2021 AFC Champions League

The 2021 AFC Champions League will be the 40th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 19th under the current AFC Champions League title.

2021 AFC Champions League
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
12–26 January 2021
Competition proper:
8 February – 27 November 2021
TeamsCompetition proper: 40
Total (maximum): 56 (from 24 associations)

The tournament will be the first to involve 40 teams during the group stage, with an increase from the previous 32 teams.[1] The winners of the tournament will automatically qualify for the 2022 AFC Champions League, entering the qualifying play-offs, if they have not qualified through their domestic performance.[2]

Association team allocation

The 47 AFC member associations are ranked based on their clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions (their national team's FIFA World Rankings no longer considered):[3]

  • The associations are split into two regions:
  • The top 12 associations in each region as per the AFC rankings are eligible to enter the AFC Champions League, as long as they fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria.
  • In each region, there are five groups in the group stage, including a total of 16 direct slots, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
  • The slots in each region are distributed as follows:[4][5]
    • The associations ranked 1st and 2nd each get three direct slots and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 3rd and 4th each get two direct slots and two play-off slots.
    • The associations ranked 5th each get one direct slot and two play-off slots.
    • The associations ranked 6th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 7th to 10th each get one direct slot.
    • The associations ranked 11th to 12th each get one play-off slot.
    • The AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders each get a play-off slot should they not qualify for the tournament through domestic performance.

Association ranking

For the 2021 AFC Champions League, the associations are allocated slots according to their association ranking which was published on 29 November 2019,[6][7] which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup during the period between 2016 and 2019.

Participation for 2021 AFC Champions League
Participating
Not participating

Teams

In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count only those since the 2002–03 season (including qualifying rounds), when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League.

Note: Only teams assured of a place are displayed.

The following teams may enter either West Region or East Region (should they not qualify for the tournament through domestic performance).

Qualifying play-off participants
Team Qualifying method App (Last)
2020 AFC Champions League winners
2020 AFC Cup winners
Notes
  1. ^
    Iraq (IRQ): Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq, the 2019–20 Iraqi Premier League and the 2019–20 Iraq FA Cup were cancelled and declared null and void by the Iraq Football Association. A play-off will be held (starting on 10 August 2020) to determine which teams will qualify as Iraq 1 (AFC Champions League group stage), Iraq 2 and Iraq 3 (AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs).[8][9]
  2. ^
    Lebanon (LIB): Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon, the 2019–20 Lebanese Premier League was cancelled and declared null and void by the Lebanese Football Association (the competition was previously suspended due to domestic issues including protests and financial problems).[10][11] The team (if any) which will qualify as Lebanon 1 (AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs) is yet to be confirmed.
  3. ^
    Philippines (PHI): Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the 2020 Copa Paulino Alcantara was cancelled and not organized by the Philippine Football Federation. As a result, the 2020 Philippines Football League runners-up will qualify as Philippines 2 (AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs).[12]
  4. ^
    Thailand (THA): Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, the Football Association of Thailand extended both the 2020 Thai League 1 and 2020 Thai FA Cup to be completed in 2021. As a result, the league 1st and 2nd place after the first half of the season will qualify as Thailand 1 and Thailand 2 respectively (AFC Champions League group stage), and the 3rd and 4th place will qualify as Thailand 3 and Thailand 4 respectively (AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs).[13][14]
  5. ^
    United Arab Emirates (UAE): Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates, the 2019–20 UAE Pro League and the 2019–20 UAE President's Cup were cancelled and declared null and void by the United Arab Emirates Football Association. The teams from the United Arab Emirates playing in the 2021 AFC Champions League will be the same as the 2020 AFC Champions League, as determined by the 2018–19 UAE Pro League and the 2018–19 UAE President's Cup, subject to the teams passing the club licensing requirements and AFC's approval.[15][16]

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[17]

Stage Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Preliminary stage Preliminary round 1 No draw 12 January 2021
Preliminary round 2 19 January 2021
Play-off stage Play-off round 26 January 2021
Group stage Matchday 1 TBA November/December 2020 8–10 February 2021
Matchday 2 15–17 February 2021
Matchday 3 1–3 March 2021
Matchday 4 15–17 March 2021
Matchday 5 12–14 April 2021
Matchday 6 26–28 April 2021
Knockout stage Round of 16 17–19 May 2021 24–26 May 2021
Quarter-finals TBA May/June 2021 23–25 August 2021 13–15 September 2021
Semi-finals 28–29 September 2021 26–27 October 2021
Final 21 November 2021 27 November 2021

See also

References
  1. "AFC to invest in new era of national team and club competitions". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  2. "More Member Associations to benefit from inclusive AFC Champions League". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  3. "AFC Club Competitions Ranking Mechanics". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation.
  4. "More Member Associations to benefit from inclusive AFC Champions League". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 November 2019.
  5. "Four Thailand clubs in AFC Champions League 2021; Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore also get group stage entry – Reports". Fox Sports Asia. 4 December 2019.
  6. "AFC Club Competitions Ranking". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation.
  7. "AFC Country Ranking 2019". FootyRankings. 24 November 2019. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  8. "إلغاء دوري الكرة العراقي الممتاز وإقامة بطولة تنشيطية". Rudaw (in Arabic). 3 June 2020.
  9. "Iraqi Premier League called off". Asian Football Confederation. 4 June 2020.
  10. "الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم يعلن إلغاء الموسم بسبب كورونا". The New Arab. 28 May 2020.
  11. "Football season called off in Lebanon". Asian Football Confederation. 28 May 2020.
  12. Saldajeno, Ivan Stewart (28 May 2020). "PFF to submit protocols to GAB for possible PFL return". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  13. "บทสรุปการจัดการแข่งขันฟุตบอลลีกอาชีพ ไทยลีก 1 -2 ฤดูกาล 2563". Football Association of Thailand. 21 April 2020.
  14. "Thai League 1 teams say no to scrapping results of first four games". The Phuket News. 22 April 2020.
  15. "قرارات الاجتماع الطارئ لمجلس إدارة اتحاد الكرة". UAE Football Association. 18 June 2020.
  16. "No champions declared following cancellation of UAE Pro League 2019-20 season". Asian Football Confederation. 19 June 2020.
  17. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2021". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 5 December 2019.
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