2019 OFC Champions League group stage explained

The 2019 OFC Champions League group stage was played from 10 February to 2 March 2019.^[1] A total of 16 teams competed in the group stage to decide the eight places in the knockout stage of the 2019 OFC Champions League.

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on 13 November 2018 at the OFC Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.^[2] 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 the following mechanism:^[3]

The champions of the four host associations (Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu) were drawn into Position 1 of Groups A–D.
The champions of the three remaining developed associations, and the runners-up of New Zealand, by virtue of having the best second team in the 2018 OFC Champions League, were drawn into Position 2 of Groups A–D.
The runners-up of the six developed associations apart from New Zealand were drawn into Position 3 of Groups A–D and Position 4 of Groups A–B (first team drawn to Groups A–B allocated to Position 3, second team drawn to Groups A–B allocated to Position 4). Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
The winners and runners-up of the qualifying stage, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, were drawn into Position 4 of Groups C–D.

The following were the winners and runners-up of the qualifying stage which joined the 14 direct entrants in the group stage.

width=210	Qualifying stage winners	width=210	Qualifying stage runners-up
Tupapa Maraerenga	Kiwi

Format

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.

Schedule

Matches were played on the following dates and venues:

Group A matches were played between 10–16 February 2019 in New Caledonia.
Group B matches were played between 10–16 February 2019 in Fiji.
Group C matches were played between 23 February – 1 March 2019 in Vanuatu.
Group D matches were played between 24 February – 2 March 2019 in the Solomon Islands.

The schedule of each matchday was as follows.^[1]

Matchday	Dates			Matches
Matchday	Groups A & B	Group C	Group D	Matches
Matchday 1	10 February 2019	23 February 2019	24 February 2019	Team 2 vs. Team 3, Team 4 vs. Team 1
Matchday 2	13 February 2019	26 February 2019	27 February 2019	Team 4 vs. Team 2, Team 1 vs. Team 3
Matchday 3	16 February 2019	1 March 2019	2 March 2019	Team 3 vs. Team 4, Team 1 vs. Team 2

Groups

Group A

All times were local, NCT (UTC+11).^[1]

--------

Group B

All times were local, FJT (UTC+12).^[1]

--------

Group C

All times were local, VUT (UTC+11).^[1]

--------

Group D

All times were local, SBT (UTC+11).^[1]

--------

External links

OFC Champions League 2019, oceaniafootball.com

Notes and References

Web site: 2019 OFC Champions League. Oceania Football Confederation.
Web site: Draw reveals 2019 OFC Champions League journey. Oceania Football Confederation. 16 November 2018.
Web site: 2019 OFC Champions League Official Draw. YouTube. 15 November 2018.