The '''AFC Challenge Cup''' was an international [[Association football|football]] competition for [[Asian Football Confederation]] (AFC) member countries that werewas categorised as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/Documents/competitions/bangladesh_AFCCC2006_CompetitionsRegulations.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052359/http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/Documents/competitions/bangladesh_AFCCC2006_CompetitionsRegulations.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 September 2018 |title=Regulations — AFC Challenge Cup |publisher=[[Asian Football Confederation]] |access-date=26 March 2012 |type=PDF }}</ref> It was created by former AFC president [[Mohammed Bin Hammam]] as the AFC's plan for a continent-wide programme to raise the standards of Asian football.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/en/vision-asia-philosophy |title=Visiona Asian Philosophy |publisher=[[Asian Football Confederation]] |date=31 August 2007 |access-date=26 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016084949/http://www.the-afc.com/en/vision-asia-philosophy |archive-date=16 October 2012 }}</ref> The AFC Challenge Cup was created for teams to experience playing in a continental competition, with the possibility to win an AFC trophy and potentially discover new talents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/en/challenge-cup-previous-competitions/afc-challenge-cup-2006/afc-challenge-cup-2006-competition-information |title=AFC Challenge Cup in 2006 competition information |publisher=[[Asian Football Confederation]] |access-date=26 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902105512/http://www.the-afc.com/en/challenge-cup-previous-competitions/afc-challenge-cup-2006/afc-challenge-cup-2006-competition-information |archive-date=2 September 2012 }}</ref>
The inaugural tournament was hosted by [[Bangladesh]] in 2006 and was held biennially. An amendment to men's national team competitions in July 2006, meant that starting with the 2008 and 2010 editions of the AFC Challenge Cup, the winners automatically qualify for the [[AFC Asian Cup]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/en/afc-u16-championship-2008-previous-competitions/afc-u17-championship-2006/6468 |title=AFC Competitions Update following meeting of the AFC Executive Committee |publisher=[[Asian Football Confederation]] |date=21 July 2006 |access-date=26 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202081424/http://www.the-afc.com/en/afc-u16-championship-2008-previous-competitions/afc-u17-championship-2006/6468 |archive-date=2 February 2014 }}</ref>
