The 2024–25 AFC Challenge League will be the eleventh edition of the Asia's third-tier continental club football competition, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will be the first edition since 2014, with the tournament being re-introduced under a new name (AFC Challenge League) and revamped format.[1] It will feature 20 teams.[2]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | Competition proper: 20 (from 19 or 20 associations) |
Association team allocation edit
Association ranking edit
| Participation for 2024–25 AFC Challenge League | |
|---|---|
| Participating | |
| Not participating | |
NOTE: The following slot allocation is provisional. The final number of slots allocated to each association will be based on the AFC Challenge League criteria in the Entry Manual and confirmed by the AFC. |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams edit
NOTE 1: The following list of participating teams is provisional. The final list of participating teams will be confirmed by the AFC, based on the final slot allocation for each association and the list of teams passing the club licensing requirements. NOTE 2: Only teams assured of a place are displayed. |
Location of the 2024–25 AFC Challenge League group stage teams
Orange: East Region; 
Blue: West Region
Orange: East Region; 
Blue: West RegionThe number of appearances and last appearance include the AFC President's Cup as the predecessor of the AFC Challenge League.
- Notes
- ^ Turkmenistan (TKM): Arkadag, the 2023 Turkmenistan Cup winners, also won the league title and qualified for the Champions League Two. As a result, the 2023 Turkmenistan Cup runners-up, Ahal, qualified for the Challenge League group stage.
Schedule edit
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[5]
| Stage | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary stage | Preliminary round 1 | TBA | 30 July 2024 | |
| Preliminary round 2 | 6 August 2024 | |||
| Preliminary round 3 | 13 August 2024 | |||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 22 August 2024 | 26–27 October 2024 | |
| Matchday 2 | 29–30 October 2024 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 1–2 November 2024 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | TBA | 5–6 March 2025 | 12–13 March 2025 |
| Semi-finals | 9–10 April 2025 | 16–17 April 2025 | ||
| Final | 4 May 2025 | |||
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Asian Champions League to relaunch with fewer teams and more prize money in 2024–25 season". AP News. 14 August 2023.
- ^ "AFC Executive Committee approves biggest prize purse in Asian club football history from 2024/25; announces AFC Women's Champions League". the-AFC.
- ^ a b "AFC Club Competitions Ranking". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 24 November 2021. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ a b "AFC Club Competitions 2024/25 Slot Allocation" (PDF). fas.org.sg. Football Association of Singapore. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". AFC. 1 July 2023.