The Forgotten Champions League
The Champions League is the holy grail of club football. The best of the best compete at the top level to be crowned champions. Each continent has its own rendition. Europe has the UEFA Champions League. Africa has the CAF, and Asia has the AFC Champions League Elite. Concacaf has the Champions Cup, and South America has the CONMEBOL Libertadores.
The least-spoken-about Confederation, Oceania, has the OFC Champions League. Teams from the most remote places come together to compete for the title of the best club in Oceania.
Humble Beginnings
Perhaps a less historical competition when compared to the other Champions Leagues. The inaugural competition was held in 1987 and is formally known as the Oceania Club Championship. Travel is a huge factor for all Oceanic teams, very expensive and sometimes the pieces just don’t fall into place. Therefore, the competition, before it changed to the OFC Champions League in 2007, lasted a mere 10 days.
Originally, the OCC was played between the Champions of Australia and New Zealand, with Adelaide winning the first-ever OCC. The OCC would be held in one host country in each rendition to avoid travel restrictions. However, after the first attempt, the competition was paused for 12 years until 1999. This 1999 edition was held in Fiji in the cities of Nadi and Lautoka. Again, an Australian team came out victorious, this time South Melbourne.
Simply put, Australia dominated all OFC competitions until they departed for the Asian Federation in 2006.
Post Australian Era
In stepped New Zealand, ever since Australia’s absence, the Kiwis have almost entirely dominated. In the 18 occurrences of the OFC Champions League, 16 have been won by a New Zealand club with 13 of them being won by Auckland City. Not to be mistaken with Auckland FC who are currently topping the Australian A-League.
With several format changes throughout the years, the current system is more relatable to the now-old UEFA Champions League. 16 teams in a group stage with qualification through to knockout rounds. However, very different to any other competition is that each group is designated a host nation. The teams of each group travel to the same destination to play their group games together.
Winning the OFC Champions League awards the victor accessibility to the FIFA Club World Cup. The closest any club from Oceania has gotten to lifting this worldwide trophy is in 2014. Quite obviously, Auckland City were the representatives. Real Madrid, unsurprisingly lifted the trophy with Auckland City beating Cruz Azul of Mexico on penalties in the 3rd place game.
A Surprise Package
Looking away from the dominant New Zealanders we head to the 2009/10 season to find our first non-Aussie or Kiwi club. Hekari United of Papua New Guinea, the history makers. Currently ranked as the 7th best nation at football in Oceania, in accordance to the latest FIFA rankings, it came as a monumental shock that Hekari United beat the Kiwis and earned not only the trophy but their place in the Club World Cup. Unfortunately, Hekari would fall at the first hurdle losing 3-0 to Al-Whada of the United Arab Emirates in the Play-off for the Quarter-finals.
Since that victory in 2010, New Zealand came back and dominated once again for the next eight years. Auckland City won the next seven with Team Wellington winning their one and only title in the eighth year. Then came 2019 and the next piece of history.
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Rewriting History
Eighteen teams from all 11 OFC members entered the competition, including the big boys of New Zealand. Nothing too surprising resulted in the group stage with both Kiwi clubs winning all three of their games. The surprise packages came from New Caledonia. Magenta, although losing to Auckland City in the group knocked out the Solomon Warriors from the Solomon Islands by finishing in second place in what was seen as a shock result.
Not to be outdone by their national counterparts Hienghène Sport also qualified beating Toti City from Papua New Guinea and Tefana from Tahiti, the only nation outside of New Zealand and Australia to win the OFC Nations Cup.
Both teams from New Caledonia also progressed from their quarter-final ties and fortunately, both were on opposite sides of the draw meaning they could only meet in the final. However, the other two clubs to progress from the quarter-finals happened to be, at no surprise to anyone, the two New Zealand outfits.
Almost inevitably, then, another all New Zealand club final was on the cards. The New Caledonians weren’t given a hope by anyone, but what happened next shocked the federation and the whole continent. Magenta beat Auckland City 2-1. It was a near-impossible task but one that was overcome.
New Zealand had to rely on their other big hitter, Team Wellington. They faced Hienghène Sport with the mindset that they would progress and win the whole competition. The New Caledonians had other ideas though. In what turns out to be the first final that does not include an Aussie or a Kiwi club, Hienghène Sport beat Team Wellington 2-0 in another shocking upset.
An all New Caledonian final. Who would’ve thought it? A final for the ages, but who would win? A 66th-minute goal from Amy Antoine Roiné of Hienghène Sport and a red card in the final minute to Mickael Tiaou of AS Magenta saw Hienghène lift the OFC Champions League. In what is only the second time a club from outside the big boys has won it all.
Victory, of course, entered Hienghène into the FIFA Club World Cup, but, unfortunately, they faced the same fate as Hekari of Papua New Guinea. Falling at the first hurdle after losing 3-1 to Qatari side Al-Sadd.
Back To Normality
Since this historic day, Auckland City have come back and monopolised the OFC Champions League once again. Winning every rendition of the competition to this date. Most recently the 2025 edition rounded out on April 12th 2025 with Auckland City avenging fellow New Zealanders Waitakere United by defeating Papua New Guinea side Hekari United 2-0 thanks to a brace from Myer Bevan.
Will there ever be another time that a non-Kiwi club win the OFC Champions League? Hopefully. If so, just to break the monopolisation of New Zealand on Oceanic football.
The OFC Champions League is an incredible continental tournament but one that is almost always forgotten about.
Written and Researched by BSc Cavan Campbell
