2022_OFC_Champions_League
2022 OFC Champions League
International football competition
The 2022 OFC Champions League (officially known as OFC Champions League 2022[1]) was the 21st edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 16th season under the current OFC Champions League name.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4 June – 17 August 2022 |
| Teams | 14 (from 8 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Auckland City (10th title) |
| Runners-up |  Vénus |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Goals scored | 47 (3.13 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,340 (156 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Teaonui Tehau (4 goals) |
2023 → | |
In the final, Auckland City defeated Vénus 3–0 for their tenth title. Hienghène Sport, having won the title in 2019, were the title holders, since the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled due to border closures throughout the Pacific caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the titles were not awarded, but were eliminated by Vénus in the semi-finals.[2][3]
A total of 14 teams from 8 OFC member associations are eligible to enter the competition. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the format of the competition was changed, with all teams entering a qualifying stage consisting of a qualifying tournament and national play-offs, in order to keep travel to a minimum:[4]
- The six developed associations (Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu) are awarded two berths each in the national play-offs, which are either played in a two-legged format or as a single match in their own country between the two teams from each association, with the six winners advancing to the final tournament.
- As the qualifying stages were cancelled due to travel restrictions and logistic challenges, OFC nominated Nikao Sokattak (Cook Islands) based on previous results.[5]
| Association | Team | Qualifying method |
|---|---|---|
 Fiji |
Lautoka | 2021 Fiji Premier League champions |
| Rewa | 2021 Fiji Premier League runners-up | |
 New Caledonia |
Hienghène Sport | 2021 New Caledonia Super Ligue champions |
| Ne Drehu | 2021 New Caledonia Super Ligue runners-up | |
 Papua New Guinea |
Lae City | 2021 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League champions |
| Hekari United | 2021 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League runners-up | |
 Solomon Islands |
Central Coast | 2021 Solomon Islands S-League champions |
| Solomon Warriors | 2021 Solomon Islands S-League runners-up | |
| Tahiti |
Pirae | 2020–21 Tahiti Ligue 1 champions |
| Vénus | 2020–21 Tahiti Ligue 1 runners-up | |
 Vanuatu |
Galaxy | 2021 VFF National Super League champions |
| RueRue | 2021 VFF National Super League runners-up |
| Association | Team | Qualifying method |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand |
Auckland City | 2020–21 New Zealand Football Championship regular season premiers |
| Association | Team | Qualifying method |
|---|---|---|
 Cook Islands |
Nikao Sokattak | 2021 Cook Islands Round Cup champions |
On 4 March 2021, the OFC announced that the qualifying stage, which would have been played in Tonga between 16 and 22 October 2021, had been postponed to early 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6][7] On 4 June 2021, the OFC announced that the tournament would be moved from its traditional slot at the beginning of the year to August, and a revised format for the event would be presented at the next OFC Executive Committee meeting.[3] On 8 October 2021, the OFC announced the new format of the competition.[4]
National playoffs
On 13 May 2022, OFC announced that 6 sets of national playoffs would take place to determine which side from those nations would take part in this year's Champions League. New Zealand Football announced that they had nominated Auckland City as their sole participant taking part in the competition.[8]
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ne Drehu |
3–4 | Hienghène Sport |
2–2 | 1–2 |
| Lautoka |
1–5 | Rewa |
1–1 | 0–4 |
| RueRue |
0–5 | Galaxy |
0–0 | 0–5 |
| Solomon Warriors |
3–3 (2–4 p) | Central Coast |
1–1 | 2–2 (a.e.t.) |
| Lae City |
2–1 | Hekari United | ||
| Pirae |
0–1 (a.e.t.) | Vénus |
| Hienghène Sport | 2–1 | Ne Drehu |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Hienghène Sport won 4–3 on aggregate.
| Rewa | 4–0 | Lautoka |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Rewa won 5–1 on aggregate.
Galaxy won 5–0 on aggregate.
| Solomon Warriors | 1–1 | Central Coast |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Central Coast | 2–2 (a.e.t.) | Solomon Warriors |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
|
4–2 |
|
3–3 on aggregate. Central Coast won 4–2 on penalties
Red: Group A; 
Blue: Group BThe group stage was held in Auckland, New Zealand on 4-11 August 2022.[9] The four teams in each group played each other on a round-robin basis at a centralised venue, Ngahue Reserve, Auckland. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals of the knockout stage.
All of the qualified teams for the group stage are as follows:
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VEN | CCO | GAL | LAE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vénus |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | Knockout stage | — | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Central Coast |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0–3 | — | 3–1 | — | ||
| 3 | Galaxy |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | — | — | — | 2–2 | ||
| 4 | Lae City |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 1 | — | 2–3 | — | — |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AUC | HIE | REW | NIK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland City (H) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 9 | Knockout stage | — | 5−0 | — | — | |
| 2 | Hienghène Sport |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 6 | — | — | 2–0 | — | ||
| 3 | Rewa |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 3 | 0–3 | — | — | 3–1 | ||
| 4 | Nikao Sokattack |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 0 | 1–4 | 0–1 | — | — |
The four teams in the knockout stage played on a single-elimination basis, with each tie played as a single match at Ngahue Reserve.
Bracket
The bracket was determined as follows:
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 14 August 2022 | ||||||
| Vénus | 4 | |||||
| 17 August 2022 | ||||||
| Hienghène Sport | 0 | |||||
| Vénus | 0 | |||||
| 14 August 2022 | ||||||
| Auckland City | 3 | |||||
| Auckland City | 2 | |||||
| Central Coast | 0 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Vénus |
4–0 | Hienghène Sport |
| Auckland City |
2–0 | Central Coast |
Final
In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other. The final will be played on 17 August 2022.
Statistics exclude national play-off rounds.
Top goalscorers
| Rank[10] | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teaonui Tehau |
Vénus |
4 |
| 2 | Clifford Fafale |
Central Coast |
3 |
 Gerard Garriga |
Auckland City | ||
| Cameron Howieson |
Auckland City | ||
| 5 | Jonathan Allen |
Lae City |
2 |
| Junior Fordney |
Central Coast | ||
| Mario Ilich |
Auckland City | ||
| Tauhiti Keck |
Vénus | ||
| Dylan Manickum |
Auckland City | ||
| Adam Mitchell |
Auckland City | ||
| Fonzy Ranchain |
Hienghène Sport | ||
 Emiliano Tade |
Auckland City | ||
| Kensi Tangis |
Galaxy | ||
| Abbu Zahid |
Rewa | ||
| 15 | 12 players | 1 | |
- "OFC Champions League 2020 cancelled". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 September 2020.
- "OFC competitions calendar rescheduled". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 June 2021.
- "OFC competitions schedule update for 2022". Oceania Football Confederation. 8 October 2021.
- "OCL Qualifying Stage cancelled, Nikao Sokattak FC nominated for finals stage". Oceania Football Confederation. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- "OFC confirms schedule changes". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 March 2021.
- "OFC Competitions 2021 Calendar (updated 4/06/2021)" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Fédération Tahitienne de Football. 4 June 2021.
- "Next stage unveiled in battle for Oceania club supremacy". Oceania Football Confederation. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
- "Draw for OFC Champions League 2022 group stage set". Oceania Football Confederation. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
- "OFC Champions League 2022". oceaniafootball.com. Oceania Football Confederation. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- News > OFC Champions League Archived 2020-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, oceaniafootball.com