2024 OFC Champions League

2024 OFC Champions League
Tournament details
Host countryTahiti (final tournament)
DatesQualifying:
8 February – 16 March
Competition proper:
11–24 May[1]
TeamsCompetition proper: 8
Total: 18 (from 11 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsNew Zealand Auckland City (12th title)
Runners-upFrench Polynesia Pirae
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
Goals scored62 (4.13 per match)
Attendance3,491 (233 per match)
Top scorer(s)New Caledonia Germain Haewegene
(5 goals)
(AS Magenta)
Best player(s)New Zealand Liam Gillion
(Auckland City FC)
Best goalkeeperNew Zealand Conor Tracey
(Auckland City FC)
Fair play awardNew Zealand Auckland City FC
2023
2025

The 2024 OFC Champions League was the 23rd edition of the Oceanian club championship. Organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), it is Oceania's premier club football tournament. The 2024 edition of the tournament was the 18th season under the current OFC Champions League name.

The tournament winner qualified for the 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup. By winning the 2022 OFC Champions League and the 2023 OFC Champions League, Auckland City earned the right to play at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States before even playing the 2024 OFC Champions League.[2]

Teams

[edit]

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

  • Seven associations (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu) are awarded one berth each in the group stage, after playing a national playoff between the top-two clubs in their league.
  • 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 2024 OFC Champions League.
Teams entering the National playoffs
Teams entering the qualifying stage; (h) Qualifying stage host
Teams entering the National playoffs
Association Team Qualifying method
 Fiji
(2 berths)
Lautoka 2023 Fiji Premier League champions
Rewa 2023 Fiji Premier League runners-up
 New Caledonia
(2 berths)
AS Magenta 2023 New Caledonia Super Ligue champions
ASC Gaïca 2023 New Caledonia Super Ligue runners-up
 New Zealand
(2 berths)
Wellington Olympic 2023 New Zealand National League grand final champions
Auckland City 2023 New Zealand National League grand final runners-up
 Papua New Guinea
(2 berths)
Hekari United 2023 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League champions
Southern Strikers 2023 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League runners-up
 Solomon Islands
(2 berths)
Solomon Warriors 2023 Telekom S-League champions
Central Coast 2023 Telekom S-League runners-up
 Tahiti
(2 berths)
AS Tefana 2022–23 Tahiti Ligue 1 champions
AS Pirae 2022–23 Tahiti Ligue 1 runners-up
 Vanuatu
(2 berths)
Ifira Black Bird 2023 VFF Champions League grand final champions
Classic FC 2023 VFF Champions League grand final runners-up
Teams entering the qualifying stage
Association Team Qualifying method
 American Samoa Vaiala Tongan 2023 FFAS Senior League seventh place
 Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 2023 Cook Islands Round Cup champion
 Samoa Vaivase-Tai 2023 Samoa National League third place
 Tonga Veitongo 2023 Tonga Major League champion

Schedule

[edit]
Schedule for 2024 OFC Champions League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying stage Preliminary group ( Tonga) 17 January 17 February
20 February
23 February
National Play-off 8 February – 12 March 11 February – 16 March
Group stage[3] Matchday 1 11–12 & 20 May
Matchday 2 14–16 May
Matchday 3 17–18 May
Knockout phase Semi-finals 22 May
Final 24 May

Qualifying stage

[edit]

Preliminary group

[edit]

The draw for the qualifying stage was held on 17 January 2024 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[4][5] The four teams in the qualifying stage played each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue (in Nuku'alofa, Tonga). The winners advanced to the group stage to join the seven winners from the national playoffs.[4]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VPN TUP VEI RYP
1 Samoa Vaivase-Tai FC 3 2 1 0 18 0 +18 7 Group stage 4–0
2 Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 3 2 0 1 17 6 +11 6 3–2 14–0
3 Tonga Veitongo (H) 3 1 1 1 15 3 +12 4 0–0 13–0
4 American Samoa Vaiala Tongan 3 0 0 3 0 41 −41 0 0–14
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

National play-offs

[edit]

Seven sets of national playoffs took place to determine which side from those nations would take part in this year's Champions League.[5]

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Rewa Fiji3–2Fiji Lautoka0–03–2 (a.e.t.)
ASC Gaïca New Caledonia1–2New Caledonia AS Magenta1–20–0
Auckland City New Zealand4–3New Zealand Wellington Olympic1–03–3
Port Moresby Strikers Papua New Guinea0–5Papua New Guinea Hekari United0–20–3
Central Coast Solomon Islands1–2Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors0–11–1
Pirae French Polynesia2–2 (6–5 p)French Polynesia Tefana1–11–1 (a.e.t.)
Classic Vanuatu2–3Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird1–21–1

Group stage

[edit]

The group stage matches took place in Tahiti between 11 and 20 May 2024.[3][6]

Group A

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AUC REW HEK SOL
1 New Zealand Auckland City 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 7 Knockout stage 1–0 5–0
2 Fiji Rewa 3 2 1 0 8 6 +2 7 2–2
3 Papua New Guinea Hekari United 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3 2–3
4 Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors 3 0 0 3 2 10 −8 0 2–3 0–2
Source: OFC

Group B

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PIR MAG IFI VPN
1 French Polynesia Pirae (H) 3 2 1 0 11 1 +10 7 Knockout stage 5–1 6–0
2 New Caledonia AS Magenta 3 2 1 0 10 1 +9 7 0–0 8–0
3 Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird 3 1 0 2 7 8 −1 3 1–2
4 Samoa Vaivase-Tai FC 3 0 0 3 1 19 −18 0 1–5
Source: OFC
(H) Hosts

Knockout stage

[edit]

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

Bracket

[edit]
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
22 May 2024
 
 
New Zealand Auckland City 1
 
24 May 2024
 
New Caledonia AS Magenta0
 
New Zealand Auckland City 4
 
22 May 2024
 
French Polynesia Pirae0
 
French Polynesia Pirae (a.e.t.) 4
 
 
Fiji Rewa 2
 

Semi-finals

[edit]
Team 1ScoreTeam 2
Auckland City New Zealand1–0New Caledonia AS Magenta
Pirae French Polynesia4–2 (a.e.t.)Fiji Rewa

Final

[edit]

In the final, the two semi-final winners played against each other. The final was played on 24 May 2024.

Auckland City New Zealand4–0French Polynesia Pirae
Report
Attendance: 819

Statistics

[edit]

Top goalscorers

[edit]
Preliminary stage
Rank Player Team Goals
1 Cook Islands Lee Harmon Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 7
2 Samoa Dilo Tumua Samoa Vaivase-Tai FC 6
3 Tonga Elias Kendler Tonga Veitongo 5
4 Cook Islands Dylan Connolly Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 4
Samoa Falaniko Nanumea Samoa Vaivase-Tai FC
Samoa Vaa Taualai Samoa Vaivase-Tai FC
7 Tonga Sione Uhatahi Tonga Veitongo 3


Awards

[edit]
Award Winner Team
Golden Ball New Zealand Liam Gillion New Zealand Auckland City FC
Golden Boot New Caledonia Germain Haewegene New Caledonia AS Magenta
Golden Glove New Zealand Conor Tracey New Zealand Auckland City FC
Fair Play Award New Zealand Auckland City FC

Qualification to 2025 FIFA Club World Cup

[edit]

On 17 December 2023 FIFA confirmed the sporting criteria for the four-year ranking used to determine the OFC representative in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, awarding 3 points for a win, one point for a draw, and three points for "advanced phase" in the Confederations primary club competition. On the same day, FIFA confirmed Auckland City as the OFC representative.[7] As champions of the previous two iterations of the OFC Champions League, there was no mathematical possibility for Auckland City to be overtaken by another club during the 2024 OFC Champions League.

The four-year rankings is as follows:[8]

Qualification for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
Rank Club TP CP MP
1 New Zealand Auckland City 66 27 39
2 French Polynesia AS Pirae 31 15 16
3 Fiji Rewa 20 9 11
4 French Polynesia AS Vénus 18 9 9
5 Fiji Suva 17 9 8
Vanuatu Ifira Black Bird 17 9 8
7 New Caledonia AS Magenta 13 6 7
8 Solomon Islands Central Coast 12 6 6
New Caledonia Hienghène Sport 12 6 6
Papua New Guinea Hekari United 12 6 6
11 Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors 9 6 3
12 Vanuatu Galaxy 7 3 4
13 New Caledonia Tiga Sport 6 3 3
14 Papua New Guinea Lae City 4 3 1
15 Samoa Vaivase-Tai 3 3 0
Cook Islands Nikao Sokattak 3 3 0
Samoa Lupe o le Soaga SC 3 3 0

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Oceania football confirms key venues, dates for 2024 competitions". Radio New Zealand. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  2. ^ "FIFA Council confirms key details for FIFA Club World Cup 2025". FIFA. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS CAUSE FURTHER SCHEDULE CHANGES AT OFC MEN'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2024". Oceania Football Confederation. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Draw Confirmed For OFC Men's Champions League 2024 And OFC Men's Champions League 2024 – Qualifying". Oceania Football Confederation. 17 January 2024.
  5. ^ a b "OFC Men's Champions League 2024 – Qualifying Draw". Oceania Football Confederation. 17 January 2024.
  6. ^ "OFC Competition Calendars Confirmed for 2024". Oceania Football Confederation. December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  7. ^ https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/fifa-club-world-cup/articles/fifa-council-confirms-key-details-club-world-cup-2025
  8. ^ "FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Confederations ranking".
[edit]