Wellington book Fifa Club World Cup UAE spot

abu dhabi — New Zealand’s Team Wellington on Sunday made football history, winning the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Champions League for the first time with victory over Fiji’s champions Lautoka FC to ‘Join the Club’ and secure a debut appearance in the Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2018.

The amateur side, who won New Zealand’s 2016-2017 ASB Premiership title to qualify for this season’s OFC Champions League, followed up their 6-0 victory in last week’s first leg at home with a 4-3 win at Lautoka FC’s Churchill Park this morning, to claim a 10-3 aggregate victory and a first continental crown. Team Wellington lost on penalties to Auckland City in the 2015 final.

Victory for the team, nicknamed Team Welly, and coached by Englishman Jose Manuel Figueira, means an unprecedented opportunity to showcase their talents on the global stage with qualification for the Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2018, which will be held in Abu Dhabi and Ain, from December 12 to 22.

Wellington will kick-off the seven-team show featuring six continental champions and host team, with a winner-takes-all qualifier with UAE champions Al Ain FC, in Al Ain on December 12. The winner of that eliminator will face either the African (CAF) champions or the winners of the Asian (AFC) Champions League in the quarterfinals. The Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2018 will feature eight matches contested by six continental champions, from Europe (UEFA), Africa (CAF), Asia (AFC), North and Central America’s champion C.D. Guadalajara (Concacaf), Oceania’s Team Wellington (OFC) and South America (Conmebol) and the host team Al Ain FC.