THE draw has been finalised for the OFC Men’s Champions League 2024 and OFC Men’s Champions League 2024 – Qualifying
The draws were held yesterday at the OFC Home of Football Te Kahu O Kiwa, in Auckland.
The qualifying tournament will take place next month in Tonga (17-23 February), with the winner advancing to the OFC Men’s Champions League 2024 in Tahiti.
That tournament, featuring eight of the best club sides in Oceania, will have two groups of four teams, representing Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, Vanuatu and the qualifying tournament winner respectively.
The qualifying tournament features American Samoan side Vaiala Tonga FC, Tupapa Maraerenga FC from the Cook Islands, Samoa’s Vaivase-Tai FC, and host representative Veitongo FC, with a single round-robin format deciding who will join the other seven sides in Tahiti in May.
Those other seven representatives will be determined by home and away national playoffs in February and March.
Fiji: Lautoka FC v Rewa FC
New Caledonia: AS Magenta FC v ASG Gaica
Papua New Guinea: Hekari United FC v Port Moresby Strikers FC
Solomon Islands: Solomon Warriors FC v Central Coast FC
Vanuatu: Ifira Black Bird FC v Classic FC
New Zealand: Auckland City FC v Wellington Olympic
Tahiti: AS Tefana v AS Pirae
Both groups in Tahiti will be fiercely competitive, with Group A featuring the representative teams from Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and New Zealand respectively.
Group B will pit the host nation’s representative against teams from Tahiti, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Qualifying tournament winner respectively.
Henry Fa’arodo, an OFC Men’s Champions League winner with Hekari United in 2010 agreed that Group A was like a ‘Group of Death’ with strong teams expected from all four countries.
The Group A winner will face the Group B runner-up, with the Group B winner to face the Group A runner-up in the semi-finals.
The winner of the OFC Men’s Champions League 2024 will represent Oceania at the new FIFA Intercontinental Cup in December. The OFC winner will travel to either Africa or Asia to meet the winner of the CAF Champions League or AFC Champions League in the first round.
