Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

AFC Champions League Two

Annual second-tier Asian club football competition From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

AFC Champions League Two
Remove ads

The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC Champions League Elite and above the AFC Challenge League.

Quick Facts Organising body, Founded ...

The competition was founded in 2004 as the AFC Cup, it was played primarily among clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying slots to the top-tier AFC Champions League. The competition rebranded to its current name in 2024.[1] In a bid to increase competitivenes, its format was also changed to include clubs from higher ranked AFC member associations. The prize money was also increased.

Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in national leagues and cup competitions. Participation in the competition is open to clubs from the top 12 nations in the East and the West region based on the AFC club competitions ranking. The participant from each nation ranked 1–6 in each region is the highest-placed club in that nation that did not qualify for the AFC Champions League Elite. The nations ranked 7–12 in each region enter their top club(s) directly to the AFC Champions League Two.

The winner of the AFC Champions League Two will be allocated an indirect preliminary stage slot for the next AFC Champions League Elite season, if they have not already qualified through domestic competition. The current champions of the competition is Central Coast Mariners, who defeated Al-Ahed in the 2024 final. Al-Kuwait and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya are the most successful clubs in the competition's history, having won three titles each. Clubs from Kuwait have won four titles, making them the most successful nation in the competition.

Remove ads

History

Summarize
Perspective

The AFC Cup began in 2004 as a second-tier competition to relate back to the AFC Champions League, as 14 countries that had developing status competed in the first competition, with 18 teams being nominated. The winners and three runners-up would then head to the knock-out stage. Al-Jaish took the first AFC Cup after they defeated fellow Syrian opponents Al-Wahda on away goals.

In 2005, 18 teams competed from nine nations with the nations still being allowed to choose from one or two teams entering. After Syrian teams left the AFC Cup to try at the AFC Champions League for four years, Al-Faisaly defeated Nejmeh in the final. With it, Jordanian teams would win the next two AFC Cup seasons with Bahrain joining the league while Bangladesh was relegated to the AFC President's Cup until the tournament's abolition in 2014.

Al-Muharraq would break the trend in 2008 as they won the last two-legged final before it headed back into a one-leg system, a rule that was never changed until now.

On 23 December 2022, it was announced that the AFC competition structure would change from the established formats from the 2024–25 season. A new second-tier tournament called the AFC Champions League Two would be introduced.[3] Meanwhile, a new third-tier competition was also launched under the name AFC Challenge League.[4][5][6]

On 24 May 2024, AFC announced that the records and statistics of the preceding AFC club competitions will be recognised and integrated within the revamped club competitions, with the data from the AFC Cup transferring to the AFC Champions League Two.[7]

Remove ads

Format

Summarize
Perspective
Thumb
Map of AFC countries whose teams reached the group stage of the AFC Cup/ACL Two
  AFC member country that has been represented in the group stage
  AFC member country that has not been represented in the group stage

Some changes were applied in terms of teams and format for the 2017 AFC Cup. A total of 36 teams participated in the group stage (12 each from West Asia and ASEAN, and 4 each from East Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia). The final is played as a one-off match.

Allocation

The allocation of group stage teams by member country was listed below; asterisks represent occasions where at least one team was eliminated in qualification for the group stage. Those who had not reached the group stage but had only played in qualification are not bolded.

More information Associations, Spots ...
Remove ads

Prize money

The prize money as of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two are as follows, in United States dollar (USD):[8]

More information Round, Teams ...

Marketing

Sponsorship

The tournament has been sponsored by a group of multinational corporations, in contrast to the single main sponsor typically found in national top-flight leagues.

Official Global Partners

Official Global Supporters

Records and statistics

Summarize
Perspective

Results

More information Season, Winners ...

Performance by club

More information Winners, Runners-up ...

Performance by nation

More information Nation, Titles ...
More information Year, Player ...
Remove ads

See also

Notes

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads