The 2023–24 AFC Champions League was the 42nd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 21st and final under the AFC Champions League title, as the competition would be rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite starting in 2024–25.
This season was the first to have an inter-year schedule from September (autumn-to-spring), instead of an intra-year schedule (spring-to-autumn), since the 2002–03 season.[1] This edition saw an increase in numbers of preliminary players, with 35 players able to be registered; teams were able to field six foreign players in games, where one of these players had to still be from another Asian nation.
The 47 AFC member associations were 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 slots were allocated by the following criteria according to the Entry Manual:[4]
The associations were split into two regions (Article 3.1):
The AFC could reallocate one or more associations to another region if necessary for sporting reasons.
The top 12 associations in each region could enter the AFC Champions League.
In each region, five groups were in the group stage, including 16 direct slots, with the four remaining filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 3.2). The slots in each region were distributed as follows:[5][6]
The associations ranked 1st and 2nd were each allocated three direct slots and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 3rd and 4th were each allocated two direct slots and two play-off slots.
The association ranked 5th was allocated one direct slot and two play-off slots.
The association ranked 6th was allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 7th to 10th were each allocated one direct slot.
The associations ranked 11th and 12th were each allocated one play-off slot.
The AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders were each allocated one play-off slot had they not qualified for the tournament through domestic performance (Article 3.6). The following rules were applied:
If the AFC Champions League title holders or AFC Cup title holders were from associations ranked 1st to 6th, their association was allocated the same number of play-off slots, and they replace the lowest-seeded team from their association. Otherwise, their association was allocated one additional play-off slot, and they did not replace any team from their association (Articles 3.8, 3.9, and 3.10).
If both the AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders were from the same association, which was allocated only one play-off slot, their association was allocated one additional play-off slot, and only the lowest-seeded team from their association was replaced as a result (Article 3.11).
The AFC Champions League and AFC Cup title holders were the lowest-seeded teams in the qualifying play-offs if they did not replace any team from their association (Article 3.12).
If any association ranked 1st to 6th did not fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria, they would have all their direct slots converted into play-off slots. The direct slots given up would be redistributed to the highest eligible association by the following criteria (Articles 3.13 and 3.14):
For each association, the maximum number of total slots was four, and the maximum number of direct slots was three (Articles 3.4 and 3.5).
If any association ranked 3rd to 6th was allocated one additional direct slot, one play-off slot was annulled and not redistributed.
If any association ranked 5th to 6th was allocated two additional direct slots, one play-off slot was annulled and not redistributed.
If any association ranked 7th to 10th did not fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria, they had their direct slot converted into a playoff slot. The direct slot given up was redistributed to the next association ranked 11th or 12th, whose play-off slot was annulled and not redistributed, or if neither was eligible, the highest eligible association by the same criteria mentioned above (Articles 3.16 and 3.17).
If any association with only play-off slot(s), including any association ranked 11th to 12th or those mentioned above, did not fulfill the minimum AFC Champions League criteria, the play-off slot(s) was annulled and not redistributed (Articles 3.19 and 3.20).
The maximum number of total slots for each association was one-third of eligible teams (excluding foreign teams) in the top division (Article 3.4). If this rule was applied, any direct slots given up would be redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots would be annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.10).
All participating teams had to be granted an AFC Champions League license and, apart from cup winners, finish in the top half of their top division (Articles 7.1 and 9.5). In the case that any association did not have enough teams that satisfied this criterion, any direct slots given up would be redistributed by the abovementioned criteria, and play-off slots would be annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.9).
If any team granted a license refused to participate, their direct or play-off slot was annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.11).
For the 2023–24 AFC Champions League, the associations were allocated slots according to the November 2021 AFC club competitions ranking,[7][8][9] which took into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup during the period between 2018 and 2021.[2020]
Competition in 2020: The 2020 season was not included in the overall ranking due to the cancellation of the remaining matches in the 2020 AFC Cup caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
Uzbekistan (UZB):Nasaf Qarshi, the winners of the 2022 Uzbekistan Cup, was already qualified directly to the group stage. Thus, fourth-placed AGMK qualified for the qualifying play-offs.
Singapore (SIN):Albirex Niigata (S), the 2022 Singapore Premier League champions, were a team from Japan and thus ineligible to represent Singapore in AFC club competitions. As a result, Lion City Sailors, the Singapore Premier League runners-up, qualified for the Champions League.
Thailand (THA): Due to changing the competition date to autumn–spring format, the Thai League decided to split their 2+2 quota to take 1+1 over the next two seasons. This meant that only the winners of the 2021–22 Thai League 1 and the winners of the 2022–23 Thai League 1 would qualify directly for the group stage, while the winners of the 2021–22 Thai FA Cup and the winners of the 2022–23 Thai FA Cup would qualify for the qualifying play-off. As the 2021–22 Thai League 1 champions Buriram United also won the 2021–22 Thai FA Cup, the slot reserved for the cup winners of the 2021–22 season went to the season's league runners-up BG Pathum United. Since they also won both the 2022–23 Thai League 1 and the 2022–23 Thai FA Cup, the slot reserved for these two spots went to that season's league runners-up Bangkok United and third-placed team Port.[11]
Australia (AUS): Due to the change of the competition date to the autumn–spring format, the Australian Professional Leagues modified the criteria for qualification so that the solitary qualifier was whichever of the A-League Men premiers for the 2021–22 or the 2022–23 season accrued the most combined points over both seasons.[12] Melbourne City were premiers for both seasons.
Vietnam (VIE): Since the 2022 Vietnamese Cup winners Hanoi already directly qualified for the group stage as the league winners, league runners-up Haiphong qualified for the qualifying play-offs.
The draw for the group stage was held on 24 August 2023 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[14] The 40 teams were drawn into ten groups of four: five groups each in the West Region (Groups A–E) and the East Region (Groups F–J). For each region, teams were seeded into four pots and drawn into the relevant positions within each group, based on their association ranking and their seeding within their association, in consideration of the technical balance between groups. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
Location of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage teams Brown: Group A; Cyan: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Pink: Group E; Green: Group F; Blue: Group G; Red: Group H; Turquoise: Group I; Purple: Group J
Source: AFC Rules for classification: Tiebreakers Notes:
^ abRanked on head-to-head points: Sepahan 4, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1.
^The match was abandoned after Al-Ittihad walked off in protest due to the presence of a sculpture of Qasem Soleimani on the pitch.[15] The match was awarded a 3–0 win to Al-Ittihad, with Sepahan also being fined $200,000 and banned from hosting its next three Asian Champions League matches at home.[16][17]
Al Ain (2nd title)
Yokohama F. Marinos
Soufiane Rahimi (13 goals)
Al-Wehdat
Bashundhara Kings
Al-Seeb
Haiphong
Bali United
Port
Brown: Group A; 
Cyan: Group B; 
Orange: Group C; 
Yellow: Group D; 
Pink: Group E;
Green: Group F; 
Blue: Group G; 
Red: Group H; 
Turquoise: Group I; 
Purple: Group J
Brown: Group A; 
Cyan: Group B; 
Orange: Group C; 
Yellow: Group D; 
Pink: Group E;
Green: Group F; 
Blue: Group G; 
Red: Group H; 
Turquoise: Group I; 
Purple: Group J
Ahal
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Mumbai City
Istiklol
Lion City Sailors
Kaya–Iloilo
Melbourne City
Johor Darul Ta'zim
Cryzan
Aleksandar Mitrović
Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba
Cristiano Ronaldo
Martin Ádám
Baghdad Bounedjah