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2026 OFC Professional League

Football league season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2026 OFC Professional League was the inaugural season of the OFC Professional League, a men's professional football league in the Oceania region, organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and featured eight clubs from seven nations, competing in a circuit series format across various Pacific locations.

Season2026
DatesCircuit series:
17 January – 21 April
Playoff groups:
6 – 24 May
Teams8 (from 7 associations)
ChampionsAuckland FC (1st title)
Quick facts Season, Dates ...
OFC Professional League
Eden Park in Auckland hosted the final.
Season2026
DatesCircuit series:
17 January – 21 April
Playoff groups:
6 – 24 May
Teams8 (from 7 associations)
ChampionsAuckland FC (1st title)
Matches72
Goals230 (3.19 per match)
Top goalscorerAlex Saniel (Vanuatu United)
11 goals
Total attendance80053
2027 →
All statistics correct as of 24 May 2026.
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The league champion qualified for the 2026 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and provided a pathway to the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup,[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] apart from South Melbourne (who cannot qualify for other competitions as they are based in Australia, which is part of the Asian Football Confederation). The fixtures were released on 24 November 2025.[8]

Clubs

Clubs and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position on table Incoming manager Date of appointment
New Zealand South Island United Inaugural Pre-season Wales Rob Sherman[24] 2 October 2025
Papua New Guinea PNG Hekari Brazil Marcos Gusmão[38] 10 October 2025
Vanuatu Vanuatu United Germany Lars Hopp[36] 17 October 2025
Fiji Bula FC Guadeloupe Stéphane Auvray[13] 24 October 2025
French Polynesia Tahiti United French Polynesia Samuel Garcia[33] 30 October 2025
New Zealand Auckland FC Australia Luke Casserly[39] 1 December 2025
Solomon Islands Solomon Kings England Ben Cahn[20] 13 December 2025
Papua New Guinea PNG Hekari Brazil Marcos Gusmão Resigned 3 February 2026[17] 8th Solomon Islands Jerry Allen (interim) 3 February 2026[17]
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Foreign players

Format

The competition features five circuit series rounds followed by two play-off groups (Leaders and Challengers) before the semi-finals and final.[65]

Venues

Locations of the 2026 OFC Professional League venues

The circuit-series matches were played in Auckland, Ba, Honiara, Melbourne, Port Moresby and Suva.[66]

More information Round 1, Playoff Round and Finals, Round 2 ...
Round 1, Playoff Round and Finals Round 2
New Zealand Auckland Papua New Guinea Port Moresby
Eden Park North Harbour Stadium PNG Football Stadium
Capacity: 50,000 Capacity: 14,000 Capacity: 14,800
The stadium from the south-east.
Round 3 Round 4
Australia Melbourne Solomon Islands Honiara
Olympic Village The Home of the Matildas National Stadium
Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 3,500 Capacity: 10,000
Round 5
Fiji Ba Fiji Suva
Govind Park Buckhurst Park
Capacity: 13,500 Capacity: 15,446
Govind-Park-Fiji
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Circuit series

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 New Zealand Auckland FC 14 10 2 2 26 10 +16 32 Qualification for Leaders play-off group
2 Australia South Melbourne 14 7 4 3 40 18 +22 25
3 Fiji Bula FC 14 6 3 5 14 15 −1 21
4 New Zealand South Island United 14 5 5 4 24 26 −2 20
5 Solomon Islands Solomon Kings 14 5 3 6 14 21 −7 18 Qualification for Challengers play-off group
6 French Polynesia Tahiti United 14 4 5 5 20 28 −8 17
7 Vanuatu Vanuatu United 14 3 4 7 20 25 −5 13
8 Papua New Guinea PNG Hekari 14 2 2 10 14 29 −15 8
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Source: OFC Pro League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head to head; 5) Head to head goal difference; 6) Head to head goals scored; 7) Disciplinary record; 8) Coin toss[67]

Results

Play-off round

Leaders play-off group

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Australia South Melbourne 3 3 0 0 10 5 +5 9 Qualification for knockout stage
2 New Zealand Auckland FC 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6
3 New Zealand South Island United 3 1 0 2 5 9 −4 3
4 Fiji Bula FC 3 0 0 3 2 7 −5 0 Qualification for qualification play-off
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Source: OFC Pro League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head to head; 5) Head to head goal difference; 6) Head to head goals scored; 7) Disciplinary record; 8) Coin toss[68]

Results

Challengers play-off group

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Vanuatu Vanuatu United 3 2 1 0 8 5 +3 7 Qualification for qualification play-off
2 Solomon Islands Solomon Kings 3 2 0 1 7 4 +3 6
3 French Polynesia Tahiti United 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2
4 Papua New Guinea PNG Hekari 3 0 1 2 3 8 −5 1
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Source: OFC Pro League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head to head; 5) Head to head goal difference; 6) Head to head goals scored; 7) Disciplinary record; 8) Coin toss[69]

Results

Knockout stage

Bracket

Qualification play-offSemifinalsFinal
20 May — Auckland (MSS)
1Australia South Melbourne4
17 May — Auckland (MSS)
5Vanuatu Vanuatu United0
4Fiji Bula FC1
24 May — Auckland (EP)
5Vanuatu Vanuatu United (a.e.t.)2
1Australia South Melbourne1
2New Zealand Auckland FC2
20 May — Auckland (MSS)
2New Zealand Auckland FC1
3New Zealand South Island United0

Qualification play-off

More information Team 1, Score ...
Team 1ScoreTeam 2
Bula FC Fiji1–2 (a.e.t.)Vanuatu Vanuatu United
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Semi-finals

More information Team 1, Score ...
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Final

The final was played on 24 May at Eden Park in Auckland. The winner of semi-final 1 was designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes.

More information South Melbourne, 1–2 ...
South Melbourne Australia1–2New Zealand Auckland FC
  • Uchida 90+7'
(OFC)
(Report)
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Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of 24 May 2026
More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Vanuatu Alex Saniel Vanuatu Vanuatu United 11
2 Australia Jordan Swibel Australia South Melbourne 10
3 New Zealand Ryan Feutz New Zealand South Island United 9
4 Australia Jez Lofthouse Solomon Islands Solomon Kings 7
French Polynesia Teaonui Tehau French Polynesia Tahiti United
Australia Max Mikkola Australia South Melbourne
Japan Yuki Uchida Australia South Melbourne
6 Solomon Islands Rovu Boyers New Zealand South Island United 6
New Caledonia Germain Haewegene French Polynesia Tahiti United
Japan Sota Higashide Solomon Islands Solomon Kings
Australia Andrew Messourouni Australia South Melbourne
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Clean sheets

As of 24 May 2026
More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1 New Zealand Oscar Mason New Zealand Auckland FC 8
2 Solomon Islands Philip Mango Solomon Islands Solomon Kings 5
3 Australia Matt Acton Vanuatu Vanuatu United 4
4 Netherlands Steven van Dijk New Zealand South Island United 3
Spain Javier López Australia South Melbourne
5 New Zealand Blake Callinan New Zealand Auckland FC 2
France Didier Desprez Fiji Bula FC
New Zealand Matt Foord Fiji Bula FC
French Polynesia Jackson Teamotuaitau French Polynesia Tahiti United
10 Canada Jackson Gardner French Polynesia Tahiti United 1
Australia Iliya Shalamanov-Trenkov Australia South Melbourne
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Awards

More information Award, Winner ...
Award Winner[70] Team
Golden Ball Norway Daniel Normann New Zealand Auckland FC
Golden Boot Vanuatu Alex Saniel Vanuatu Vanuatu United
Golden Glove New Zealand Oscar Mason New Zealand Auckland FC
Fair Play Award N/a New Zealand Auckland FC
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Team of the Season

Oceania Football Confederation selected the following players as the team of the tournament.[71]

See also

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks