2018 OFC Champions League

2018 OFC Champions League

Tournament details
Host countries	Qualifying stage: American Samoa Group stage: Vanuatu (Group A) Tahiti (Group B) New Zealand (Group C) Solomon Islands (Group D)
Dates	Qualifying stage: 20–26 January 2018 Competition proper: 10 February – 20 May 2018
Teams	Competition proper: 16 Total: 18 (from 11 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Team Wellington (1st title)
Runners-up	Lautoka
Tournament statistics
Matches played	40
Goals scored	177 (4.43 per match)
Attendance	91,636 (2,291 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Angus Kilkolly Emiliano Tade (8 goals each)
Best player(s)	Roy Kayara
Best goalkeeper	Eñaut Zubikarai
Fair play award	Auckland City
← 2017 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.

Teams

Lautoka

Ba

Magenta
Lössi

Team Wellington

Auckland City (H)

Toti City

Madang

Solomon Warriors
Marist (H)

Dragon (H)

Vénus

Nalkutan (H)

Erakor Golden Star

Pago Youth (h)

Tupapa Maraerenga

Lupe o le Soaga

Veitongo

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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	Lautoka	2017 Fiji Premier League champions
	Ba	2017 Fiji Premier League runners-up
New Caledonia	Magenta	2016 New Caledonia Super Ligue champions
	Lössi	2016 New Caledonia Super Ligue runners-up
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	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 Warriors	2017–18 Solomon Islands S-League champions
	Marist	2017–18 Solomon Islands S-League runners-up
Tahiti	Dragon	2016–17 Tahiti Ligue 1 champions
	Vénus	2016–17 Tahiti Ligue 1 runners-up
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	Pago Youth	2016 FFAS Senior League champions
Cook Islands	Tupapa Maraerenga	2017 Cook Islands Round Cup champions
Samoa	Lupe o le Soaga	2017 Samoa National League champions
Tonga	Veitongo	2017 Tonga Major League champions

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.

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

Tiebreakers

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TUP	LUP	VEI	PAG
1	Tupapa Maraerenga	3	3	0	0	15	2	+13	9	Group stage		—	1–0	—	—
2	Lupe o le Soaga	3	2	0	1	19	2	+17	6			—	—	6–0	—
3	Veitongo	3	0	1	2	3	16	−13	1			2–9	—	—	1–1
4	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

Tiebreakers

Knockout stage

Main article: 2018 OFC Champions League knockout stage

Top goalscorers

  Team eliminated / inactive for this round.

Rank	Player	Team	QS1	QS2	QS3	GS1	GS2	GS3	QF	SF1	SF2	F1	F2	Total
1	Angus Kilkolly	Team Wellington				1		1	4		1		1	8
	Emiliano Tade	Auckland City				3	2	1	1		1
2	Ross Allen	Team Wellington					3	2				1	1	7
	Sean Latimer	Tupapa Maraerenga	1	3	1	1		1
4	Suivai Ataga	Lupe o le Soaga		5	1									6
	Maro Bonsu-Maro	Tupapa Maraerenga		3	2	1
7	Tamatoa Tetauira	Dragon				2	2		1					5
8	Raymond Gunemba	Toti City				4								4
	Nathanael Hailemariam	Team Wellington					1		3
	Azariah Soromon	Nalkutan					1	3
	Lapalapa Toni	Lupe o le Soaga			2		1	1

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.

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

• 2018 FIFA Club World Cup

External links

• OFC Champions League 2018, oceaniafootball.com
  • News > 2018 OFC Champions League, oceaniafootball.com