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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. 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

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

West Region (3 groups) Rank Member association Points Slots Group stage Play-off Region AFC — — 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two qualifying round losers — 2 0 11 19  Kuwait 20.069 1 0 12 20  Turkmenistan 19.464 1 0 13 22  Lebanon 17.761 1 0 14 23  Syria 17.613 1 0 15 27  Bangladesh 14.121 1 0 16 28  Oman 12.453 1 0 17 29  Maldives 9.467 1 0 18 31  Palestine 5.760 1 0 19 33  Kyrgyzstan 4.308 0 1 20 37    Nepal 0.813 0 1 21 38  Sri Lanka 0.630 0 0 22 39  Bhutan 0.465 0 1 23 41  Afghanistan 0.090 0 1 24 42  Pakistan 0.000 0 0 24 42  Yemen 0.000 0 0 Total Participating associations: 12 10 4 14

East Region (2 groups) Rank Member association Points Slots Group stage Play-off Region AFC 11 25  North Korea 16.117 0 0 12 26  Indonesia 15.083 1 0 13 30  Myanmar 8.287 1 0 14 32  Cambodia 5.455 1 0 15 34  Macau 2.800 0 0 16 35  Chinese Taipei 2.067 1 0 17 36  Laos 1.362 1 0 18 40  Mongolia 0.250 1 0 19 42  Brunei 0.000 0 0 19 42  Guam 0.000 0 0 19 42  Northern Mariana Islands 0.000 0 0 19 42  East Timor 0.000 0 0 Total Participating associations: 6 6 0 6

Notes

1. AFC Licensing (AFC): Association did not have a licensed club.

Teams

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

West Region Group stage direct entrants Team Qualifying method App. (last) East Bengal 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two qualifying round losers 1st Al-Ahli Club 1st Al-Arabi 2023–24 Kuwaiti Premier League runners-up 1st Arkadag 2023 Ýokary Liga champions 2023 Turkmenistan Cup champions 1st Nejmeh 2023–24 Lebanese Premier League champions 1st Al-Fotuwa 2023–24 Syrian Premier League champions 1st Bashundhara Kings 2023–24 Bangladesh Premier League champions 1st Al-Seeb 2023–24 Oman Professional League champions 1st Maziya 2023 Dhivehi Premier League champions 1st Hilal Al-Quds 2022–23 West Bank Premier League runners-up 2nd (2013) Qualifying play-off participants Team Qualifying method App. (last) Abdysh-Ata Kant 2023 Kyrgyz Premier League champions 1st Church Boys United 2023 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League champions 1st Paro 2023 Bhutan Premier League champions 1st Attack Energy 2024 Afghanistan Champions League champions 1st

East Region Group stage direct entrants Team Qualifying method App. (last) Madura United 2023–24 Liga 1 runners-up 1st Shan United 2023 Myanmar National League champions 3rd (2009) Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng 2023–24 Cambodian Premier League champions 2nd (2014) Tainan City 2023 Taiwan Football Premier League champions 1st Young Elephants 2023 Lao League 1 champions 1st SP Falcons 2023–24 Mongolian National Premier League champions 1st

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.
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.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.

1. ^ Pre-determined format

Preliminary stage

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 1	Score	Team 2
Church Boys United	1–2	Paro
Abdysh-Ata Kant	2–0	Attack Energy

Church Boys United	1–2	Paro
Limbu 38'	Report	Wangchuk 40' Opoku 67'

Abdysh-Ata Kant	2–0	Attack Energy
Dzhumashev 11' Zhyrgalbek 52'	Report

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). 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.

West Region

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	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

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AKG	AAK	ABD	MAZ
1	Arkadag	3	2	0	1	6	4	+2	6	Advance to Quarter-finals					2–1
2	Al-Arabi (H)	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6			3–2		0–1
3	Abdysh-Ata Kant	3	2	0	1	4	2	+2	6			0–2
4	Maziya	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6	0				0–2	0–3

1. ^ Head-to-head goal difference: Arkadag +1; Al-Arabi 0; Abdysh-Ata Kant –1.

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	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					1–1	0–0
3	Al-Fotuwa	3	0	2	1	1	6	−5	2			0–5
4	Hilal Al-Quds	3	0	2	1	0	3	−3	2					0–0

1. ^ 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

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	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

East Region

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	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

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	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

Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

E2

Preah Khan Reach 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

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 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Arabi	QF1	Al-Seeb	5 Mar	12 Mar
East Bengal	QF2	Arkadag	5 Mar	12 Mar

East Region

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng	QF3	Shan United	6 Mar	13 Mar
Tainan City	QF4	Madura United	6 Mar	13 Mar

Semi-finals

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.

Final

Top scorers

As of 2 November 2024  Team eliminated for this round.

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F1	Total
1	Dimitrios Diamantakos	East Bengal	1	1	2						4
2	Ye Yint Aung	Shan United	2	1							3
	Al-Aghbari	Al Seeb	2		1
3	Al-Muqbali	Al Seeb	1		1						2
	Khalaf	Al Arabi	1		1
	Brylian	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

• 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite
• 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two
• 2024–25 AFC Women's Champions League

Notes

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

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. ^ "AFC Club Competitions 2024/25 Slot Allocation" (PDF). fas.org.sg. Football Association of Singapore. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
4. ^ "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. ^ "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.

External links

• AFC
• AFC Challenge League 2024/2025 at Global Sports Archive

• 2024 in Asian football
• AFC Challenge League
• Current association football seasons