The 2019 OFC Champions League was the 18th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 13th season under the current OFC Champions League name.

In the final, Hienghène Sport defeated Magenta 1–0, becoming the first team from New Caledonia to win the tournament. As the winners of the 2019 OFC Champions League, they qualified for the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar. Team Wellington were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Hienghène Sport in the semi-finals.

Teams

2019 OFC Champions League is located in Oceania
Location of teams of the 2019 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 entered 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
AssociationTeamQualifying method
FijiLautoka2018 Fiji Premier League champions
Ba2018 Fiji Premier League runners-up
New CaledoniaHienghène Sport2017 New Caledonia Super Ligue champions
Magenta2017 New Caledonia Super Ligue runners-up
New ZealandAuckland City2017–18 New Zealand Football Championship finals series champions 2017–18 New Zealand Football Championship regular season premiers
Team Wellington2017–18 New Zealand Football Championship regular season runners-up
Papua New GuineaToti City2018 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League playoffs champions 2018 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League regular season premiers
Morobe Wawens2018 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League regular season runners-up
Solomon IslandsSolomon Warriors2018 Solomon Islands S-League champions
Henderson Eels2018 Solomon Islands S-League runners-up
TahitiCentral Sport2017–18 Tahiti Ligue 1 champions
Tefana2017–18 Tahiti Ligue 1 runners-up
VanuatuErakor Golden Star2018 VFF National Super League grand final champions
Malampa Revivors2018 VFF National Super League grand final runners-up
Teams entering the qualifying stage
AssociationTeamQualifying method
American SamoaPago Youth2017 FFAS Senior League champions
Cook IslandsTupapa Maraerenga2018 Cook Islands Round Cup champions
SamoaKiwi2018 Samoa National League champions
TongaLotohaʻapai United2018 Tonga Major League champions

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows. For this season, all ties in the knockout stage were played as a single match.

StageDraw dateMatch dates
Qualifying stage13 November 2018 (Auckland, New Zealand)26 January – 1 February 2019 (Cook Islands)
Group stageGroup A: 10–16 February 2019 (New Caledonia) Group B: 10–16 February 2019 (Fiji) Group C: 23 February – 1 March 2019 (Vanuatu) Group D: 24 February – 2 March 2019 (Solomon Islands)
Quarter-finals5 March 2019 (Auckland, New Zealand)6–7 April 2019
Semi-finals28 April 2019
Final11 May 2019

Qualifying stage

The draw for the qualifying stage was held on 13 November 2018 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand. The champions of the host association (Cook Islands) were allocated to Position 1, and the champions of the three remaining developing associations were drawn to determine the fixtures (first team drawn allocated to Position 2, second team drawn allocated to Position 3, third team drawn allocated to Position 4). The four teams in the qualifying stage played each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue. The winners and runners-up advanced to the group stage to join the 14 direct entrants. Matches were played between 26 January – 1 February 2019 in the Cook Islands.

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationTUPKIWLOTPAG
1Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga (H)3300103+79Group stage4–14–12–1
2Samoa Kiwi3201148+664–3
3Tonga Lotohaʻapai United3102714−731–9
4American Samoa Pago Youth3003511−601–5

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 13 November 2018 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand. The 16 teams (14 teams entering the group stage and two teams advancing from the qualifying stage) were drawn into four groups of four, with the following mechanism:

  • The champions of the four host associations (Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu) were drawn into Position 1 of Groups A–D.
  • The champions of the three remaining developed associations, and the runners-up of New Zealand, by virtue of having the best second team in the 2018 OFC Champions League, were drawn into Position 2 of Groups A–D.
  • The runners-up of the six developed associations apart from New Zealand were drawn into Position 3 of Groups A–D and Position 4 of Groups A–B (first team drawn to Groups A–B allocated to Position 3, second team drawn to Groups A–B allocated to Position 4). Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
  • The winners and runners-up of the qualifying stage, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, were drawn into Position 4 of Groups C–D.

The four teams in each group played each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage. Matches were played on the following dates and venues:

  • Group A matches were played between 10 and 16 February 2019 in New Caledonia.
  • Group B matches were played between 10 and 16 February 2019 in Fiji.
  • Group C matches were played between 23 February – 1 March 2019 in Vanuatu.
  • Group D matches were played between 24 February – 2 March 2019 in the Solomon Islands.

Group A

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationHIETOTTEFMAL
1New Caledonia Hienghène Sport (H)321071+67Knockout stage1–11–0
2Papua New Guinea Toti City312086+253–3
3French Polynesia Tefana302167−123–3
4Vanuatu Malampa Revivors3012512−710–52–4

Group B

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationCENHENLAUMOR
1French Polynesia Central Sport3210124+87Knockout stage3–2
2Solomon Islands Henderson Eels3201158+767–0
3Fiji Lautoka (H)3111128+442–25–6
4Papua New Guinea Morobe Wawens3003019−1900–70–5

Group C

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationWELBAFERAKIW
1New Zealand Team Wellington3300180+189Knockout stage2–0
2Fiji Ba311164+245–1
3Vanuatu Erakor Golden Star (H)311134−140–31–1
4Samoa Kiwi3003120−1900–130–2

Group D

PosTeamvtePldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationAUCMAGSWATUP
1New Zealand Auckland City3300231+229Knockout stage2–1
2New Caledonia Magenta3201143+11610–1
3Solomon Islands Solomon Warriors (H)31021010030–60–3
4Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga3003235−3300–151–10

Knockout stage

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

Bracket

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final), which was held on 5 March 2019 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.

Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
Tahitian Football Federation Central Sport0
New Caledonian Football Federation Magenta8
New Caledonian Football Federation Magenta2
New Zealand Football Auckland City1
New Zealand Football Auckland City4
Papua New Guinea Football Association Toti City1
New Caledonian Football Federation Magenta0
New Caledonian Football Federation Hienghène Sport1
New Caledonian Football Federation Hienghène Sport (a.e.t.)2
Fiji Ba1
New Caledonian Football Federation Hienghène Sport2
New Zealand Football Team Wellington0
New Zealand Football Team Wellington6
Solomon Islands Football Federation Henderson Eels1

Quarter-finals

In the quarter-finals, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group (teams from same group could not play each other), with the group winners hosting the match, and the matchups decided by draw. The quarter-finals were played between 6–7 April 2019.

Team 1ScoreTeam 2
Central Sport French Polynesia0–8New Caledonia Magenta
Auckland City New Zealand4–0Papua New Guinea Toti City
Hienghène Sport New Caledonia2–1 (a.e.t.)Fiji Ba
Team Wellington New Zealand6–1Solomon Islands Henderson Eels

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the four quarter-final winners played in two ties, with the matchups and host teams decided by draw. The semi-finals were played on 28 April 2019.

Team 1ScoreTeam 2
Hienghène Sport New Caledonia2–0New Zealand Team Wellington
Magenta New Caledonia2–1New Zealand Auckland City

Final

In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the host team decided by draw. The final was played on 11 May 2019.

Magenta New Caledonia0–1New Caledonia Hienghène Sport
Roine 66'

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerTeamQS1QS2QS3GS1GS2GS3QFSFFTotal
1England Ross AllenNew Zealand Team Wellington161311
2Papua New Guinea David BrowneNew Zealand Auckland City2136
New Caledonia Yorick HnautraNew Caledonia Magenta42
New Caledonia Kevin NemiaNew Caledonia Magenta231
Samoa Paulo ScanlanSamoa Kiwi24
6French Polynesia Sylvain GragliaFrench Polynesia Central Sport145
Solomon Islands Micah Lea'alafaNew Zealand Auckland City1211
8Cook Islands Maro Bonsu-MaroNew Zealand Auckland City44
Papua New Guinea Nigel DabinyabaPapua New Guinea Toti City211
Papua New Guinea Raymond GunembaPapua New Guinea Toti City13
New Caledonia Bertrand KaïNew Caledonia Hienghène Sport31
New Caledonia Richard SeleNew Caledonia Magenta121
New Zealand Jack-Henry SinclairNew Zealand Team Wellington22
Mexico Fabrizio TavanoNew Zealand Auckland City31

Awards

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

AwardPlayerTeam
Golden BallNew Caledonia Bertrand KaïNew Caledonia Hienghène Sport
Golden BootEngland Ross AllenNew Zealand Team Wellington
Golden GloveNew Caledonia Rocky NyikeineNew Caledonia Hienghène Sport
Fair Play AwardNew Zealand Auckland City

External links