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.[1]
Location of teams of the 2018 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 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.
The draw for the qualifying stage was held on 15 September 2017 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[1] The champions of the four developing associations were drawn from Pot A into each of the four positions 1–4 to determine the fixtures.[5]
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 20 and 26 January 2018 in Pago Pago, American Samoa.
The draw for the group stage was held on 15 September 2017 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[1] 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 each group containing two teams from Pot B (which were drawn into positions 1–2 to determine the fixtures) and two teams from Pot C (which were drawn into positions 3–4 to determine the fixtures). Teams from the same association, as well as the two teams advancing from the qualifying stage, could not be drawn into the same group. The teams were seeded based on the following:[5]
Pot B contained the champions of the seven developed associations, and the runners-up of New Zealand, by virtue of having the best second team in the 2017 OFC Champions League.
Pot C contained the runners-up of the six developed associations apart from New Zealand, and the two teams advancing from the qualifying stage, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw.
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.
The hosts of each group were announced by OFC on 31 October 2017.[6]
Group A matches were played between 10 and 16 February 2018 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Group B matches were played between 11 and 17 February 2018 in Pirae, Tahiti.
Group C matches were played between 25 February – 3 March 2018 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Group D matches were played between 24 February – 2 March 2018 in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
The eight teams in the knockout stage played on a single-elimination basis. In the quarter-finals, each tie was played as a single match, while in the semi-finals and final, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis.
Bracket
The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final) was held on 5 March 2018 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.[7][8]
In the quarter-finals, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group (teams from same group cannot play each other), with the group winners hosting the match, and the matchups decided by draw.
Note: Although Angus Kilkolly and Emiliano Tade both scored eight goals in the competition, Kilkolly won the Golden Boot as he played less minutes than Tade.
Team Wellington (1st title)
Lautoka
Emiliano Tade (8 goals each)
Roy Kayara
Eñaut Zubikarai
