2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | Competition proper: 24 (from 12 associations) |
← 2024–25 2026–27 → | |
The 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) will be 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]
The final stage will be played in 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]
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]
| Participation for 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite | |
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| Participating | |
| Not participating | |
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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.
The following teams will also qualify to the West or East region unless they had already qualified based on their domestic performance.
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- Notes
- ^ China (CHN): Shanghai Port already qualified for the League stage as the 2024 Chinese Super League champions and also won the 2024 Chinese FA Cup. Thus, Shanghai Shenhua, the 2024 Chinese Super League runners-up, qualified for the League stage while Chengdu Rongcheng, the 2024 Chinese Super League third place, qualified for the Qualifying play-off.
- ^ Japan (JPN): Vissel Kobe already qualified for the League stage as the 2024 J1 League champions and also won the 2024 Emperor's Cup. Therefore, Machida Zelvia as the 2024 J1 League third place also qualified for the League stage.
- ^ South Korea (KOR): Gimcheon Sangmu, the 2024 K League 1 third place, are a military team and cannot qualify for AFC competitions. Therefore, FC Seoul as the 2024 K League 1 fourth place, qualified for the Qualifying play-off.
See also
Notes
References
- ^ "AFC Executive Committee approves biggest prize purse in Asian club football history from 2024/25; announces AFC Women's Champions League". AFC. 14 August 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia to host AFC Champions League Elite – Final Stage". the-AFC. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
- ^ "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 12 October 2024.
- ^ "AFC Club Competitions Ranking". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2022-01-07. Retrieved 2021-12-10.