AFC Champions League

Lore & Background

The Asian Football Confederation first discussed launching a tournament for the champions of AFC nations in a meeting held on 21 April 1963. The competition started in 1967 as the Asian Champion Club Tournament. Israeli clubs dominated the first four editions, partly due to the refusal of Arab clubs to play them. After the 1972 edition was cancelled, the AFC suspended the competition for 14 years. It returned in 1985 as the Asian Club Championship. In 1990, the AFC introduced the Asian Cup Winners' Cup, and in 1995 the Asian Super Cup. The 2002–03 season saw these three competitions combine to become the AFC Champions League. The first winners under that name were Al-Ain. In 2009, the Champions League was expanded to 32 clubs. In 2021, the group stage expanded to 40 teams. In December 2022, the AFC announced an overhaul, with the top competition shrinking to 24 teams in the main stage for the 2024–25 season, and the name changing to AFC Champions League Elite. Starting with the 2026–27 edition, the league stage expanded from 24 to 32 clubs.

In Their Own Story

The stadium lights cut through the evening haze as the final whistle approaches. On the pitch, a club from the West Asian region presses forward, their captain tracking the ball with the focus of a man who has carried his nation's expectation for ninety minutes. The broadcast camera sweeps the stands—scarves, flags, the unmistakable roar of a crowd that has waited all season for this single night. In the FIFA interface, the match-day screen glows with the AFC Champions League crest, the two club crests locked in the center, the competition's signature gold-and-teal palette framing every overlay. The scoreboard ticks. One goal. That is all that separates a season of work from a trophy lifted above a continent. The player at the controller holds their breath, thumb hovering over the stick, knowing this is the moment the entire tournament has been building toward.

Reader's Guide

As of the 2026–27 edition, the AFC Champions League Elite uses a league stage format of 32 teams, divided into East and West regions (16 teams each). Each team in the East and West regions plays eight other teams from their region (four at home and four away). The top eight teams from each region advance to the knockout stage. The round of 16 is played over two legs; all matches from the quarter-finals onward are played in a single-leg format at a centralised venue. The final has been held as a two-legged series since 2013, but from the 2024–25 season onward the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final are single-leg at a centralised venue. The winner qualifies for the FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, and also for the next edition's league stage if not already qualified domestically.

Did You Know?

• The competition was originally called the Asian Champion Club Tournament when it began in 1967.
• Israeli clubs dominated the first four editions, partly because Arab clubs refused to play them.
• The competition was suspended for 14 years after the 1972 edition was cancelled.
• Al-Hilal is the most successful club with four titles.
• Al-Ahli are the current champions, having won the 2026 final 1–0 against Machida Zelvia.