2024–25 AFC Challenge League group stage

The 2024–25 AFC Challenge League group stage was played from 26 October to 2 November 2024.^[1]

Draw

The draw for the group stage took place on 22 August at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 18 teams were drawn into five groups: three comprising four teams from the West each (Groups A–C) and two involving three teams from the East each (Groups D–E).^[2] Teams were seeded into pots: four pots for West region and three pots for East region, and drawn into the relevant positions within each group, based on their association ranking. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.

The following 18 teams entered the group stage draw, which included the 14 direct entrants, two losers from the AFC Champions League Two qualifying play-offs (labeled ACL2) and the two winners of the preliminary stage (labeled PS).

Region	Groups	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
West Region	A–C	East BengalACL2	Arkadag	Bashundhara Kings	Hilal Al-Quds
		Al-Ahli ClubACL2	Nejmeh	Al-Seeb	Abdysh-Ata KantPS
		Al-Arabi	Al-Fotuwa	Maziya	ParoPS
East Region	D–E	Madura United	Svay Rieng	Young Elephants	—
		Shan United	Tainan City	SP Falcons	—

Format

In the group stage, each group will be played in a single round-robin format on a centralised venue. Eight teams will progress to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage : the three group winners and best-ranked runners-up from the West, and the group winners and runner-ups of each group from the East.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 8.3):^[3]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams playing each other in the last round of the group are tied;
8. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
9. Drawing of lots.

Schedule

The schedule of the group stage is as follows.^[4]

Round	Dates (West region)	Dates (East region)
Matchday 1	26 October 2024	27 October 2024
Matchday 2	29 October 2024	30 October 2024
Matchday 3	1 November 2024	2 November 2024

Groups

The detailed schedule was announced on 22 August 2024 after the draw ceremony.^[5]

West Region

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		EAB	NJM	PAR	BSK
1	East Bengal	3	2	1	0	9	4	+5	7	Advance to Quarter-finals			3–2	2–2
2	Nejmeh	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1	6						1–0
3	Paro (H)	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4				1–2
4	Bashundhara Kings	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6	0			0–4		1–2

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

26 October 2024 (2024-10-26)

17:00 UTC+6

East Bengal	2–2	Paro
Talal 5' Diamantakos 69'	Report	Opoku 8' (pen.) Asante 45+4'

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 3,800

Referee: Mohammad Ghabayen (Jordan)

26 October 2024 (2024-10-26)

21:00 UTC+6

Nejmeh	1–0	Bashundhara Kings
Saad 49' (o.g.)	Report

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 300

Referee: Jin Jingyuan (China)

---

29 October 2024 (2024-10-29)

17:00 UTC+6

Paro	1–2	Nejmeh
Ivanović 90+6'	Report	Kourani 39' Zein 87'

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu ^{[note 1]}

Attendance: 1,700

Referee: Resul Mammedov (Turkmenistan)

29 October 2024 (2024-10-29)

21:00 UTC+6

Bashundhara Kings	0–4	East Bengal
	Report	Diamantakos 1' Souvik 20' Nandhakumar 26' Anwar 33'

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 200

Referee: Mohammad Deham (Bahrain)

---

1 November 2024 (2024-11-01)

16:00 UTC+6

East Bengal	3–2	Nejmeh
Musah 8' (o.g.) Diamantakos 15', 77' (pen.)	Report	Opare 18' Monzer 43'

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 437

Referee: Songkran Bunmeekiart (Thailand)

1 November 2024 (2024-11-01)

21:00 UTC+6

Bashundhara Kings	1–2	Paro
Gryshyn 12'	Report	Wangdi 23' Jumayev 55' (o.g.)

Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu

Attendance: 869

Referee: Mohammad Mofeed Naser Ghabayen (Jordan)

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AKG	AAK	ABD	MAZ
1	Arkadag	3	2	0	1	6	4	+2	6[a]	Advance to Quarter-finals					2–1
2	Al-Arabi (H)	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6[a]			3–2		0–1
3	Abdysh-Ata Kant	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	6[a]			0–2
4	Maziya	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6	0				0–2	0–3

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Head-to-head goal difference: Arkadag +1; Al-Arabi 0; Abdysh-Ata Kant –1.

26 October 2024 (2024-10-26)

17:30 UTC+3

Al Arabi	0–1	Abdysh-Ata Kant
	Report	Atabayev 62'

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 500

Referee: Hiroki Kasahara (Japan)

26 October 2024 (2024-10-26)

21:30 UTC+3

Arkadag	2–1	Maziya
Durdyýew 66' Annadurdyýew 76'	Report	Cantillana 45'

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 20

Referee: Ramachandran Venkatesh (India)

---

29 October 2024 (2024-10-29)

17:30 UTC+3

Abdysh-Ata Kant	0–2	Arkadag
	Report	Hydyrow 26' Bäşimow 50'

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 80

Referee: Yahya Al Balushi (Oman)

29 October 2024 (2024-10-29)

21:30 UTC+3

Maziya	0–2	Al Arabi
	Report	Majed 7' Khalaf 8'

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 350

Referee: Mohammed Kanah (Syria)

---

1 November 2024 (2024-11-01)

17:30 UTC+3

Al Arabi	3–2	Arkadag
Khalaf 41' Obud 49' Khabba 70' (pen.)	Report	Akmämmedow 84', 90+7' (pen.)

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 720

Referee: Hiroki Kasahara (Japan)

1 November 2024 (2024-11-01)

21:30 UTC+3

Maziya	0–3	Abdysh-Ata Kant
	Report	Zhyrgalbek uulu 9' Dzhumashev 64' (pen.) Yaghr 81'

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 150

Referee: Muath Owfi (Palestine)

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ASB	AAM	AFT	HAQ
1	Al-Seeb (H)	3	3	0	0	9	0	+9	9	Advance to Quarter-finals			1–0		3–0
2	Al-Ahli Club	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2[a]					1–1	0–0
3	Al-Fotuwa	3	0	2	1	1	6	−5	2[a]			0–5
4	Hilal Al-Quds	3	0	2	1	0	3	−3	2[a]					0–0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Head-to-head goals scored: Al-Ahli Club 1, Al-Fotuwa 1, Hilal Al-Quds 0;
   Overall goal difference: Al-Ahli Club –1, Al-Fotuwa –5.

26 October 2024 (2024-10-26)

17:00 UTC+4

Al-Ahli Club	0–0	Hilal Al-Quds
	Report

Al-Seeb Stadium, Muscat

Attendance: 214

Referee: Tuan Mohd Yaasin (Malaysia)

26 October 2024 (2024-10-26)

20:00 UTC+4

Al-Fotuwa	0–5	Al-Seeb
	Report	Al-Aghbari 32', 75' Al-Busaidi 73' Al-Muqbali 78' Al-Yahmadi 87'

Al-Seeb Stadium, Muscat

Attendance: 2,224

Referee: Daniel Elder (Australia)

---

29 October 2024 (2024-10-29)

17:00 UTC+4

Hilal Al-Quds	0–0	Al-Fotuwa
	Report

Al-Seeb Stadium, Muscat

Attendance: 200

Referee: Sheikh Ahmad Alaeddin (Lebanon)

29 October 2024 (2024-10-29)

20:00 UTC+4

Al-Seeb	1–0	Al-Ahli Club
Al-Farsi 22'	Report

Al-Seeb Stadium, Muscat

Attendance: 3,087

Referee: Abdulhadi Al Asmar Al Ruaile (Qatar)

---

1 November 2024 (2024-11-01)

17:00 UTC+4

Al-Ahli Club	1–1	Al-Fotuwa
Al-Hashash 14'	Report	Al-Hasan 69'

Al-Seeb Stadium, Muscat

Attendance: 156

Referee: Asker Nadjafaliev (Uzbekistan)

1 November 2024 (2024-11-01)

20:00 UTC+4

Al-Seeb	3–0	Hilal Al-Quds
Al-Aghbari 44' Al-Mushaifri 57' Al-Muqbali 70' (pen.)	Report

Al-Seeb Stadium, Muscat

Attendance: 2,125

Referee: Tuan Mohd Yaasin (Malaysia)

Ranking of runners-up teams

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B	Al-Arabi	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6	Advance to Quarter-finals
2	A	Nejmeh	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1	6
3	C	Al-Ahli Club	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2

Source: AFC

East Region

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SNU	TNC	YEP
1	Shan United (H)	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	4	Advance to Quarter-finals			2–2
2	Tainan City	2	1	1	0	5	4	+1	4					3–2
3	Young Elephants	2	0	0	2	2	5	−3	0			0–2

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

27 October 2024 (2024-10-27)

16:00 UTC+6:30

Young Elephants	0–2	Shan United
	Report	Ye Yint Aung 12', 17'

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 970

Referee: Yudi Nurcahya (Indonesia)

---

30 October 2024 (2024-10-30)

16:00 UTC+6:30

Tainan City	3–2	Young Elephants
Cortés 25' Kim Sung-Kyum 60' Toninho 70'	Report	Brylian 48', 50'

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 263

Referee: Sinan Hussain (Maldives)

---

2 November 2024 (2024-11-02)

16:00 UTC+6:30

Shan United	2–2	Tainan City
Sa Aung Pyae Ko 42' Ye Yint Aung 70'	Report	Matheus Porto 12' Toninho 87'

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 650

Referee: Daiyrbek Abdyldaev (Kyrgyzstan)

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MDU	SVR	SPF
1	Madura United	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4	Advance to Quarter-finals			2–1
2	Svay Rieng	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3					2–1
3	SP Falcons (H)	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1			0–0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

27 October 2024 (2024-10-27)

15:00 UTC+8

SP Falcons	0–0	Madura United
	Report

MFF Football Centre, Ulaanbaatar

Attendance: 1,069

Referee: Choi Hyun-jai (South Korea)

---

30 October 2024 (2024-10-30)

15:00 UTC+8

Svay Rieng	2–1	SP Falcons
Pablo 25' (pen.) Cristian Roque 80' (pen.)	Report	Musatkin 67'

MFF Football Centre, Ulaanbaatar

Attendance: 629

Referee: Wai Lun Wong (Hong Kong)

---

2 November 2024 (2024-11-02)

15:00 UTC+8

Madura United	2–1	Svay Rieng
Maxuel 12' Mizuno 39' (o.g.)	Report	Ratanak 29' (pen.)

MFF Football Centre, Ulaanbaatar

Attendance: 83

Referee: Amir Arab Baraghi (Iran)

Notes

1. Paro played their home matches at Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu, instead of their regular home stadium Woochu Sports Arena, Paro.