OFC Men’s Champions League 2025
For the first since the change in format to a centralised tournament, the OFC Men’s Champions League was hosted by the Solomon Islands in 2025.
Auckland City, fresh from retaining their crown in Tahiti in 2024, were again held by many as favourites, though they faced the considerable challenge of being drawn in Group A, alongside New Caledonia’s AS Tiga Sport, 2024 semi-finalist Rewa FC of Fiji and their final opponents in Papeete last year, Tahiti’s AS Pirae.
Despite their position of strength, the New Zealanders were made to work hard in order to progress to the semi-finals. A narrow 1-0 victory over AS Pirae in their opening match – which saw the Tahitians miss a penalty – was followed up by a 2-0 win against AS Tiga Sport. They rounded off the group stage with a 1-1 draw against Rewa FC.
They were joined in the last four by AS Tiga Sport. The New Caledonians had opened with a 4-2 success over Rewa, before rebounding from their defeat to the champions with a 1-1 draw against AS Pirae, seeing them finish second in the table.
Group B was a similarly tight affair, with host-nation club Central Coast FC hoping home advantage would give them a boost when faced with Vanuatu’s Ifira Black Bird FC, Hekari United FC of Papua New Guinea and qualifying tournament winners Tupapa Maraerenga FC of the Cook Islands.
A disappointing opening defeat to Hekari United put Central Coast on the backfoot and despite recovering with a 7-0 win over Tupapa Maraerenga and a draw against Ifira Black Bird, they missed out on a semi-final berth by a single point.
Two wins and a draw was enough to see Hekari United top the group, with Ifira Black Bird securing second and their place in the last four, thanks to that final day draw with the host side.
There was some solace for Solomon Islands fans, with Central Coast forward Hudson Oreinima netting five times across the three group stage matches, which would prove enough for him to claim the tournament’s Golden Boot award as top goal scorer.
The semi-finals produced two tight affairs, with Auckland City taking on Ifira Black Bird, in a repeat of their memorable encounter from the same stage in 2023, whilst Hekari United’s reward for topping Group B was a tie with New Caledonia’s AS Tiga Sport.
Auckland City were made to work hard for their spot in the final. Haris Zeb gave them a first-half lead over the Vanuatu side but the defending champions were unable to add to their tally until the final few minutes, when Myer Bevan netted to secure victory.
It was even closer in the second semi-final, with Rex Naime’s first period strike proving the difference, as Hekari United held on to their 1-0 lead to set up a final with Auckland City. It was the first time they had progressed past the group stage since 2010, when they won their maiden OFC Champions League title.
Over 6,000 fans were packed into the stunning National Stadium in Honiara for the final and they certainly weren’t left disappointed. Myer Bevan – scorer in the semi-final – was the hero once more for the Kiwi side, scoring twice in the final as they battled hard to overcome a diligent and threatening Hekari United outfit.
A goal in each half from forward Bevan was enough to see Paul Posa’s side lift the trophy once again, reinforcing their dominance on the Pacific stage.
On the individual front, Auckland City’s Dylan Manickum was awarded the Golden Ball as the competition’s outstanding player, whilst Hudson Oreinima collected the Golden Boot following his goal scoring exploits in the group stage. Hekari United stopper Dave Tomare won the Golden Glove as best goalkeeper, with Auckland City also picking up the Fair Play award.