The AFC Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1967. It is open to the league champions and cup winners of Asian Football Confederation member associations, as well as to the clubs finishing in second and third position in the stronger leagues of each zone. Prior to the 2002–03 season, the tournament was named the Asian Club Championship.[1] Originally, only the champions of their respective national league and the defending champion of the competition were allowed to participate. However, this was changed in 2002 to allow the national cup winners to compete as well. In 2024, the competition rebranded again, and was renamed as the AFC Champions League Elite.
 AFC Champions League trophy | |
| Founded | 1967 |
|---|---|
| Region | Asia (AFC) |
| Number of teams | 40 (group stage) 2 (finalists) |
| Current champions |  Al Ain (2nd title) |
| Most successful club(s) |  Al-Hilal (4 titles) |
 2023–24 AFC Champions League | |
Al-Hilal hold the record for the most victories, with four wins since the competition's inception. Thai Farmers Bank, Pohang Steelers, Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Al-Ittihad are the four teams that managed to win the competition consecutively. Al-Hilal has contested the most finals, nine, winning four and losing five, while Al-Ahli, Yokohama F. Marinos, FC Seoul and Persepolis are the only four clubs to reach the finals more than once without winning. Overall, 24 clubs have won the competition since its inception in 1967. Clubs from South Korea have won the most titles with twelve. Japanese clubs are second with eight, and Saudi Arabian clubs are third with six wins. The current champions are Al Ain, who beat Yokohama F. Marinos 6–3 on aggregate in the 2023–24 edition.
List of finals
edit| # | Finals not played |
| ‡ | Ties decided on away goals |
| † | Matches won after extra time |
| * | Matches decided on penalties |
- The "Year" column refers to the season the competition was held, and wikilinks to the article about that season.
- Official season orthography of Asian Club Championship is reset. Both one-year and two-year seasons listed separately.[2]
- Finals are listed in the order they were played.
Performances
editBy club
edit1 In 1974, the Israel Football Association was expelled from the Asian Football Confederation due to political pressure, and became a full UEFA member in 1994. As a result, Israeli clubs no longer participate in AFC tournaments but in their UEFA counterparts instead.
2 Teams that no longer exist.
By nation
edit Nation | Titles | Runners-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
 South Korea | 12 | 7 | 19 |
 Japan | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| Saudi Arabia | 6 | 10 | 16 |
 Iran | 3 | 6 | 9 |
 China | 3 | 2 | 5 |
 Israel | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 | 3 | 5 |
 Qatar | 2 | 1 | 3 |
 Thailand | 2 | 1 | 3 |
 Australia | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Iraq | 0 | 2 | 2 |
 Malaysia | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Oman | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Syria | 0 | 1 | 1 |
See also
editNotes
editA. ^ The final was scratched and Maccabi Tel Aviv were awarded the championship after Aliyat Al-Shorta refused to play the Israeli side for political reasons.[32]
B. ^ The championship was decided in a final group round-robin of four teams.
C. ^ The final was scratched and Yomiuri FC were awarded the championship as Al-Hilal was unable to field a team after several of their starting players were selected for the Saudi national team's preparation camp, which clashed with the first leg.[33]
D. ^ Score was 1–1 after 90 minutes and extra time. Al-Hilal won the penalty-shootout 4–3.[34]
E. ^ Score was 0–0 after 90 minutes and extra time. Pohang Steelers won the penalty-shootout 6–5.[35]
F. ^ Score was 0–0 after 90 minutes and extra time. Suwon Samsung Bluewings won the penalty-shootout 4–2.[36]
G. ^ Score was 2–2 after 90 minutes and extra time. Al-Sadd won the penalty-shootout 4–2.[37]
References
edit- ^ "AFC Champions League: The drama, the glory..." the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ "AFC Champions League Official Programme". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 27 February 2013.
- ^ احمدی, مهدی. "روایتی جذاب از اولین قهرمانی تاج در آسیا/ آقایی در قاره کهن با شکست غولی به نام هاپوئل!". استقلال نیوز (in Persian). Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "رکورد بیشترین تعداد تماشاگر بازیهای باشگاهی آسیا همچنان در اختیار استقلال". yjc.news (in Persian). Retrieved 14 September 2022.[unreliable source?]
- ^ "Gamba Osaka – Adelaide United 3:0 (AFC Champions League 2008, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Adelaide United – Gamba Osaka 0:2 (AFC Champions League 2008, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Al Ittihad – Pohang Steelers 1:2 (AFC Champions League 2009, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma – FC Zob Ahan 3:1 (AFC Champions League 2010, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Jeonbuk FC – Al Sadd 2:4 (AFC Champions League 2011, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Ulsan Hyundai – Al Ahli SFC 3:0 (AFC Champions League 2012, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "FC Seoul – Guangzhou Evergrande 2:2 (AFC Champions League 2013, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Guangzhou Evergrande – FC Seoul 1:1 (AFC Champions League 2013, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Western Sydney Wanderers – Al Hilal 1:0 (AFC Champions League 2014, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Al Hilal – Western Sydney Wanderers 0:0 (AFC Champions League 2014, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Al Ahli Dubai – Guangzhou Evergrande 0:0 (AFC Champions League 2015, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Guangzhou Evergrande – Al Ahli Dubai 1:0 (AFC Champions League 2015, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Jeonbuk FC – Al Ain FC 2:1 (AFC Champions League 2016, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Al Ain FC – Jeonbuk FC 1:1 (AFC Champions League 2016, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Al Hilal – Urawa Red Diamonds 1:1 (AFC Champions League 2017, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Urawa Red Diamonds – Al Hilal 1:0 (AFC Champions League 2017, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Kashima Antlers – Persepolis 2:0 (AFC Champions League 2018, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Persepolis – Kashima Antlers 0:0 (AFC Champions League 2018, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Match Report of Persepolis FC vs Kashima Antlers". globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Al Hilal – Urawa Red Diamonds 1:0 (AFC Champions League 2019, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Urawa Red Diamonds – Al Hilal 0:2 (AFC Champions League 2019, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Persepolis – Ulsan Hyundai 1:2 (AFC Champions League 2020, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Al Hilal – Pohang Steelers 2:0 (AFC Champions League 2021, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Final – 1st Leg: Urawa Reds fight back to hold Al Hilal". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 29 April 2023. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ^ "Urawa Reds edge Al Hilal for historic third title". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^ "Yokohama F. Marinos – Al Ain FC 2:1 (AFC Champions League 2023/2024, Final)". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Al Ain FC – Yokohama F. Marinos 5:1 (AFC Champions League 2023/2024, Final)". worldfootball.net. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Champions' Cup 1971". RSSSF. 26 December 2000. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ "الزعيم تاريخ عريق من الانتصارات الآسيوية". al-jazirah.com (in Arabic). 7 March 2001. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ "Champions' Cup 1991/92". RSSSF. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ "Champions' Cup 1997/98". RSSSF. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ "Champions' Cup 2001/02". RSSSF. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ^ "Going the distance: A look back at the 2011 ACL final". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2016.