2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite

The 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) is the 44th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the second under the AFC Champions League Elite title.^[1]

2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite

Tournament details
Dates	Qualifying: 12 August 2025 Competition proper: 15 September 2025 – 25 April 2026
Teams	Competition proper: 24 (from 12 associations)
← 2024–25 2026–27 →

The finals will be played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.^[2] The tournament winner will qualify for the 2026 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and 2029 FIFA Club World Cup. Additionally, the winner will enter the league stage of the 2026–27 AFC Champions League Elite, if they have not already qualified through domestic performance.^[3]

Al Ahli are the defending champions.

Association team allocation

The associations are allocated slots according to their club competitions ranking which was published after the 2023–24 competitions were completed.^[4] Slots were subject to later re-balancing based on the 2024–25 competition results.

Participation for 2025–26 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 103.148 2 (+1 ACLE) 0 2 4  United Arab Emirates 74.873 2 (+1 ACL2) 0 3 5  Qatar 70.330 2 1 4 6  Iran 68.640 1 1 5 9  Uzbekistan 47.259 1 0 6 10  Iraq 37.118 1 0 Total Participating associations: 6 11 2 13

East Region (12 teams) Rank Member association Points Slots League stage Play-off Region AFC 1 2  Japan 96.999 3 0 2 3  South Korea 93.600 3 0 3 7  China 57.764 2 1 4 8  Thailand 49.546 1 1 5 11  Australia 34.703 1 0 6 12  Malaysia 31.331 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) Al-Ahli 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite title holder[Note ACLE] 15th (2024–25) Al-Ittihad 2024–25 Saudi Pro League champions[5] and 2024–25 King's Cup winners 13th (2023–24) Al-Hilal 2024–25 Saudi Pro League runners-up[5] 21th (2024–25) Shabab Al Ahli 2024–25 UAE Pro League champions and 2024–25 UAE President's Cup winners 13th (2024–25) Sharjah 2024–25 UAE Pro League runners-up 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two title holder 7th (2023–24) Al Wahda 2024–25 UAE Pro League third place 13th (2021) Al Sadd 2024–25 Qatar Stars League champions 20th (2024–25) Al-Gharafa 2025 Emir of Qatar Cup winners 14th (2024–25) Tractor 2024–25 Persian Gulf Pro League champions 7th (2021) Nasaf 2024 Uzbekistan Super League champions 9th (2023–24) Al-Shorta 2024–25 Iraq Stars League champions 7th (2024–25) Qualifying play-off participants Team Qualifying method App. (last) Al-Duhail 2024–25 Qatar Stars League runners-up 12th (2023–24) Sepahan 2024–25 Persian Gulf Pro League runners-up 16th (2024–25)

East Region League stage direct entrants Team Qualifying method App. (last) Vissel Kobe 2024 J1 League champions and 2024 Emperor's Cup winners 4th (2024–25) Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2024 J1 League runners-up 6th (2019) Machida Zelvia 2024 J1 League third place[Note JPN] 1st Ulsan HD 2024 K League 1 champions 13th (2024–25) Gangwon FC 2024 K League 1 runners-up 1st FC Seoul 2024 K League 1 fourth place[Note KOR] 9th (2020) Shanghai Port 2024 Chinese Super League champions and 2024 Chinese FA Cup winners 9th (2024–25) Shanghai Shenhua 2024 Chinese Super League runners-up[Note CHN] 11th (2024–25) Buriram United 2024–25 Thai League 1 champions 2024–25 Thai FA Cup champions 13th (2024–25) Melbourne City 2024–25 A-League Men regular season runners-up[Note AUS] 3rd (2023–24) Johor Darul Ta'zim 2024–25 Malaysia Super League champions 11th (2024–25) Qualifying play-off participants Team Qualifying method App. (last) Chengdu Rongcheng 2024 Chinese Super League third place[Note CHN] 1st Bangkok United 2024–25 Thai League 1 runners-up[Note THA] 6th (2024–25)

Notes.

1. ^
   AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE): Al-Ahli qualified as the winners of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite. They replace the third-placed team in the 2024–25 Saudi Pro League.
2. ^
   Australia (AUS): As the 2024–25 A-League Men regular season champions Auckland FC are a team from New Zealand and therefore ineligible to participate in AFC club competitions, the spot reserved for the A-League Men regular season champions was transferred to the runners-up in the league, Melbourne City.
3. ^
   China (CHN): As the 2024 Chinese FA Cup winners Shanghai Port qualified for the Champions League Elite via their league position, the spot reserved for the Chinese FA Cup winners was transferred to the third-placed team in the 2024 Chinese Super League, Chengdu Rongcheng.
4. ^
   Japan (JPN): As the 2024 Emperor's Cup winners Vissel Kobe qualified for the Champions League Elite via their league position, the spot reserved for the Emperor's Cup winners was transferred to the third-placed team in the 2024 J1 League, Machida Zelvia.
5. ^
   South Korea (KOR): As the 2024 K League 1 third-placed team, Gimcheon Sangmu, are ineligible to qualify for AFC competitions, the spot was transferred to the fourth-placed team, FC Seoul.
6. ^
   Thailand (THA): As 2024–25 Thai FA Cup champions Buriram United qualified for the Champions League Elite via their league position, the spot reserved for the Thai FA Cup winners was transferred to the runners-up team in the 2024–25 Thai League 1, Bangkok United.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.^[6]

Stage	Round	Draw date	West region	East region
Preliminary stage	Preliminary round	No draw	12 August 2025
League stage	Matchday 1	15 August 2025	15–16 September 2025	16–17 September 2025
	Matchday 2		29–30 September 2025	30 September-1 October 2025
	Matchday 3		20–21 October 2025	21–22 October 2025
	Matchday 4		3–4 November 2025	4–5 November 2025
	Matchday 5		24–25 November 2025	25–26 November 2025
	Matchday 6		8–9 December 2025	9–10 December 2025
	Matchday 7		9–10 February 2026	10–11 February 2026
	Matchday 8		16–17 February 2026	17–18 February 2026
Round of 16		TBD	2–3 and 9–10 March 2026	3–4 and 10–11 March 2026
Finals	Quarter-finals	18 March 2026	17–25 April 2026 in Saudi Arabia[7]
	Semi-finals
	Final

Notes

Qualifying play-offs

The two winners of the play-off round (one from West Region and one from East Region) advanced to the league stage to join the 22 direct entrants. The losers of the qualifying play-offs entered the group stage of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Region
Al-Duhail	3–2	Sepahan
East Region
Chengdu Rongcheng	3–0	Bangkok United

West Region

12 August 2025

19:00 UTC+3

Al-Duhail	3–2	Sepahan
Bamba 11' Boulbina 24' Piątek 33'	AFC Report GSA Report	Hazbavi 3' Zakipour 90+3'

Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 2,936

Referee: Abdullah Jamali (Kuwait)

East Region

12 August 2025

19:35 UTC+8

Chengdu Rongcheng	3–0	Bangkok United
Yang Mingyang 68' Felipe 71', 83'	AFC Report GSA Report

Phoenix Hill Football Stadium, Chengdu

Attendance: 41,713

Referee: Alex King (Australia)

League stage

Main article: 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite league stage

The league phase draw is scheduled to take place on 15 August 2025 (at 17:00 UTC+8), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[7]

Jeddah

Al-Hilal

DSA

│
Al Wahda

Qatar

Tractor

Nasaf

Al-Shorta

Machida Zelvia

Vissel Kobe
│

│
Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Ulsan HD──

Gangwon
│

Seoul

Shanghai

Chengdu Rongcheng

Buriram United

Melbourne City

Johor Darul Ta'zim

Shanghai teams
Shanghai Port
Shanghai Shenhua

Jeddah teams
Al-Ahli
Al-Ittihad

DSA teams
Shabab Al-Ahli
Sharjah

Qatar teams
Al-Sadd
Al-Gharafa
Al-Duhail

Location of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite league stage teams
Orange: East Region; Blue: West Region

Al-Sadd Al-Gharafa Al-Duhail Al Wahda Sharjah Shabab Al-Ahli Location of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite league stage teams in the Persian Gulf.

470km 292miles Ulsan HD Sanfrecce Hiroshima Vissel Kobe Machida Zelvia Shanghai Gangwon Seoul Ulsan HD     Locations of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite teams in Japan and Korea

West Region

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Al-Ahli	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to round of 16
2	Al-Duhail	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Al-Gharafa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Al Hilal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Al-Ittihad	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Al Sadd	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Al-Shorta	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Al Wahda	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Nasaf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Shabab Al Ahli	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Sharjah	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Tractor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: 15 September 2025. Source: Asian Football Confederation
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) penalty shoot-out if only two teams remain tied and played each other on the final matchday 6) fair play ranking; 7) drawing of lots

East Region

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Buriram United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to round of 16
2	Chengdu Rongcheng	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	FC Seoul	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Gangwon FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Johor Darul Ta'zim	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	Machida Zelvia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Melbourne City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Shanghai Port	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Shanghai Shenhua	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Ulsan HD	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Vissel Kobe	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: 16 September 2025. Source: Asian Football Confederation
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) penalty shoot-out if only two teams remain tied and played each other on the final matchday 6) fair play ranking; 7) drawing of lots

See also

• 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two
• 2025–26 AFC Challenge League
• 2025–26 AFC Women's Champions League