AFC Champions League Elite

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Poster
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Established
1967 (58 years old)

First Recorded Event
2020-01-14

Current Season
2025-2026

Current Round
5

Level Above

Level Below

Sport
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Soccer

Location
Worldwide

Gender
Male

TV Rights
US - CBS Sports [2021-2024]

Logo

Upcoming
09 Dec	Vissel Ko	10:00am	Chengdu R
09 Dec	Machida Z	10:00am	Ulsan HD
09 Dec	Buriram U	12:15pm	Gangwon F
09 Dec	Johor Dar	12:15pm	Shanghai
10 Dec	FC Seoul	10:00am	Melbourne
10 Dec	Sanfrecce	10:00am	Shanghai
22 Dec	Sharjah	4:00pm	Al-Hilal
22 Dec	Tractor	4:00pm	Al-Duhail
22 Dec	Al-Gharaf	6:15pm	Al Wahda
22 Dec	Al-Shorta	6:15pm	Al-Ahli
Results
26 Nov	Shanghai	0 - 2	Vissel Ko
26 Nov	Ulsan HD	0 - 0	Buriram U
25 Nov	Shanghai	1 - 3	FC Seoul
25 Nov	Chengdu R	1 - 1	Sanfrecce
25 Nov	Gangwon F	1 - 3	Machida Z
25 Nov	Melbourne	2 - 0	Johor Dar
25 Nov	Al-Hilal	4 - 0	Al-Shorta
25 Nov	Al Wahda	3 - 1	Al-Sadd
24 Nov	Al-Ahli	0 - 1	Sharjah
24 Nov	Shabab Al	2 - 0	Al-Gharaf

Description

The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition in Asian football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations.

Introduced in 1967 as the Asian Champion Club Tournament, the competition rebranded as AFC Champions League in 2002 following the merger of the Asian Club Championship, the Asian Cup Winners' Cup and the Asian Super Cup. It was rebranded again in 2024 to its current name.

A total of 24 clubs compete in the league stage of the competition, divided into East and West regions (12 teams each). The winner of the AFC Champions League Elite qualifies for the FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

The most successful club in the competition is Al-Hilal with a total of four titles. Al Ain are the current champions, having beaten Yokohama F. Marinos in the 2024 final.

Seasons

Teams

Al Wahda	Al-Ahli	Al-Duhail	Al-Gharafa
Al-Hilal	Al-Ittihad	Al-Sadd	Al-Shorta
Bangkok United	Buriram United	Chengdu Rongche	FC Seoul
Gangwon FC	Johor Darul Ta'	Machida Zelvia	Melbourne City
Nasaf	Sanfrecce Hiros	Sepahan	Shabab Al-Ahli
Shanghai Port	Shanghai Shenhu	Sharjah	Tractor
Ulsan HD	Vissel Kobe