AFC club competitions ranking

Ranking system used by the Asian Football Confederation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The AFC club competitions ranking is a ranking system launched by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2014.[1][2] It was initially launched by the AFC to provide an informative ranking, rather than to determine the number of places each country would be allocated in its club competitions.[2]

In 2024, the AFC announced changes in the format for ranking the three revamped Club competitions – AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE), AFC Champions League Two (ACL2), AFC Challenge League (ACGL) – which would come into effect from the 2024–25 season.[3] Using a weighted formula, the current structure takes into account the results of clubs from each member association from the past eight seasons.[4]

Following the conclusion of the inaugural AFC Women's Champions League, the AFC introduced a ranking system for women's club competitions.[5][6] This ranking system takes into account the results of clubs from each member association (70%), and each member associations FIFA Women's World Ranking (30%). This system came into effect from the 2025–26 season.

Men's ranking

The men's club competitions ranking (former member association ranking, or MA ranking) is used to rank associations and determine the total number of clubs from each association that will participate in the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE), AFC Champions League Two (ACL2), and AFC Challenge League (ACGL).[7] The ranking is provisional, as all teams participating in AFC club competition must pass club licensing requirements and be confirmed by the AFC prior to entry. If clubs are unable to meet said requirements, their spot will be redistributed to another club in their member association. If no clubs from a member association are able to meet the necessary licensing requirements, the AFC may redistribute the qualification position to another member association or adjust the structure of its competition to reflect the total number of teams participating.

Due to the 2020 AFC Cup being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and Australia, the AFC announced that all points from the 2020 AFC Champions League and AFC Cup would be excluded from all ranking calculations.[8][9] The AFC later reaffirmed this decision in 2022, when the ranking system was adjusted to take into account the results of the previous eight seasons.[3]

Calculation principle

From the 2024–25 season onwards, clubs are awarded points based on their performance and bonus points. Performance points are awarded based on the results of each club in AFC club competitions. In the AFC Champions League Elite, three points are awarded for each win by a club, and one for a draw (in the qualifying rounds teams receive 0.3 points for a win and 0.15 points for a draw). Clubs participating in the Champions League Two and Challenge League will be awarded two-thirds and one-third of the ACLE points respectively. As is the case in the UEFA men's association coefficient, results determined by extra time do count in determining the allocation of points, but results determined by penalty shootouts do not affect the allocation of points, other than for bonus points given for qualification into the latter rounds.

Bonus points are awarded to clubs based on their qualification into later rounds of the competition. Clubs can receive a maximum of 10.5 bonus points in the ACLE, 7 in the ACL2, and 5 in the ACGL. Clubs eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the ACGL are awarded 0.5 participation points.

At the end of each season, the total number of points awarded to each member association is based on the average performance of all clubs participating in AFC Club competitions.

More information Performance points, Score ...
Performance points Score[a]
ACLE ACL2 ACGL
Wins in qualifying rounds 0.3 0.2 0.15
Draws in qualifying rounds 0.15 0.1 0.075
Wins in Group stage/League phase onwards 3 2 1.5
Draws in Group stage/League phase onwards 1 0.666 0.5
Bonus points Score[a]
ACLE ACL2 ACGL
Group stage/League phase participation 3 2 1.5
Elimination in qualifying rounds –[b] –[b] 0.5
Round of 16 participation 3 2 –[c]
Quarter-finals participation 1.5 1 1.5
Semi-finals and Final participation 1.5 1 0.75
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New Performance points for West Region for 2025–26 season

More information Performance points, Score ...
Performance points Score[a]
ACLE ACL2 ACGL
Wins in Group stage/League phase onwards 3 2 1.5
Draws in Group stage/League phase onwards 1 0.666 0.5
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Current ranking

The ranking below takes into account of each association's performance in Asian competitions over the past eight seasons, with the 2025–26 season underway. The final ranking at the end of the 2025–26 season will be used to determine the slot allocation for the 2027–28 AFC club competitions.

As of 20 April 2026, the ranking is as follows:[11]

More information Ranking, Member association (L: League, C: Cup) ...
Ranking Member association
(L: League, C: Cup)		 Club points Total Active teams[d] 2027–28 Competition Slot Allocation
(direct+indirect)
Region 2025–26 2024–25Mvmt 2017
(×0.3)		 2018
(×0.4)		 2019
(×0.5)		 2021
(×0.6)		 2022
(×0.7)		 2023–24
(×0.8)		 2024–25
(×0.9)		 2025–26
(×1.0)		 ACLE ACL2 ACGL Total
W1 1 1Same position —Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia (L, C) 18.600 10.000 26.350 20.950 19.075 27.100 34.542 28.783 130.228 1/4 3+0 1+0 0 4
W2 4 4Same position —United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates (L, C) 11.350 8.100 7.633 14.400 8.083 25.500 16.400 19.550 79.470 0/4 2+1 1+0 0
W3 5 61 +1Iran Iran (L, C) 16.200 18.850 11.500 14.225 13.250 9.300 13.274 16.102 71.449 0/3
W4 6 51 –1Qatar Qatar (L, C) 13.400 19.850 15.900 7.300 13.500 8.100 14.701 15.896 69.347 0/4 1+1 1+0 0 3
W5 10 91 –1Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (L, C) 5.050 9.400 9.000 8.960 10.057 11.250 10.333 6.760 47.251 0/2 1+0 1+0 0 2
W6 12 132 +1Jordan Jordan (L, C) 4.900 7.633 7.967 4.893 6.000 5.415 12.000 12.555 43.330 0/2
W7 13 121 –1Iraq Iraq (L, C) 8.933 8.633 8.300 3.250 7.450 7.473 8.500 11.086 42.163 0/2 0 1+1 0
W8 16 16Same position —Bahrain Bahrain (L, C) 3.467 1.633 2.500 5.510 5.215 7.020 7.583 7.207 29.548 0/2
W9 17 17Same position —Oman Oman (L, C) 2.200 1.583 1.433 0.000 6.795 9.780 9.000 6.722 29.412 0/2
W10 20 20Same position —Turkmenistan Turkmenistan (L, C) 4.483 7.583 5.267 3.125 2.640 3.463 7.450 6.494 26.704 0/3
W11 21 21Same position —Kuwait Kuwait (L, C) 0.000 0.000 3.433 7.070 4.160 3.165 8.075 7.892 26.562 1/2 0 0+1 1+0
W12 23 241 +1Tajikistan Tajikistan (L, C) 12.900 4.433 3.000 4.970 2.493 2.230 3.276 5.774 22.377 0/2
W13 24 262 +2Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan (L, C) 1.400 0.150 2.433 0.835 0.565 11.830 4.600 6.158 22.355 0/2 0 0 1+0 1
W14 25 223 –3Lebanon Lebanon (L, C) 0.833 3.933 6.933 2.670 1.525 4.840 4.500 5.806 21.687 0/2 0 0 0+1
W15 26 188 –8India India (L, C) 6.250 4.417 3.217 3.677 4.797 3.453 6.500 1.338 20.765 0/2
W16 28 28Same position —Bangladesh Bangladesh (L, C) 1.333 1.433 6.933 2.790 3.760 4.730 1.500 2.433 16.313 0/2
W17 31 292 –2Syria Syria (L, C) 5.933 2.000 3.133 1.785 2.890 1.400 2.500 1.000 11.610 0/2
W18 34 331 –1Maldives Maldives (L, C) 4.300 4.300 0.000 0.200 2.030 2.640 1.500 0.500 8.513 0/1
W19 35 361 +1Bhutan Bhutan (L, C) 0.150 0.150 0.100 0.100 0.100 0.100 3.600 2.544 6.149 0/1
W20 36 351 –1Palestine Palestine (L, C) 0.200 0.150 2.967 0.835 0.610 0.100 2.500 0.000 4.862 0
W21 39 39Same position —Nepal Nepal (L) 0.000 0.000 0.667 0.200 0.100 0.200 0.500 0.000 1.134 0
W22 40 411 +1Afghanistan Afghanistan (L) 0.150 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.500 0.500 0.995 0/1
W23 42 402 –2Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (L, C) 0.100 0.000 0.350 0.100 0.200 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.405 0
W24 43 43Same position —Yemen Yemen (L, C) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
W24 43 43Same position —Pakistan Pakistan (L, C) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
E1 2 2Same position —Japan Japan (L, C) 21.850 13.850 21.800 17.875 20.088 21.350 27.970 28.500 118.535 1/4 3+0 1+0 0 4
E2 3 3Same position —South Korea South Korea (L, C) 9.950 18.350 13.600 22.750 15.800 22.350 14.762 14.333 87.334 0/4 2+1 1+0 0
E3 7 7Same position —Thailand Thailand (L, C) 15.050 16.200 5.050 8.500 11.110 8.567 14.875 15.958 62.596 0/4
E4 8 8Same position —China China (L, C) 24.567 16.200 17.350 0.800 0.500 11.900 10.250 7.383 49.483 0/4 1+1 1+0 0 3
E5 9 101 +1Australia Australia (L, C) 5.900 7.300 2.600 0.000 7.900 10.593 12.796 17.667 49.178 0/2 1+0 1+0 0 2
E6 11 11Same position —Malaysia Malaysia (L, C) 4.395 3.633 4.450 4.000 9.677 6.213 15.511 12.083 45.184 0/2
E7 14 151 +1Singapore Singapore (L, C) 5.138 5.617 4.133 0.000 3.253 3.640 14.833 14.500 38.894 0/2 0 1+1 0
E8 15 141 –1Vietnam Vietnam (L, C) 2.800 3.267 10.752 6.000 5.300 5.400 11.333 8.667 38.020 0/2
E9 18 213 +3Cambodia Cambodia (L, C) 1.683 2.250 1.000 0.000 2.070 5.620 11.000 9.850 27.600 1/2
E10 19 256 +6Indonesia Indonesia (L, C) 0.000 4.100 5.045 0.000 3.960 3.560 7.204 11.033 27.299 0/2
E11 22 193 –3Hong Kong Hong Kong (L, C) 1.750 3.300 3.650 7.333 6.587 4.900 3.333 4.333 23.933 0/2 0 0+1 0+1
E12 27 27Same position —Philippines Philippines (L, C) 8.120 5.843 4.782 2.600 0.300 0.600 3.667 5.875 18.590 0/2
E13 29 312 +2Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei (L) 0.000 0.000 0.333 2.000 0.000 5.145 6.050 3.600 14.528 0/2 0 0 0+1 1
E14 30 30Same position —Myanmar Myanmar (L, C) 1.300 4.062 1.600 0.000 0.000 1.640 7.150 2.050 12.612 0/2
E15 32 341 +1Mongolia Mongolia (L, C) 0.000 0.100 0.100 0.000 0.100 5.080 2.200 3.600 9.804 0/2
E16 33 321 –1North Korea North Korea (L, C) 3.433 7.433 11.067 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 9.537 0
E17 37 381 +1Laos Laos (L, C) 0.150 0.150 0.333 0.000 0.000 0.100 1.650 1.550 3.387 0/1
E18 38 371 –1Macau Macau (L, C) 0.000 4.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 1.370 0.000 0.000 2.696 0
E19 41 421 +1Brunei Brunei (L, C) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.100 0.000 0.500 0.580 0/1
E20 43 43Same position —Timor-Leste East Timor (L, C) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
E20 43 43Same position —Guam Guam (L, C) 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
E20 43 43Same position —Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands (L) Not an AFC member 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
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  Indicates active associations which have teams still competing in the current season's ACL Elite
  Indicates active associations which have teams still competing in the current season's ACL Two
  Indicates active associations which have teams still competing in the current season's Challenge League.
  Associations which have no remaining teams in the current season's competitions.
  Associations which did not compete in the current season's competitions.

Slot allocation

The following is the preliminary slot allocation for the 2026–27 season.[12]

More information Champions League Elite, Champions League Two ...
Champions League Elite Champions League Two Challenge League
Ranking Member Association LP QR GS QR GS QR
West region East region W E W E W E W E W E W E
1 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Japan Japan 3 2 1
2 United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates South Korea South Korea 3 1 1
3 Qatar Qatar Thailand Thailand 3 1
4 Iran Iran China China 2 1
5 Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Australia Australia 1 1 1
6 Iraq Iraq Malaysia Malaysia 1 1
7 Jordan Jordan Vietnam Vietnam 1 1
8 Bahrain Bahrain Singapore Singapore 1 1
9 Oman Oman Hong Kong Hong Kong
10 India India Cambodia Cambodia
11 Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Indonesia Indonesia 1 1 1
12 Kuwait Kuwait Philippines Philippines
13 Lebanon Lebanon Myanmar Myanmar 1 1
14 Tajikistan Tajikistan Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei 1
15 Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan North Korea North Korea
16 Bangladesh Bangladesh Mongolia Mongolia
17 Syria Syria Macau Macau
18 Maldives Maldives Laos Laos
19 Palestine Palestine Brunei Brunei
20 Bhutan Bhutan Timor-Leste East Timor
21 Nepal Nepal Guam Guam
22 Afghanistan Afghanistan Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands
23 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
24 Yemen Yemen
25 Pakistan Pakistan
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History

The initial ranking system launched in 2014 took into account the results of clubs from each member association (70%), and their FIFA Men's World Ranking (30%), with the member association(s) with the most points in each part being given 70 and 30 points respectively. This system was later adopted for the AFC Women's Champions League in 2025. In 2017 the ratio was adjusted to 90% club points and 10% national team points, the member association with the most points in each part would now be awarded 90 and 10 points. From 2018 onwards the AFC has no longer taken member associations FIFA ranking into account.

The ranking until 2021 consisted of the total points of member associations' clubs over the previous four years. From the 2022 season onwards, the ranking has taken into account the points over the previous eight seasons, with earlier editions having a decreasingly smaller contribution through an applied multiplier.

Due to the 2020 AFC Cup being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and Australia, the AFC announced that all points from the 2020 AFC Champions League and AFC Cup would be excluded from all ranking calculations.[8][9] The AFC later reaffirmed this decision in 2022, when the ranking system was adjusted to take into account the results of the previous eight seasons.[3]

Top associations by period

The following data indicates the three top-ranked associations by period. Until 2021 the AFC measured each member association's performance over a four seasons period.

More information Years, 1st place ...
Years 1st place Points 2nd place Points 3rd place Points
2011–2014 South Korea South Korea 94.866 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 88.268 Iran Iran 80.794
2012–2015 89.837 89.217 78.153
2013–2016 96.311 United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 87.555 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 84.698
2014–2017 United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 95.940 South Korea South Korea 87.480 China China 86.671
2015–2018 Qatar Qatar 100.000 China China 95.982 South Korea South Korea 88.620
2016–2019 China China 100.000 Qatar Qatar 97.644 Japan Japan 93.321
2017–2020 100.000 Japan Japan 98.938 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 94.551
2018–2021 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 100.000 South Korea South Korea 95.462 Japan Japan 93.412
2014–2022 93.795 Japan Japan 91.821 South Korea South Korea 88.295
2015–2024 103.148 96.999 93.600
2016–2025 119.957 107.663 90.982
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Notes
  • No points from the 2020 AFC Champions League or 2020 AFC Cup were used in the ranking calculations, as the 2020 AFC Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8][13]
  • Due to AFC competitions shifting from an all-year-round schedule to an August-to-May schedule for the 2023–24 season, there was no AFC competition ranking for 2023.[14]

Women's ranking

The ranking below takes into account of each association's performance in the 2025–26 AFC Women's Champions League and their FIFA Women's World Ranking. The member association(s) with the most points in each part being given 70 and 30 points respectively. This is the same system used by the AFC for men's competitions from 2014 to 2017.

As of 23 November 2025, the ranking is as follows:[15]

More information Ranking, Member association (L: League) ...
Ranking Member association
(L: League)		 Club points National team points Total Active teams
2025–26 2024–25Mvmt
1 1Same position —Australia Australia (L) 70.000 27.934 97.934 1/1
2 31 +1Japan Japan (L) 51.147 30.000 81.147 1/1
3 41 +1China China (L) 52.827 27.508 80.335 1/1
4 21 –2South Korea South Korea (L) 48.067 27.075 75.141 1/1
5 5Same position —Vietnam Vietnam (L) 50.120 24.604 74.724 1/1
6 71 +1Iran Iran (L) 34.608 20.889 55.497 0/1
7 131 +6North Korea North Korea (L) 24.080 29.592 53.672 1/1
8 111 +3India India (L) 23.688 21.435 45.123 0/1
9 9Same position —Philippines Philippines (L) 20.720 23.583 44.303 1/1
10 81 –2Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei (L) 17.173 23.434 40.607 0/1
11 141 +3Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (L) 16.091 22.643 38.733 1/1
12 61 –6United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates (L) 19.992 17.554 37.546 0
13 101 –3Thailand Thailand (L) 8.773 22.543 31.316 0/1
14 151 +1Myanmar Myanmar (L) 8.120 22.163 30.283 0/1
15 121 –3Malaysia Malaysia (L) 8.689 18.687 27.376 0/1
16 237 +7Singapore Singapore (L) 8.120 15.735 23.855 0/1
17 161 –1Jordan Jordan (L) 3.397 19.601 22.998 0/1
18 171 –1Hong Kong Hong Kong (L) 2.837 19.342 22.179 0/1
19 19Same position —Nepal Nepal (L) 2.025 18.930 20.956 0/1
20 181 –2Laos Laos (L) 2.277 17.730 20.008 0/1
21 221 +1Guam Guam (L) 0.933 18.293 19.227 0/1
22 242 +2Cambodia Cambodia (L) 1.213 17.470 18.683 0/1
23 281 +5Bangladesh Bangladesh (L) 0.000 17.958 17.958 0
24 212 –3Indonesia Indonesia (L) 0.000 17.914 17.914 0
25 207 –5Bahrain Bahrain (L) 0.000 17.797 17.797 0
26 291 +3Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan (L) 1.213 16.170 17.384 0/1
27 252 –2Mongolia Mongolia (L) 1.493 15.763 17.257 0/1
28 262 –2Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia (L) 3.341 13.844 17.185 0/1
29 272 –2Lebanon Lebanon (L) 0.000 16.920 16.920 0
30 30Same position —Palestine Palestine (C) 0.000 16.769 16.769 0
31 332 +2Bhutan Bhutan (L) 2.333 14.005 16.338 0/1
32 311 –1Turkmenistan Turkmenistan (L) 0.000 16.193 16.193 0
33 341 +1Pakistan Pakistan (L) 0.000 15.331 15.331 0
34 362 +2Timor-Leste East Timor (L) 0.000 14.702 14.702 0
35 321 –3Tajikistan Tajikistan (L) 0.000 14.462 14.462 0
36 36Same position —Syria Syria (L) 0.000 14.177 14.177 0
37 37Same position —Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (L) 0.000 14.158 14.158 0
38 38Same position —Maldives Maldives (L) 0.000 13.831 13.831 0
39 39Same position —Iraq Iraq (L) 0.000 13.664 13.664 0
40 40Same position —Macau Macau (L) 0.000 12.951 12.951 0
—Afghanistan Afghanistan[e] 0.000 0.000[f] 0.000 0
— Brunei Brunei[e] 0.000 0.000[g] 0.000 0
— Kuwait Kuwait (L) 0.000 0.000[f] 0.000 0
— Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands (L) 0.000 0.000[h] 0.000 0
— Oman Oman[e] 0.000 0.000[g] 0.000 0
— Qatar Qatar (L) 0.000 0.000[f] 0.000 0
— Yemen Yemen[e] 0.000 0.000[g] 0.000 0
Close
  Indicates active associations which have teams still competing in the current season's Champions League
  Associations which have no remaining teams in the current season's Champions League.
  Associations which did not compete in the current season's Champions League.

See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    There is a points multiplier which takes into consideration the maximum number of points that can be earned in each competition, where in 2025[10] it is calculated as:
    • ACLE: 1
    • ACL2: 0.666 (by formula 2/3 * 49.5/49.5)
    • ACGL: 0.5 (By formula 1/3 * 49.5/33.0)
  2. [b]
    Losing teams in ACLE or ACL2 qualifying rounds qualify to the ACL2 or ACGL group stage respectively, earning the respective participation points.
  3. [c]
    The ACGL knockout stage begins at the quarter-finals.
  4. [d]
    Number of teams still active from association in AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two or AFC Challenge League.
  5. [e]
    No women's domestic league
  6. [f]
    Unranked in the FIFA Women's World Ranking
  7. [g]
    Country does not field a women's national team.
  8. [h]
    The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association is not affiliated with FIFA, therefore the Northern Mariana Islands women's national football team is unable to obtain a FIFA ranking

References

External links

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