| Tourney Name: | AFC Challenge League |
| Year: | 2025–26 |
| Num Teams: | Competition proper: 20 |
| Associations: | 27 |
| Prevseason: | 2024–25 |
| Nextseason: | 2026–27 |
The 2025–26 AFC Challenge League will be the 12th edition of the Asia's third-tier continental club football competition, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the second under the AFC Challenge League title.[1] [2] The winner will be given a direct slot for the 2026–27 AFC Champions League Two group stage, if they haven't already qualified through their domestic performance.
The associations are allocated slots according to their club competitions ranking which was published after the 2023–24 competitions were completed.[3] [4]
| bgcolor=#f7f8ff colspan=2 | Participation for 2025–26 AFC Challenge League | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor=#90ee77 width=20 | Participating | ||
| bgcolor=#ffcccc width=20 | Not participating |
| +West Region (3 groups) | |||||
| Rank | Member Association | Points | Slots | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | Play-off | ||||
| --> | |||||
| — | — | 2025-26 AFC Champions League Two qualifying round losers | — | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | 19 | 20.217 | 1 | 0 | |
| 12 | 20 | 20.048 | 1 | 0 | |
| 13 | 21 | 18.711 | 1 | 0 | |
| 14 | 22 | 17.818 | 0 | 1 | |
| 15 | 24 | 17.125 | 0 | 1 | |
| 16 | 26 | 15.972 | 0 | 1 | |
| 17 | 27 | 15.500 | 0 | 1 | |
| 18 | 30 | 10.490 | 0 | 1 | |
| 19 | 35 | 4.984 | 0 | 1 | |
| 20 | 38 | 0.917 | 0 | 1 | |
| 21 | 39 | 0.555 | 0 | 1 | |
| 22 | 40 | 0.505 | 0 | 1 | |
| 23 | 42 | 0.075 | 0 | 1 | |
| 24 | 43 | 0.000 | 0 | 1 | |
| 24 | 43 | 0.000 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | Participating associations: 15 | 5 | 12 | ||
| 5--> | |||||
| 17 | |||||
| +East Region (2 groups) | |||||
| Rank | Member Association | Points | Slots | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | Play-off | ||||
| --> | |||||
| — | — | 2024–25 AFC Champions League 2 qualifying round losers | — | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | 28 | 14.816 | 0 | 1 | |
| 12 | 29 | 13.923 | 0 | 1 | |
| 13 | 31 | 10.375 | 0 | 1 | |
| 14 | 32 | 7.581 | 0 | 1 | |
| 15 | 33 | 6.978 | 0 | 1 | |
| 16 | 34 | 5.300 | 0 | 1 | |
| 17 | 36 | 3.770 | 0 | 1 | |
| 18 | 37 | 1.198 | 0 | 1 | |
| 19 | 41 | 0.100 | 0 | 1 | |
| 20 | 43 | 0.000 | 0 | 1 | |
| 20 | 43 | 0.000 | 0 | 1 | |
| 20 | 43 | 0.000 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | Participating associations: 12 | 2 | 12 | ||
| 6--> | |||||
| 14 | |||||
| width=25% | Team | width=60% | Qualifying method | width=16% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two qualifying round losers | |||||
| 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two qualifying round losers | |||||
| 2024 Turkmenistan Cup winners | |||||
| 2024–25 Sultan Qaboos Cup winners | |||||
| 2024–25 Lebanese Premier League champions |
| width=25% | Team | width=60% | Qualifying method | width=16% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 Kuwaiti Premier League champions | |||||
| 2024–25 Bangladesh Premier League champions | |||||
| 2024–25 Syrian Premier League champions | |||||
| Abdysh-Ata Kant | 2024 Kyrgyz Premier League champions | 2nd | |||
| 2024 Dhivehi Premier League champions | |||||
| 2024–25 Palestine Professional League champions | |||||
| 2024–25 Martyr Memorial A-Division League champions | |||||
| 2024 Sri Lanka Premier League champions | |||||
| Paro | 2024 Bhutan Premier League champions | 2nd | |||
| 2024 Afghan Premier League champions | |||||
| 2024–25 Pakistan Premier League champions | |||||
| 2024 Yemeni League champions |
| width=25% | Team | width=60% | Qualifying method | width=16% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two qualifying round losers | |||||
| 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two qualifying round losers |
| width=25% | Team | width=60% | Qualifying method | width=16% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 Liga 1 runners-up | |||||
| 2024–25 Hwaebul Cup winners | |||||
| 2024–25 Cambodian Premier League champions | |||||
| 2024–25 Myanmar National League champions | |||||
| Tainan City TSG | 2024 Taiwan Football Premier League champions | ||||
| 2024–25 Mongolian Premier League champions | |||||
| Benfica de Macau | 2024 Liga de Elite champions | 1st | |||
| 2024–25 Lao League champions | |||||
| 2024–25 Brunei Super League champions | |||||
| 2024–25 Guam Soccer League champions | |||||
| 2024 Marianas Soccer League 1 champions | |||||
| 2024 Liga Futebol Timor Leste champions |