2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite

2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite
Tournament details
TeamsCompetition proper: 24 (from 12 associations)
← 2023–24 (AFC CL)
2025–26 →
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. Featuring 24 teams are playing eight games against different opponents in the 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 either the qualifying play-off or 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]

Participation for 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite
Participating
Not participating
West Region (12 teams)
Rank Member
Association 		Points Slots
League
stage 		Play-off
Region AFC
1 1  Saudi Arabia 93.795 3 0
2 4  Qatar 75.950 2 1
3 5  Iran 72.018 2 1
4 6  United Arab Emirates 64.129 1 (+1 ACL) 1
5 9  Uzbekistan 45.006 1 0
6 10  Iraq 36.901 1 0
Total Participating associations: 6 11 3
14
East Region (12 teams)
Rank Member
Association 		Points Slots
League
stage 		Play-off
Region AFC
1 2  Japan 91.821 3 0
2 3  South Korea 88.925 3 0
3 7  China 57.630 2 1
4 8  Thailand 49.470 1 1
5 11  Australia 33.380 1 0
6 13  Malaysia 29.951 1 0
Total Participating associations: 6 11 2
13

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.

West Region League stage direct entrants
Team Qualifying method App. (last)
United Arab Emirates Al-Ain 2023–24 AFC Champions League winners 18th (2023–24)
Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 2023–24 Saudi Pro League champions
2023–24 King Cup winners 		20th (2023–24)
Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 2023–24 Saudi Pro League runners-up 8th (2023–24)
Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli 2023–24 Saudi Pro League third place 14th (2021)
Qatar Al-Sadd 2023–24 Qatar Stars League champions
2024 Emir of Qatar Cup winners 		19th (2023–24)
Qatar Al-Rayyan 2023–24 Qatar Stars League runners-up[Note QAT] 13th (2022)
Iran Persepolis 2023–24 Persian Gulf Pro League champions 12th (2023–24)
Iran Esteghlal 2023–24 Persian Gulf Pro League runners-up 12th (2021)
United Arab Emirates Al-Wasl 2023–24 UAE Pro League champions
2023–24 UAE President's Cup winners 		4th (2019)
Uzbekistan Pakhtakor 2023 Uzbekistan Super League champions 20th (2023–24)
Iraq 2023–24 Iraq Stars League champions
Qualifying play-off participants
Team Qualifying method App. (last)
Qatar Al-Gharafa 2023–24 Qatar Stars League third place[Note QAT] 13th (2022)
Iran 2023–24 Hazfi Cup winners
United Arab Emirates Shabab Al-Ahli 2023–24 UAE Pro League runners-up[Note UAE] 12th (2023–24)
East Region League stage direct entrants
Team Qualifying method App. (last)
Japan Vissel Kobe 2023 J1 League champions 3rd (2022)
Japan Kawasaki Frontale 2023 Emperor's Cup winners 11th (2023–24)
Japan Yokohama F. Marinos 2023 J1 League runners-up 7th (2023–24)
South Korea Ulsan HD 2023 K League 1 champions 12th (2023–24)
South Korea Pohang Steelers 2023 Korean FA Cup winners
2023 K League 1 runners-up 		10th (2023–24)
South Korea Gwangju 2023 K League 1 third place[Note KOR] 1st
China Shanghai Port 2023 Chinese Super League champions 9th (2023–24)
China Shanghai Shenhua 2023 Chinese FA Cup winners 10th (2020)
Thailand Buriram United 2023–24 Thai League 1 champions 12th (2023–24)
Australia Central Coast Mariners 2023–24 A-League Men regular season premiers
2023–24 AFC Cup winners 		6th (2015)
Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim 2023 Malaysia Super League champions
2023 Malaysia FA Cup winners 		10th (2023–24)
Qualifying play-off participants
Team Qualifying method App. (last)
China Shandong Taishan 2023 Chinese Super League runners-up 12th (2023–24)
Thailand 2023–24 Thai FA Cup winners

Notes
  1. ^
    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.
  2. ^
    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.
  3. ^
    United Arab Emirates (UAE): Al Wasl had already qualified for the Champions League Elite as the 2023–24 UAE Pro League champions has 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]

Stage Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Preliminary stage Preliminary round 1 – 30 July 2024
Preliminary round 2 6 August 2024
Preliminary round 3 13 August 2024
League stage Matchday 1 16 August 2024 16–18 September 2024
Matchday 2 30 September – 2 October 2024
Matchday 3 21–23 October 2024
Matchday 4 4–6 November 2024
Matchday 5 25–27 November 2024
Matchday 6 2–4 December 2024
Matchday 7 3–4 & 11–12 February 2025
Matchday 8 17–19 February 2025
Round of 16 TBD 3–5 March 2025 10–12 March 2025
Final stage Quarter-finals TBD 25–26 April 2025
Semi-finals 29–30 April 2025
Final 4 May 2025

Qualifying play-offs

Losers of the preliminary and play-off rounds will enter the group stage of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two.

Preliminary round 1

Team 1  Score  Team 2
West Region
TBA Iran West 1 United Arab Emirates Shabab Al-Ahli

Playoff round

Team 1  Score  Team 2
West Region
Al-Gharafa Qatar West 2 Winner of Preliminary West 1
Team 1  Score  Team 2
East Region
Shandong Taishan China East Thailand TBA

League stage

West Region

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 United Arab Emirates Al Ain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage
2 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Qatar Al-Sadd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Qatar Al-Rayyan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Iran Persepolis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 Iran Esteghlal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 United Arab Emirates Al Wasl 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Uzbekistan Pakhtakor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Iraq TBD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 N/A Winner of Playoff West 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 16 September 2024. Source: Asian Football Confederation
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored; 7) fair play ranking; 8) drawing of lots

East Region

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Japan Vissel Kobe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage
2 Japan Kawasaki Frontale 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Japan Yokohama F. Marinos 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 South Korea Ulsan HD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 South Korea Pohang Steelers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 South Korea Gwangju 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 China Shanghai Port 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 China Shanghai Shenhua 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 Thailand Buriram United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Australia Central Coast Mariners 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 N/A Winner of Playoff East 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 17 September 2024. Source: Asian Football Confederation
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored; 7) fair play ranking; 8) drawing of lots

See also

References

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ "Saudi Arabia to host AFC Champions League Elite – Final Stage". the-AFC. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee". AFC. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  5. ^ "AFC Club Competitions Ranking". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  6. ^ "광주FC - GWANGJU FOOTBALL CLUB". www.gwangjufc.com (in Korean). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  7. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". AFC. 1 July 2023.
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