2023 OFC Champions League
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Group stage: Vanuatu |
| Dates | Qualifying: 11 February – 18 March Competition proper: 14 – 27 May[1] |
| Teams | Total: 18 (from 11 associations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Top scorer(s) | Two players (3 goals each) |
← 2022 2024 → | |
The 2023 OFC Champions League is 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. The winner will earn the right to play at the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Auckland City FC are the defending champions.
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.
Teams entering the National playoffs; (H) Group stage host
Teams entering the qualifying stage; (h) Qualifying stage hostQualifying stage
Preliminary group
The draw for the qualifying stage was held on 1 February 2023 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[2] The four teams in the qualifying stage played each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue. The winners, Lupe ole Soaga, advanced to the group stage to join the 7 direct entrants.[2] The qualifying stage was hosted in Apia by Football Federation Samoa.[3]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | LUP | TUP | VEI | ITO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lupe ole Soaga (H)
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1 | +28 | 9 | Group stage | — | 7–1 | 9–0 | — | |
| 2 |  Tupapa Maraerenga
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 6 | — | — | 1–0 | 8–0 | ||
| 3 |  Veitongo
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | −10 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 4 |  Ilaoa and To'omata
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | −21 | 0 | 0–13 | — | — | — |
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. [6]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Suva 
|
3–2 | Rewa
|
1–1 | 2–1 |
Hienghène Sport 
|
1–5 | Tiga Sport
|
1–3 | 0–2 |
Wellington Olympic 
|
4–6 | Auckland City
|
1–1 | 3–5 |
Hekari United 
|
4–1 | Lae City
|
2–1 | 2–0 |
Kossa FC 
|
2–3 | Solomon Warriors
|
1–1 | 1–2 |
Dragon 
|
3–9 | Pirae
|
0–2 | 3–7 |
SiaRaga FC 
|
0–4 | 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.[7] 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.[8][9] 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 | Auckland City
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 9 | Knockout stage | — | — | 3–1 | — | |
| 2 | Suva
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 | 1–3 | — | — | 3–0[a] | ||
| 3 | Solomon Warriors
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | — | 0–2 | — | 3–0[b] | ||
| 4 | Lupe ole Soaga
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | 0–3[c] | — | — | — |
Notes:
- ^ 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.[10]
- ^ 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.[10]
- ^ 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.[10]
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PIR | IFI | HEK | TIG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pirae
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 7 | Knockout stage | — | — | — | 3–0 | |
| 2 | Ifira Black Bird (H)
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | 2–2 | — | 0–2 | — | ||
| 3 | Hekari United
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1–2 | — | — | — | ||
| 4 | Tiga Sport
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 3 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | — |
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-finals | Final | |||||
| 24 May 2023 | ||||||
| Auckland City (p) | 2 (5) | |||||
| 27 May 2023 | ||||||
| Ifira Black Bird | 2 (4) | |||||
| Auckland City (a.e.t.) | 4 | |||||
| 24 May 2023 | ||||||
| Suva | 2 | |||||
| Pirae | 2 | |||||
| Suva (a.e.t.) | 4 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Auckland City
|
2–2 (5–4 p) | Ifira Black Bird
|
| Pirae
|
2–4 (a.e.t.) | Suva
|
Final
In the final, the two semi-final winners played against each other. The final was played on 27 May 2023.
| Auckland City | 4–2 (a.e.t.) | Suva |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Statistics
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Emiliano Tade
|
Auckland City
|
3 |
| Tamatoa Tetauira
|
Pirae
| ||
| 3 | Joseph Joe
|
Hekari United
|
2 |
| Angus Kilkolly
|
Auckland City
| ||
| Ariiura Labaste
|
Pirae
| ||
| Rusiate Matarerega
|
Suva | ||
| Joe Naime
|
Hekari United
| ||
| Marlon Tahioa
|
Suva
| ||
| Yohann Tihoni
|
Pirae
| ||
| Roonui Tinirauarii
|
Dragon
| ||
| Azariah Soromon
|
Suva
| ||
| Hamish Watson
|
Wellington Olimpic
| ||
| Shene Wélépane
|
Tiga Sport
| ||
| Yagi Yasasa
|
Hekari United
|
References
- ^ "VFF 2023 National Champions League locked to start 1 February". Vanuatu Football Federation. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
- ^ a b "OFC Champions League Qualifying Stage dates announced". Oceania Football Confederation. 1 February 2023.
- ^ Gutu Faasau (18 February 2023). "OFC qualifiers kick off in Samoa". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "LUPE OLE SOAGA BIG VICTORS IN OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2023 QUALIFYING". Oceania Football Confederation. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "STATEMENT FROM OFC". Oceania Football Confederation Facebook. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "OFC Champions League explained". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "OFC Competitions 2023 Calendar confirmed 1/01/2023" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
- ^ "OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2023 DRAW COMPLETED". Oceania Football Confederation. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
- ^ "DRAW DATE CONFIRMED FOR OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2023". Oceania Football Confederation. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
- ^ a b c "OFC STATEMENT ON LUPE OLE SOAGA SC". Oceania Football Confederation. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.