# 2022 OFC Champions League

The 2022 OFC Champions League (officially known as OFC Champions League 2022) 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.
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.

## Teams

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:
* 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.
Teams from developed associations, eligible to enter the national play-offs :
| Association | Team | Qualifying method |
| Fiji | Lautoka | 2021 Fiji Premier League champions |
| Fiji | Rewa | 2021 Fiji Premier League runners-up |
| New Caledonia | Hienghène Sport | 2021 New Caledonia Super Ligue champions |
| New Caledonia | Ne Drehu | 2021 New Caledonia Super Ligue runners-up |
| Papua New Guinea | Lae City | 2021 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League champions |
| Papua New Guinea | Hekari United | 2021 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League runners-up |
| Solomon Islands | Central Coast | 2021 Solomon Islands S-League champions |
| Solomon Islands | Solomon Warriors | 2021 Solomon Islands S-League runners-up |
| Tahiti | Pirae | 2020–21 Tahiti Ligue 1 champions |
| Tahiti | Vénus | 2020–21 Tahiti Ligue 1 runners-up |
| Vanuatu | Galaxy | 2021 VFF National Super League champions |
| Vanuatu | RueRue | 2021 VFF National Super League runners-up |
Teams from developed association, receiving a bye to the group stage :
| Association | Team | Qualifying method |
| New Zealand | Auckland City | 2020–21 New Zealand Football Championship regular season premiers |
Teams from developing association, receiving a bye to the group stage :
| Association | Team | Qualifying method |
| Cook Islands | Nikao Sokattak | 2021 Cook Islands Round Cup champions |

## Schedule

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. 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. On 8 October 2021, the OFC announced the new format of the competition.

## Qualifying stage
### 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.
| 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 won 4–3 on aggregate.
Rewa won 5–1 on aggregate.
Galaxy won 5–0 on aggregate.
3–3 on aggregate. Central Coast won 4–2 on penalties

## Group stage

The group stage was held in Auckland, New Zealand on 4-11 August 2022. 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:
* Auckland City
* Nikao Sokattak
* Rewa
* Hienghène Sport
* Vénus
* Galaxy
* Central Coast
* Lae City

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Knockout stage | 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 | Teamvte | 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 | Knockout stage | — | — | 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 | — | — |

## Knockout stage

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 | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 14 August 2022 | 14 August 2022 |
| Vénus | 4 |
| Vénus | 4 | 17 August 2022 | 17 August 2022 |
| Hienghène Sport | 0 | 17 August 2022 | 17 August 2022 |
| Hienghène Sport | 0 | Vénus | 0 |
| 14 August 2022 | 14 August 2022 | | Vénus | 0 |
| 14 August 2022 | 14 August 2022 | Auckland City | 3 |
| Auckland City | 2 | Auckland City | 3 |
| 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

Statistics exclude national play-off rounds.

### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Teaonui Tehau | Vénus | 4 |
| 2 | Clifford Fafale | Central Coast | 3 |
| 2 | Gerard Garriga | Auckland City | 3 |
| 2 | Cameron Howieson | Auckland City | 3 |
| 5 | Jonathan Allen | Lae City | 2 |
| 5 | Junior Fordney | Central Coast | 2 |
| 5 | Mario Ilich | Auckland City | 2 |
| 5 | Tauhiti Keck | Vénus | 2 |
| 5 | Dylan Manickum | Auckland City | 2 |
| 5 | Adam Mitchell | Auckland City | 2 |
| 5 | Fonzy Ranchain | Hienghène Sport | 2 |
| 5 | Emiliano Tade | Auckland City | 2 |
| 5 | Kensi Tangis | Galaxy | 2 |
| 5 | Abbu Zahid | Rewa | 2 |
| 15 | 12 players | 12 players | 1 |