AFC Champions League

A request that this article title be changed to AFC Champions League Elite is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed.

AFC Champions League

Organising body	AFC
Founded	1967; 57 years ago (1967) (rebranded in 2002 and 2024)
Region	Asia
Number of teams	40 (group stage)
Qualifier for	FIFA Club World Cup FIFA Intercontinental Cup
Related competitions	AFC Champions League Two (2nd tier) AFC Challenge League (3rd tier)
Current champions	Al Ain (2nd title)
Most successful club(s)	Al-Hilal (4 titles)
Website	the-afc.com/champions-league
2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite

The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL; to be rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite in the 2024–25 season) 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 in Asian football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations.^[1]

Introduced in 1967 as the Asian Champion Club Tournament, the competition rebranded and took on its current name in 2002 following the merger of the Asian Club Championship, the Asian Cup Winners' Cup and the Asian Super Cup.

A total of 40 clubs compete in the round-robin group stage of the competition. Clubs from Asia's strongest national leagues receive automatic berths, with clubs from lower-ranked nations eligible to qualify via the qualifying playoffs, in addition to being eligible to participate in the AFC Cup. The winner of the AFC Champions League qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup.

The most successful club in the competition is Al-Hilal with a total of four titles. Al Ain are the current champions, having beaten Yokohama F. Marinos in the 2024 final.