FIFA Club World Cup qualification the big ticket as Oceania Professional League begins
Saturday, 17 January 2026
The inaugural season of the new Oceania Pro League football competition begins this weekend at Eden Park, where sparse crowds are expected at the large venue as the eight competing teams take the field for the first time.
Two teams from New Zealand – Auckland FC and South Island United, who play each other at 7pm on Saturday – will join Bula FC from Fiji, Solomon Kings from the Solomon Islands, PNG Hekari FC, Tahiti United, Vanuatu United, and South Melbourne FC from Australia in action, with two matches scheduled for Saturday and two scheduled for Sunday. Each team will then have two more matches at North Harbour Stadium next week.
The competition has been launched to bring professional men’s football to a region that has only had it through Auckland and (more significantly) the Wellington Phoenix’s participation in Australia’s A-League Men competition previously. Much to their frustration, the Phoenix missed out on a place in the Pro League when the initial set of teams were found last year.
There is around $70m of centralised funding that is set to help cover the costs – but not player and staff salaries – during the first four years of the Pro League, as the Oceania Football Confederation seeks to make it a sustainable proposition. Fijian Football Assocation president Rajesh Patel said last October that $35m of that funding was set to come from the Saudi Tourism Authority, but there has been no overt sign of any sponsorship to date.
How it works
The eight teams will play each other twice – a total of 14 matches each – over five rounds in five countries. After the first round in Auckland from January 17 to 24, they will reconvene in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea from January 31 to February 8, Melbourne in Australia from February 21 to 28, Honiara in the Solomon Islands from March 14 to 19 and Ba and Suva in Fiji from April 11 to 18.
The eight teams will then return to Auckland from May 6 to 24. The top four teams and bottom four teams will split into Leaders and Challengers groups and play three more matches each, with the top three teams in the Leaders group advancing to the semifinals. The fourth-placed team will face the best team from the Challengers group on May 17 to determine the last semifinalist.
The semifinals will take place on May 20, with the final set for May 24 at Eden Park, per the venue’s website.
Qualification for FIFA events
The team with the best record over the 2026, 2027 and 2028 Pro League seasons is set to take the place expected to be on offer to Oceania at the next FIFA Club World Cup in June 2029 – the tournament Auckland City competed in last year, famously drawing with Argentine giants Boca Juniors.
The winner of each edition of the Pro League is set to take part in the annual FIFA Intercontinental Cup competition, which features a series of knockout matches between continental champions. Auckland City took part in that as the winner of the Oceania Champions League in 2024 and 2025, losing to Asian champions Al Ain of the UAE in 2024 and African champions Pyramids FC of Egypt in 2025.
South Melbourne, as an Australian club, are unable to qualify for either FIFA competition, in the same way Auckland and the Wellington Phoenix can’t play continental football in Asia and qualify for the FIFA competitions that way if they do well in the A-Leagues.
Auckland FC
They have only been in existence since November 2023, but Auckland FC now have two professional first teams, with only the slightest bit of crossover between them.
Two-cap All White Liam Gillion is the only A-League Men contracted player to have been listed in their 23-man squad, though Luka Vicelich, who has been training with the ALM team, but is yet to receive a contract, is also set to be involved.
ALM assistant Luke Casserly will coach the side after leading Auckland’s reserves in 2025. His squad features a handful of players from that team, including defender Everton O’Leary and forward Aston Burns.
If Auckland qualify for either FIFA event, they will be able to use their A-League Men squad for those matches.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Blake Callinan, Eli Jones, Oscar Mason; Defenders: Michael den Heijer, Nathan Lobo, Tass Mourdoukoutas, Everton O'Leary, Jonathan Robinson, Luka Vicelich, Ronan Wynne, Zac Zoricich; Midfielders: James Bayliss, Aidan Carey, Reid Drake, Daniel Normann; Forwards: Aston Burns, Kian Donkers, Matt Ellis, Oscar Faulds, Liam Gillion, Bailey Ferguson, Isa Prins, Emiliano Tade
South Island United
South Island United is a new entity that has been formed by Christchurch United to bring professional football to Te Waipounamu for the first time, with former NZ Football technical director (and former Fiji national team coach) Rob Sherman at the helm.
They will be captained by centre back Christian Gray, who famously scored for Auckland City against Boca Juniors at the FIFA Club World Cup last June.
Two-cap All Whites forward Oskar van Hattum is one of their more notable signings, while there will be plenty of interest in how fellow forward Ryan Feutz fares after strong performances in the Australian second-tier.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Callum Kennett, Shea Stapleton, Steven van Dijk; Defenders: Rovu Boyers, Christian Gray, Riley Grover, Jacob Krayem, Ry McLeod, Lewis Partridge, Jaylen Rodwell, Josh Rogerson, Ollie Van Rijssel; Midfielders: Charlie Beale, Deen Hasanovic, Jackson Manuel, Dauntae Mariner, David Yoo; Forwards: Oli Fay, Ryan Feutz, Oskar Van Hattum, Haris Zeb
What they’ve said
Luke Casserly (Auckland FC coach): “[Rotation] will be massive, particularly in the first couple of circuits, because the players aren't really conditioned to play that amount of games. That's why you have a squad. All the players will get opportunities, which is great“.
Rob Sherman (South Island United coach): “I think it's a major step for the whole region. Ultimately, if you look at world football recruitment, this particular region is under recruited. There's a huge amount of potential, so this league is a real opportunity to get players into top football”.