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2024–25 AFC Challenge League

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2024–25 AFC Challenge League
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
13 August 2024
Competition proper:
26 October 2024 – 10 May 2025
TeamsCompetition proper: 18
Total: 20 (from 20 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played24
Goals scored64 (2.67 per match)
Attendance19,696 (821 per match)
Top scorer(s)Dimitrios Diamantakos (East Bengal) 4 goals
← 2014 (AFC President's Cup)

The 2024–25 AFC Challenge League is the eleventh edition of the Asia's third-tier continental club football competition, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the first season since it was rebranded from the AFC President's Cup to the AFC Challenge League. It is the first edition since 2014, with the tournament being re-introduced in 2024 with a revamped format.[1][2] The winner will be given a direct slot for the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two group stage, if they haven't already qualified through their domestic performance.

Association team allocation

[edit]

The associations are allocated slots according to their club competitions ranking,[3] which was published after the 2022 competitions were completed.[4]

Participation for 2024–25 AFC Challenge League
Participating
Not participating
Notes
  1. ^
    AFC Licensing (AFC): Association did not have a licensed club.[5]

Teams

[edit]

The number of appearances and last appearance include the AFC President's Cup as the predecessor of the AFC Challenge League.

Notes
  1. ^
    Palestine (PLE): Due to the Israel–Hamas war, the 2023–24 West Bank Premier League was not organized by the Palestinian Football Association. The teams from Palestine are determined by the results of the 2022–23 West Bank Premier League. Jabal Al-Mukaber, the 2022–23 West Bank Premier League champions, failed to obtain an AFC license. Instead, the runners-up Hilal Al-Quds participate in the AFC Challenge League group stage.[5]
  2. ^
    Turkmenistan (TKM): Arkadag, the 2023 Turkmenistan Cup winners, also won the league title and qualified for the AFC Challenge League group stage as they lacked an AFC Champions League Two license. They were replaced by Altyn Asyr, the 2023 Ýokary Liga runners-up in AFC Champions League Two qualifying play-offs.[5]

Schedule

[edit]

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[6]

Stage Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Preliminary stage Preliminary stage No draw[a] 13 August 2024
Group stage Matchday 1 22 August 2024 26 October 2024 (West), 27 October 2024 (East)
Matchday 2 29 October 2024 (West), 30 October 2024 (East)
Matchday 3 1 November 2024 (West), 2 November 2024 (East)
Knockout stage Quarter-finals No draw[a] 5 March 2025 (West), 6 March 2025 (East) 12 March 2025 (West), 13 March 2025 (East)
Semi-finals 9 April 2025 (West), 10 April 2025 (East) 16 April 2025 (West), 17 April 2025 (East)
Final 10 May 2025
  1. ^ a b Pre-determined format

Preliminary stage

[edit]

The bracket of the preliminary stage was determined based on each team's association ranking and their seeding within their association, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match. The two winners of the preliminary stage advanced to the group stage and joined the 16 direct entrants.

Team 1ScoreTeam 2
Church Boys United Nepal1–2Bhutan Paro
Abdysh-Ata Kant Kyrgyzstan2–0Afghanistan Attack Energy
Church Boys United Nepal1–2Bhutan Paro
  • Limbu 38'
 Report
Attendance: 9,873
Referee: Wiwat Jumpaoon (Thailand)
Abdysh-Ata Kant Kyrgyzstan2–0Afghanistan Attack Energy
 Report
Kurmanbek Stadium, Jalal-Abad[note 2]
Attendance: 955

Group stage

[edit]
Main article: 2024–25 AFC Challenge League group stage

The draw for the group stage took place on 22 August at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 18 teams were drawn into five groups: three comprising four teams from the West each (Groups A–C) and two involving three teams from the East each (Groups D–E).[7] Teams were seeded into pots: four pots for West region and three pots for East region, and drawn into the relevant positions within each group, based on their association ranking. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group. Teams of every group will play at a neutral venue of a single-legged tie against every opponent.

class=notpageimage|
Location of the 2024–25 AFC Challenge League group stage teams
Brown: Group A; Cyan: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Red: Group E

West Region

[edit]

Group A

[edit]
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification EAB NJM PAR BSK
1 India East Bengal 3 2 1 0 9 4 +5 7 Advance to Quarter-finals 3–2 2–2
2 Lebanon Nejmeh 3 2 0 1 5 4 +1 6 1–0
3 Bhutan Paro (H) 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4 1–2
4 Bangladesh Bashundhara Kings 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0 0–4 1–2
Source: AFC
(H) Hosts

Group B

[edit]
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AKG AAK ABD MAZ
1 Turkmenistan Arkadag 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6[a] Advance to Quarter-finals 2–1
2 Kuwait Al-Arabi (H) 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6[a] 3–2 0–1
3 Kyrgyzstan Abdysh-Ata Kant 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6[a] 0–2
4 Maldives Maziya 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0 0–2 0–3
Source: AFC
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head goal difference: Arkadag +1; Al-Arabi 0; Abdysh-Ata Kant –1.

Group C

[edit]
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ASB AAM AFT HAQ
1 Oman Al-Seeb (H) 3 3 0 0 9 0 +9 9 Advance to Quarter-finals 1–0 3–0
2 Bahrain Al-Ahli Club 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2[a] 1–1 0–0
3 Syria Al-Fotuwa 3 0 2 1 1 6 −5 2[a] 0–5
4 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds 3 0 2 1 0 3 −3 2[a] 0–0
Source: AFC
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head goals scored: Al-Ahli Club 1, Al-Fotuwa 1, Hilal Al-Quds 0;
    Overall goal difference: Al-Ahli Club –1, Al-Fotuwa –5.

Ranking of runners-up teams

[edit]
Pos Grp Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 B Kuwait Al-Arabi 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6 Advance to Quarter-finals
2 A Lebanon Nejmeh 3 2 0 1 5 4 +1 6
3 C Bahrain Al-Ahli Club 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2
Source: AFC

East Region

[edit]

Group D

[edit]
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SNU TNC YEP
1 Myanmar Shan United (H) 2 1 1 0 4 2 +2 4 Advance to Quarter-finals 2–2
2 Chinese Taipei Tainan City 2 1 1 0 5 4 +1 4 3–2
3 Laos Young Elephants 2 0 0 2 2 5 −3 0 0–2
Source: AFC
(H) Hosts

Group E

[edit]
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MDU PRR SPF
1 Indonesia Madura United 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4 Advance to Quarter-finals 2–1
2 Cambodia Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3 2–1
3 Mongolia SP Falcons (H) 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 1 0–0
Source: AFC
(H) Hosts

Knockout stage

[edit]
Main article: 2024–25 AFC Challenge League knockout stage

Bracket

[edit]
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
             
E2 Cambodia Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng
D1 Myanmar Shan United
 
East Region
 
D2 Chinese Taipei Tainan City
E1 Indonesia Madura United
 
 
B2 Kuwait Al-Arabi
C1 Oman Al-Seeb
 
West Region
 
A1 India East Bengal
B1 Turkmenistan Arkadag

Quarter-finals

[edit]

In the quarter-finals, the eight qualified teams play in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs determined by the group stage draw and the identity of the best runners-up in the West region.

West Region
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Al-Arabi KuwaitQF1Oman Al-Seeb5 Mar12 Mar
East Bengal IndiaQF2Turkmenistan Arkadag5 Mar12 Mar
East Region
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng CambodiaQF3Myanmar Shan United6 Mar13 Mar
Tainan City Chinese TaipeiQF4Indonesia Madura United6 Mar13 Mar

Semi-finals

[edit]

In the Semi-finals, the winners of quarter-finals from each region will face each other in two leg matches. The winners of each tie advance to the final.

West Region
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Winner QF1SF1Winner QF29 Apr16 Apr
East Region
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Winner QF3SF2Winner QF410 Apr17 Apr

Final

[edit]
Main article: 2025 AFC Challenge League final


Top scorers

[edit]
As of 2 November 2024
  Team eliminated for this round.
  Player is not in the team but the team is still active for this round.
Rank Player Team MD1 MD2 MD3 QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2 F1 Total
1 Greece Dimitrios Diamantakos India East Bengal 1 1 2 4
2 Myanmar Ye Yint Aung Myanmar Shan United 2 1 3
Oman Al-Aghbari Oman Al Seeb 2 1
3 Oman Al-Muqbali Oman Al Seeb 1 1 2
Kuwait Khalaf Kuwait Al Arabi 1 1
Indonesia Brylian Laos Young Elephants 2
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

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Church Boys United played their home matches at Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu, instead of their regular home stadium Chyasal Stadium, Lalitpur.
  2. ^ Abdysh-Ata Kant played their home matches at Kurmanbek Stadium, Jalal-Abad, instead of their regular home stadium Stadion Sportkompleks Abdysh-Ata, Kant.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Asian Champions League to relaunch with fewer teams and more prize money in 2024–25 season". AP News. 14 August 2023.
  2. ^ "AFC Executive Committee approves biggest prize purse in Asian club football history from 2024/25; announces AFC Women's Champions League". the-AFC.
  3. ^ a b c "AFC Club Competitions 2024/25 Slot Allocation" (PDF). fas.org.sg. Football Association of Singapore. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "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.
  5. ^ a b c "List of Licensed Clubs - AFC Club Competitions 2024/25" (PDF). 14 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  6. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". AFC. 1 July 2023.
  7. ^ "#ChallengeLeague draw to decide 2024/25 Group Stage battles". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
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