The AFC Champions League Two (previously known as the AFC Cup, abbreviated as the ACL Two) is an annual

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

al club

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

competition organised by the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC Champions League Elite and above the

AFC Challenge League The AFC Challenge League is an upcoming annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The competition will be played between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying slots to ...

. The tournament was founded in 2004 as the AFC Cup, which was played primarily among clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying slots to the top-tier AFC Champions League. In 2024, the AFC introduced a revamped second-tier club competition under the name AFC Champions League Two, with the records and statistics of the AFC Cup transferring to the new competition. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in national leagues and cup competitions. Participation in the competition is open to clubs from the top 12 nations in the East and the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

region based on the

AFC club competitions ranking The AFC Club Competitions Ranking is a ranking system launched by the AFC in 2014. The ranking is based on the results of teams participating in the last four years of the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup. The ranking is used for determine slot ...

. The participant from each nation ranked 1–6 in each region is the highest-placed club in that nation that did not qualify for the AFC Champions League Elite. The nations ranked 7–12 in each region enter their top club(s) directly to the AFC Champions League Two. The current champions are

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

, who defeated

Al-Ahed Al Ahed Football Club ( ar, نادي العهد الرياضي, lit=The Covenant Sporting Club) is a football club based in Ouzai, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the Lebanese Premier League, the top flight of Lebanese footbal ...

in the 2024 final.

Al-Kuwait Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...

and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya are the most successful clubs in the competition's history, having won three titles each. Clubs from

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

have won four titles, making them the most successful nation in the competition. fa: لیگ قهرمانان آسیا ۲

History

The AFC Cup began in 2004 as a second-tier competition to relate back to the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

as 14 countries that had developing status competed in the first competition with 18 teams being nominated. The winners and three runners-up would then head to the knock-out stage where it was a random draw in who was going to play.

Al-Jaish Al Jaish is Arabic for army, and may refer to: * Tala'ea El Gaish SC, a football club based in Cairo, Egypt * Al-Jaish FC (Iraq), a football club based in Baghdad, Iraq * Al-Jaish SC (Syria), a football club based in Damascus, Syria * El Jaish SC, ...

took the first AFC Cup after they defeated fellow Syrian opponents Al-Wahda on away goals. In 2005, 18 teams competed from nine nations with the nations still being allowed to choose from one or two teams entering. After Syrian teams left the AFC Cup to try at the AFC Champions League for four years, Al-Faisaly defeated Nejmeh in the final. With it, Jordanian teams would win the next two AFC Cup seasons with Bahrain joining the league while Bangladesh was relegated to the AFC President's Cup until the tournament's abolition in 2014.

Al-Muharraq Muharraq ( ar, المحرق, al-Muḥarraq) is Bahrain's third largest city and served as its capital until 1932 when it was replaced by Manama. The population of Muharraq in 2012 was 176,583. The city is located on Muharraq Island. Bahrain Int ...

would break the trend in 2008 as they competed in the last two-legged final before it headed back into a one-leg system, a rule that was never changed till the termination of this tournament. On 23 December 2022, it was announced that the AFC competition structure would change from the established formats from the 2024–25 season. A new second-tier tournament called the AFC Champions League Two would be introduced. Meanwhile, a new third-tier competition was also launched under the name

. On 24 May 2024, AFC announced that the records and statistics of the preceding AFC club competitions will be recognised and integrated within the revamped club competitions, with the data from the AFC Cup transferring to the AFC Champions League Two.

Format

Some changes were applied in terms of teams and format for the

2017 AFC Cup The 2017 AFC Cup was the 14th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Defending champions Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya defeated Istiklol in the final to win their second AFC Cu ...

. A total of 36 teams participated in the group stage (12 each from

West Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

and

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

, and 4 each from

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

). The final is played as a one-off match.

Allocation

The allocation of group stage teams by member country was listed below; asterisks represent occasions where at least one team was eliminated in qualification for the group stage. Those who had not reached the group stage but had only played in qualification are not bolded.

Prize money

The prize money for the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two:

Marketing

Sponsorship

The tournament has been sponsored by a group of multinational corporations, in contrast to the single main sponsor typically found in national top-flight leagues. The tournament's sponsors are: * Neom

Results and statistics

Finals

Performance by clubs

Performance by nations

Top scorers

Most Valuable Player

Winning coaches

Top goalscorers

References

External links

AFC Cup
on

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:AFC Cup AFC Champions League Two Asian Football Confederation club competitions Recurring sporting events established in 2004 2004 establishments in Asia