| Tourney Name: | AFC Champions League Elite |
| Year: | 2024–25 |
| Num Teams: | Competition proper: 24 |
| Associations: | 12 |
| Prevseason: | 2023–24 (AFC CL) |
| Nextseason: | 2025–26 |
The 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) is the 43rd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the first since it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite. The revamped format, along with the rebranding, sees 24 teams playing eight games against different opponents in the brand new league phase.[1]
The final stage will be played in Saudi Arabia from 25 April to 4 May 2025.[2] The tournament winner will qualify for the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Additionally, the winner will enter the league stage of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite, if they have not already qualified through domestic performance.[3]
Al Ain are the defending champions, as the AFC Champions League records and statistics are carried forward to the ACL Elite.[4]
The associations are allocated slots according to their club competitions ranking which was published after the 2022 competitions were completed.[5]
| bgcolor=#f7f8ff colspan=2 | Participation for 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor=#90ee77 width=20 | Participating | ||
| bgcolor=#ffcccc width=20 | Not participating |
| +West Region (12 teams) | ||||||
| Rank | Member association | Points | Slots | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League stage | Play-off | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 93.795 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 4 | 75.950 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 3 | 5 | 72.018 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 4 | 6 | 64.129 | 1 | |||
| 5 | 9 | 45.006 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 10 | 36.901 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | Participating associations: 6 | 11 | 3 | |||
| 14 | ||||||
| +East Region (12 teams) | ||||||
| Rank | Member association | Points | Slots | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League stage | Play-off | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 91.821 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 3 | 88.925 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 7 | 57.630 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 4 | 8 | 49.470 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 5 | 11 | 33.380 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 6 | 13 | 29.951 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | Participating associations: 6 | 11 | 2 | |||
| 13 | ||||||
In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count since the 2002–03 season, when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League.
| width=25% | Team | width=60% | Qualifying method | width=16% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Ain | 2023–24 AFC Champions League title holder | 18th | |||
| Al-Hilal | 2023–24 Saudi Pro League champions 2023–24 King Cup winners | 20th | |||
| Al-Nassr | 2023–24 Saudi Pro League runners-up | 8th | |||
| Al-Ahli | 2023–24 Saudi Pro League third place | 14th | |||
| Al-Sadd | 2023–24 Qatar Stars League champions 2024 Emir of Qatar Cup winners | 19th | |||
| Al-Rayyan | 2023–24 Qatar Stars League runners-up | 13th | |||
| Persepolis | 2023–24 Persian Gulf Pro League champions | 12th | |||
| Esteghlal | 2023–24 Persian Gulf Pro League runners-up | 13th | |||
| Al-Wasl | 2023–24 UAE Pro League champions 2023–24 UAE President's Cup winners | 4th | |||
| Pakhtakor | 2023 Uzbekistan Super League champions | 20th | |||
| Al-Shorta | 2023–24 Iraq Stars League champions 2023–24 Iraq FA Cup winners | 6th |
| width=25% | Team | width=60% | Qualifying method | width=16% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Gharafa | 2023–24 Qatar Stars League third place | 13th | |||
| Sepahan | 2023–24 Hazfi Cup winners | 15th | |||
| Shabab Al-Ahli | 2023–24 UAE Pro League runners-up | 12th |
| width=25% | Team | width=60% | Qualifying method | width=16% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vissel Kobe | 2023 J1 League champions | 3rd | |||
| Kawasaki Frontale | 2023 Emperor's Cup winners | 11th | |||
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 2023 J1 League runners-up | 7th | |||
| Ulsan HD | 2023 K League 1 champions | 12th | |||
| Pohang Steelers | 2023 Korean FA Cup winners 2023 K League 1 runners-up | 10th | |||
| Gwangju | 2023 K League 1 third place | 1st | |||
| Shanghai Port | 2023 Chinese Super League champions | 8th | |||
| Shanghai Shenhua | 2023 Chinese FA Cup winners | 10th | |||
| Buriram United | 2023–24 Thai League 1 champions | 12th | |||
| Central Coast Mariners | 2023–24 A-League Men regular season premiers 2023–24 AFC Cup winners | 6th | |||
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2023 Malaysia Super League champions 2023 Malaysia FA Cup winners | 10th | |||
| width=25% | Team | width=60% | Qualifying method | width=16% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shandong Taishan | 2023 Chinese Super League runners-up | 12th | |||
| Bangkok United | 2023–24 Thai FA Cup winners 2023–24 Thai League 1 runners-up | 5th |
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[6] All matches will be played on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, apart from the quarter-finals and the final. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final matches will be played at a centralized venue in Saudi Arabia.
| Stage | Round | Draw date | West region | East region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary stage | Preliminary round 1 | No draw | 6 August 2024 | |
| Preliminary round 2 | 13 August 2024 | |||
| League stage | Matchday 1 | 16 August 2024 | 16–17 September 2024 | 17–18 September 2024 |
| Matchday 2 | 30 September–1 October 2024 | 1–2 October 2024 | ||
| Matchday 3 | 21–22 October 2024 | 22–23 October 2024 | ||
| Matchday 4 | 4–5 November 2024 | 5–6 November 2024 | ||
| Matchday 5 | 25–26 November 2024 | 26–27 November 2024 | ||
| Matchday 6 | 2–3 December 2024 | 3–4 December 2024 | ||
| Matchday 7 | 3–4 February 2025 | 11–12 February 2025 | ||
| Matchday 8 | 17–18 February 2025 | 18–19 February 2025 | ||
| Round of 16 | No draw | 3–4 and 10–11 March 2025 | 4–5 and 11–12 March 2025 | |
| Final stage | Quarter-finals | TBD | 25–26 April 2025 | |
| Semi-finals | 29–30 April 2025 | |||
| Final | 4 May 2025 | |||
See main article: 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite qualifying play-offs.
See main article: 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite league stage.
See main article: 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite knockout stage. A total of 16 teams will qualify for the knockout stage, with each region having 8 teams to qualify.