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
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 stageAssociationTeamQualifying method FijiLautoka2017 Fiji Premier League championsBa2017 Fiji Premier League runners-up New CaledoniaMagenta2016 New Caledonia Super Ligue championsLössi2016 New Caledonia Super Ligue runners-up New ZealandTeam Wellington2016–17 New Zealand Football Championship finals series championsAuckland City2016–17 New Zealand Football Championship regular season premiers Papua New GuineaToti City2017 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League regular season premiersMadang2017 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League regular season runners-up Solomon IslandsSolomon Warriors2017–18 Solomon Islands S-League championsMarist2017–18 Solomon Islands S-League runners-up TahitiDragon2016–17 Tahiti Ligue 1 championsVénus2016–17 Tahiti Ligue 1 runners-up VanuatuNalkutan2016–17 VFF National Super League grand final championsErakor Golden Star2016–17 VFF National Super League grand final runners-up +Teams entering the qualifying stageAssociationTeamQualifying method American SamoaPago Youth2016 FFAS Senior League champions Cook IslandsTupapa Maraerenga2017 Cook Islands Round Cup champions SamoaLupe o le Soaga2017 Samoa National League champions TongaVeitongo2017 Tonga Major League champions
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows.
StageDraw dateMatch datesQualifying stage15 September 2017(Auckland, New Zealand)20–26 January 2018Group stageQuarter-finals5 March 2018(Auckland, New Zealand)7–8 April 2018Semi-finalsFinal
Qualifying stage
Group stage
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerTeam Total1 Angus Kilkolly Team Wellington 1 14 118 Emiliano Tade Auckland City 3211 12 Ross Allen Team Wellington 32 117 Sean Latimer Tupapa Maraerenga1311 14 Suivai Ataga Lupe o le Soaga 51 6 Maro Bonsu-Maro Tupapa Maraerenga 321 7 Tamatoa Tetauira Dragon 22 158 Raymond Gunemba Toti City 4 4 Nathanael Hailemariam Team Wellington 1 3 Azariah Soromon Nalkutan 13 Lapalapa Toni Lupe o le Soaga 2 11
Awards The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.
AwardPlayerTeamGolden Ball Roy Kayara Team WellingtonGolden Boot Angus Kilkolly Team WellingtonGolden Glove Eñaut Zubikarai Auckland CityFair Play Award— Auckland City
See also 2018 FIFA Club World Cup
References
External links OFC Champions League 2018, oceaniafootball.com News > 2018 OFC Champions League , oceaniafootball.com