen (Papua New Guinea)

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Team Goals
1 Samoa Michael Tumua Leo Samoa Lupe ole Soaga 7
2 New Zealand Ryan De Vries New Zealand Auckland City 5
Vanuatu Azariah Soromon Fiji Suva
4 French Polynesia Tamatoa Tetauira French Polynesia Pirae 4
5 New Zealand Liam Gillion New Zealand Auckland City 3
New Zealand Angus Kilkolly
Argentina Emiliano Tade
Fiji Marlon Tahioa Fiji Suva
Fiji Alex Saniel
French Polynesia Ariiura Labaste French Polynesia Pirae
Vanuatu Godine Tenene Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird
12 Vanuatu Kenny Iawak 2
Papua New Guinea Joseph Joe Papua New Guinea Hekari United
Papua New Guinea Joe Naime
Fiji Rusiate Matarerega Fiji Suva
French Polynesia Yohann Tihoni French Polynesia Pirae
French Polynesia Roonui Tinirauarii French Polynesia Dragon
New Zealand Hamish Watson New Zealand Wellington Olimpic
New Caledonia Shene Wélépane New Caledonia Tiga Sport
Papua New Guinea Yagi Yasasa Papua New Guinea Hekari United

Awards

Award Winner[13]
Golden Ball New Zealand Cameron Howieson
Golden Boot New Zealand Ryan de Vries

References

  1. ↑ "VFF 2023 National Champions League locked to start 1 February". Vanuatu Football Federation. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  2. ↑ "Auckland City FC are OFC Champions for 11th time". RNZ.co.nz. 27 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "FIFA Council confirms key details for FIFA Club World Cup 2025". FIFA. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 "OFC Champions League Qualifying Stage dates announced". Oceania Football Confederation. 1 February 2023.
  5. ↑ Gutu Faasau (18 February 2023). "OFC qualifiers kick off in Samoa". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "LUPE OLE SOAGA BIG VICTORS IN OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2023 QUALIFYING". Oceania Football Confederation. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "STATEMENT FROM OFC". Oceania Football Confederation Facebook. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  8. ↑ "OFC Champions League explained". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "OFC Competitions 2023 Calendar confirmed 1/01/2023" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  10. ↑ "OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2023 DRAW COMPLETED". Oceania Football Confederation. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  11. ↑ "DRAW DATE CONFIRMED FOR OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2023". Oceania Football Confederation. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 "OFC STATEMENT ON LUPE OLE SOAGA SC". Oceania Football Confederation. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "AUCKLAND CITY FC CLAIM RECORD-EXTENDING 11TH OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TITLE IN EXTRA-TIME NAIL-BITER". Oceania Football Confederation. 27 May 2023.
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