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2024–25 AFC Challenge League

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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.

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)Greece Dimitrios Diamantakos (East Bengal) 4 goals
← 2014 (AFC President's Cup)

Association team allocation

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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

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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

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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

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

Group stage

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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

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Group A

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

Group B

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

Group C

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ASB AAM AFT HAQ
1   Al-Seeb (H) 3 3 0 0 9 0 +9 9 Advance to Quarter-finals 1–0 3–0
2   Al-Ahli Club 3 0 2 1 1 2 −1 2[a] 1–1 0–0
3   Al-Fotuwa 3 0 2 1 1 6 −5 2[a] 0–5
4   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

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

East Region

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Group D

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

Group E

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

Knockout stage

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Main article: 2024–25 AFC Challenge League knockout stage

Bracket

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Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
             
E2   Svay Rieng
D1   Shan United
 
East Region
 
D2   Tainan City
E1   Madura United
 
 
B2   Al-Arabi
C1   Al-Seeb
 
West Region
 
A1   East Bengal
B1   Arkadag

Quarter-finals

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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.

West Region
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Al-Arabi  QF1  Al-Seeb5 Mar12 Mar
East Bengal  QF2  Arkadag5 Mar12 Mar
East Region
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Svay Rieng  QF3  Shan United6 Mar13 Mar
Tainan City  QF4  Madura United6 Mar13 Mar

Semi-finals

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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

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Main article: 2025 AFC Challenge League final


See also

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Notes

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  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

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  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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