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 in Asian football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations.
Introduced in 1967 as the Asian Champion Club Tournament, the competition rebranded and took on its current name in 2002 as a result of the merger between 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, and they are also 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. Urawa Red Diamonds are the current champions, having beaten Al-Hilal in the 2022 final.
