2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 6–13 August 2024 Competition proper: 16 September 2024 – 4 May 2025 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 24 (from 12 associations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 72 |
| Goals scored | 218 (3.03 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Jasir Asani (7 goals) |
← 2023–24 (AFC CL) 2025–26 → All statistics correct as of 4 December 2024. | |
The 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) is the 43rd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the first since it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite. The revamped format, along with the rebranding, sees 24 teams playing eight games against different opponents in the brand new league phase.[1]
The final stage will be played in Saudi Arabia from 25 April to 4 May 2025.[2] The tournament winner will qualify for the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup. Additionally, the winner will enter the league stage of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite, if they have not already qualified through domestic performance.[3]
Al-Ain are the defending champions, as the AFC Champions League records and statistics are carried forward to the ACL Elite.[4]
Association team allocation
The associations are allocated slots according to their club competitions ranking which was published after the 2022 competitions were completed.[5]
| Participation for 2024–25 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.
- Notes
- ^Iran (IRN): Sepahan were also third place in the Pro League, but qualified to the Qualifying play-off after winning the 2023–24 Hazfi Cup.
- ^Qatar (QAT): Because Al-Sadd (who had already qualified for the League stage as the 2023–24 Qatar Stars League champion) also won the 2024 Emir of Qatar Cup, therefore second-placed Al-Rayyan also qualified for the League stage, while the third-placed Al-Gharafa qualified for the Qualifying play-off.
- ^South Korea (KOR): Because Pohang Steelers (who had already qualified for the League stage as the 2023 K League 1 runners-up) also won the 2023 Korean FA Cup, therefore third-placed Gwangju FC qualified for the Qualifying play-off. Since both East region finalists in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup (Yokohama F. Marinos and Central Coast Mariners) had already qualified through their domestic performance, Gwangju was later confirmed for the League stage based on their association's higher ranking,[6] leaving two teams left in the Qualifying play-offs for the East region.
- ^United Arab Emirates (UAE): Because Al Wasl (who had already qualified for the League stage as the 2023–24 UAE Pro League champion) also won the 2023–24 UAE President's Cup, therefore second-placed Shabab Al-Ahli qualified for the Qualifying play-off.
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[7] All matches will be played on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, apart from the quarter-finals and the final. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final matches will be played at a centralized venue in Saudi Arabia.
| Stage | Round | Draw date | West region | East region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary stage | Preliminary round 1 | No draw[a] | 6 August 2024 | |
| Preliminary round 2 | 13 August 2024 | |||
| League stage | Matchday 1 | 16 August 2024 | 16–17 September 2024 | 17–18 September 2024 |
| Matchday 2 | 30 September–1 October 2024 | 1–2 October 2024 | ||
| Matchday 3 | 21–22 October 2024 | 22–23 October 2024 | ||
| Matchday 4 | 4–5 November 2024 | 5–6 November 2024 | ||
| Matchday 5 | 25–26 November 2024 | 26–27 November 2024 | ||
| Matchday 6 | 2–3 December 2024 | 3–4 December 2024 | ||
| Matchday 7 | 3–4 February 2025 | 11–12 February 2025 | ||
| Matchday 8 | 17–18 February 2025 | 18–19 February 2025 | ||
| Round of 16[b] | No draw[a] | 3–4 and 10–11 March 2025 | 4–5 and 11–12 March 2025 | |
| Final stage[c] | Quarter-finals | 14 March 2025 | 25–26 April 2025 | |
| Semi-finals | 29–30 April 2025 | |||
| Final | 4 May 2025 at King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah | |||
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 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two.[8]
Preliminary round
A total of 2 teams played in the preliminary round.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
Sepahan  | 1–4 (a.e.t.) |  Shabab Al-Ahli |
Play-off round
A total of 4 teams played in the play-off round: 3 teams which entered in this round, and 1 winners of the preliminary round.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
Al-Gharafa SC  | 1–0 | Shabab Al-Ahli |
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
Shandong Taishan  | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) |  Bangkok United |
League stage
Orange: East Region; 
Blue: West RegionWest Region
- Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Al-Hilal (Q)
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 6 | +14 | 16 | Advance to round of 16 |
| 2 | Al-Ahli (Q)
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 16 | |
| 3 | Al-Nassr (Q)
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 13 | |
| 4 | Al-Sadd (Q)
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 12 | |
| 5 | Al Wasl (Q)
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 11 | |
| 6 | Persepolis
|
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 6 | |
| 7 | Al-Rayyan
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 5 | |
| 8 | Esteghlal
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 5 | |
| 9 |  Pakhtakor
|
6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 4 | |
| 10 | Al-Gharafa
|
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 4 | |
| 11 | Al Ain
|
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 2 | |
| 12 |  Al-Shorta
|
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 16 | −12 | 2 |
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
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
- Results
East Region
- Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Yokohama F. Marinos
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 13 | Advance to round of 16 |
| 2 |  Gwangju
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 13 | |
| 3 | Vissel Kobe
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 13 | |
| 4 | Kawasaki Frontale
|
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 12 | |
| 5 | Pohang Steelers
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 9 | |
| 6 |  Johor Darul Ta'zim
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 8 | |
| 7 | Shanghai Port
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 8 | |
| 8 | Buriram United
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 8 | |
| 9 | Shanghai Shenhua
|
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 7 | |
| 10 | Shandong Taishan
|
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 7 | |
| 11 | Ulsan HD
|
6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 14 | −11 | 3 | |
| 12 |  Central Coast Mariners (E)
|
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 17 | −9 | 1 |
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
(E) Eliminated
- Results
Knockout stage
Round of 16
A total of 16 teams will qualify for the knockout stage, with each region having 8 teams to qualify.
The first legs will be played on 3–5 March, and the second legs will be played on 10–12 March 2025.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Region 8th | R16 West 1 | West Region 1st | 3–4 Mar | 10–11 Mar |
| West Region 7th | R16 West 2 | West Region 2nd | 3–4 Mar | 10–11 Mar |
| West Region 6th | R16 West 3 | West Region 3rd | 3–4 Mar | 10–11 Mar |
| West Region 5th | R16 West 4 | West Region 4th | 3–4 Mar | 10–11 Mar |
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Region 8th | R16 East 1 | East Region 1st | 4–5 Mar | 11–12 Mar |
| East Region 7th | R16 East 2 | East Region 2nd | 4–5 Mar | 11–12 Mar |
| East Region 6th | R16 East 3 | East Region 3rd | 4–5 Mar | 11–12 Mar |
| East Region 5th | R16 East 4 | East Region 4th | 4–5 Mar | 11–12 Mar |
Final
Top scorers
- As of 3 December 2024
| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | MD7 | MD8 | R16-1 | R16-2 | QF | SF | F | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jasir Asani
|
Gwangju
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |||||||||
| 2 |  Anderson Lopes
|
Yokohama F. Marinos
|
1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||
| 3 | Élber
|
Yokohama F. Marinos
|
1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
 Aleksandar Mitrović
|
Al Hilal
|
1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||||||
 Soufiane Rahimi
|
Al Ain
|
1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||||||
 Matías Vargas
|
Shanghai Port
|
1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Arif Aiman
|
Johor Darul Ta'zim
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Salem Al-Dawsari
|
Al Hilal
|
1 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Taisei Miyashiro
|
Vissel Kobe
|
1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
 Cristiano Ronaldo
|
Al Nassr
|
1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
 Ivan Toney
|
Al-Ahli
|
2 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 15 | Akram Afif
|
Al Sadd
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Kenta Inoue
|
Yokohama F. Marinos
|
1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
 Joselu
|
Al-Gharafa
|
2 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Marcos Leonardo
|
Al-Hilal
|
1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| André Luis
|
Shanghai Shenhua
|
1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
 Riyad Mahrez
|
Al-Ahli
|
1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Sergej Milinković-Savić
|
Al-Hilal
|
1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Daiju Sasaki
|
Vissel Kobe
|
1 | 1 | 1 |
- Note
- Goals scored in the qualifying play-offs and matches voided by AFC are not counted when determining top scorer (Regulations Article 64.4)
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 2023.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia to host AFC Champions League Elite – Final Stage". the-AFC. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "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 14 January 2020.
- ^ "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee". AFC. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
- ^ "AFC Club Competitions Ranking". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ "광주FC - GWANGJU FOOTBALL CLUB". www.gwangjufc.com (in Korean). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ^ "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". AFC. 1 July 2023.
- ^ "Preliminary battles to kick-start ACL Elite 2024/25". the-AFC. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
