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) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Auckland City (11th title) |
| Runners-up |  Suva |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 14 |
| Goals scored | 50 (3.57 per match) |
| Attendance | 70,650 (5,046 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Ryan De Vries (5 goals) |
The 2023 OFC Champions League was 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.
Defending champions Auckland City FC, defeated Fijian Suva to win a record eleventh title and earned the right to play at the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia.[2] As they also won the 2021 OFC Champions League and the 2022 OFC Champions League, they also earned the right to play at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.[3]
Teams[edit]
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[edit]
Preliminary group[edit]
The draw for the qualifying stage was held on 1 February 2023 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[4] The four teams in the qualifying stage played each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue. The winners will advance to the group stage to join the 7 direct entrants.[4] The qualifying stage is hosted in Apia by Football Federation Samoa.[5]
| 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[edit]
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. [8]
| 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[edit]
The four teams in each group will play each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue in Vanuatu.[9] 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.[10][11] 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[edit]
| 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.[12]
- ^ 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.[12]
- ^ 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.[12]
Group B[edit]
| 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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Auckland City
|
2–2 (5–4 p) | Ifira Black Bird
|
| Pirae
|
2–4 (a.e.t.) | Suva
|
Final[edit]
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[edit]
Top goalscorers[edit]
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Tumua Leo
|
Lupe ole Soaga
|
7 |
| 2 | Ryan De Vries
|
Auckland City
|
5 |
| Azariah Soromon
|
Suva
| ||
| 4 | Tamatoa Tetauira
|
Pirae
|
4 |
| 5 | Liam Gillion
|
Auckland City
|
3 |
| Angus Kilkolly
| |||
 Emiliano Tade
| |||
| Marlon Tahioa
|
Suva
| ||
| Alex Saniel
| |||
| Ariiura Labaste
|
Pirae
| ||
| Godine Tenene
|
Ifira Black Bird
| ||
| 12 | Kenny Iawak
|
2 | |
| Joseph Joe
|
Hekari United
| ||
| Joe Naime
| |||
| Rusiate Matarerega
|
Suva
| ||
| Yohann Tihoni
|
Pirae
| ||
| Roonui Tinirauarii
|
Dragon
| ||
| Hamish Watson
|
Wellington Olimpic
| ||
| Shene Wélépane
|
Tiga Sport
| ||
| Yagi Yasasa
|
Hekari United
|
Awards[edit]
| Award | Winner[13] |
|---|---|
| Golden Ball | Cameron Howieson
|
| Golden Boot | Ryan de Vries
|
References[edit]
- ^ "VFF 2023 National Champions League locked to start 1 February". Vanuatu Football Federation. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
- ^ "Auckland City FC are OFC Champions for 11th time". RNZ.co.nz. 27 May 2023.
- ^ "FIFA Council confirms key details for FIFA Club World Cup 2025". FIFA. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 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.
- ^ "AUCKLAND CITY FC CLAIM RECORD-EXTENDING 11TH OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TITLE IN EXTRA-TIME NAIL-BITER". Oceania Football Confederation. 27 May 2023.