International football competition
The 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) will be the 43rd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the first since it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite. The revamped format, along with the rebranding, sees 24 teams playing eight games against different opponents in the brand new league phase.[1]
The final stage will be played in Saudi Arabia from 25 April to 4 May 2025.[2] The tournament winner will qualify for the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Additionally, the winner will enter the league stage of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite, if they have not already qualified through domestic performance.[3]
Al Ain are the defending champions, as the AFC Champions League records and statistics are carried forward to the ACL Elite.[4]
Association team allocation
The associations are allocated slots according to their club competitions ranking which was published after the 2022 competitions were completed.[5]
Teams
In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count since the 2002–03 season, when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League.
Location of the
2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite league stage teams
Orange: East Region;
Blue: West Region
- Notes
- ^
Iran (IRN): Sepahan were also third place in the Pro League, but qualified for this competition based on their Hazfi Cup performance. Otherwise, the third place in the Pro League would have qualified for the group stage of the AFC Champions League Two.
- ^
Qatar (QAT): Al-Sadd had already qualified for the Champions League Elite as the
2023–24 Qatar Stars League champions has also won the
2024 Emir of Qatar Cup. Thus, second-placed
Al-Rayyan have also qualified for the Champions League Elite league stage, while the third-placed
Al-Gharafa qualified for the Champions League Elite qualifying play-off.
- ^
South Korea (KOR): Pohang Steelers had already qualified as the
2023 K League 1 runners-up when they won the
2023 Korean FA Cup, so third-placed
Gwangju FC qualified for the Champions League Elite qualifying play-off. Since both East region finalists in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup (Yokohama F. Marinos and Central Coast Mariners) had already qualified through their domestic performance, Gwangju were later confirmed for the league stage
[6] based on their association's higher ranking, leaving only two teams left in the East region qualifying play-off for the remaining league stage slot.
- ^
United Arab Emirates (UAE): Al Wasl had already qualified for the Champions League Elite as the
2023–24 UAE Pro League champions have also won the
2023–24 UAE President's Cup. Thus, second-placed
Shabab Al-Ahli have qualified for the Champions League Elite qualifying play-off.
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[7]
Qualifying play-offs
Losers of the qualifying play-offs will enter the group stage of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two.
Preliminary round
Play-off round
West Region
East Region
League phase
West Region
First match(es) will be played: 16 September 2024. Source: Asian Football Confederation
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) fair play ranking; 6) drawing of lots
East Region
First match(es) will be played: 17 September 2024. Source: Asian Football Confederation
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) fair play ranking; 6) drawing of lots
Knockout stage
A total of 16 teams will qualify for the knockout stage, with each region having 8 teams to qualify.
Final
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Pre-determined format
References
- ^ "AFC Executive Committee approves biggest prize purse in Asian club football history from 2024/25; announces AFC Women's Champions League". AFC. 14 August 2023.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia to host AFC Champions League Elite – Final Stage". the-AFC. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "More Member Associations to benefit from inclusive AFC Champions League". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee". AFC. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "AFC Club Competitions Ranking". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ "광주FC - GWANGJU FOOTBALL CLUB". www.gwangjufc.com (in Korean). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ^ "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". AFC. 1 July 2023.
Orange: East Region; 
Blue: West Region