 TheKing Abdullah Sports City Stadium inJeddah hosted the final | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 6–13 August 2024 Competition proper: 16 September 2024 – 3 May 2025 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 24 (from 12 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Al-Ahli (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Kawasaki Frontale |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 111 |
| Goals scored | 334 (3.01 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,677,544 (15,113 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Salem Al-Dawsari (10 goals) |
| Best player |  Roberto Firmino |
| Bestgoalkeeper |  Édouard Mendy |
2025–26 → | |
The2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) was the 43rd edition of Asia's premier clubfootball tournament, organised by theAsian Football Confederation (AFC), and the first since it was rebranded as theAFC Champions League Elite. The revamped format, along with the rebranding, saw 24 teams playing eight games against different opponents in the brand new league phase.[1]
The finals was played inJeddah, Saudi Arabia from 25 April to 3 May 2025.[2] The tournament winner,Al-Ahli, qualified for the2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the2029 FIFA Club World Cup. Additionally, they entered the league stage of the2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite, as they had not qualified through domestic performance.[3]
Al-Ain were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the league stage.[4]
The associations were allocated slots according to theirclub competitions ranking which was published after the 2022 competitions were completed.[5]
| Participation for 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite | |
|---|---|
| Participating | |
| Not participating | |
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In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count since the 2002–03 season, when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League.
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[8] All matches were played on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, apart from the quarter-finals and final. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final were played at a centralised venue inJeddah.
| Stage | Round | Draw date | West region | East region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary stage | Preliminary round 1 | No draw[a] | 6 August 2024 | |
| Preliminary round 2 | 13 August 2024 | |||
| League stage | Matchday 1 | 16 August 2024 | 16–17 September 2024 | 17–18 September 2024 |
| Matchday 2 | 30 September–1 October 2024 | 1–2 October 2024 | ||
| Matchday 3 | 21–22 October 2024 | 22–23 October 2024 | ||
| Matchday 4 | 4–5 November 2024 | 5–6 November 2024 | ||
| Matchday 5 | 25–26 November 2024 | 26–27 November 2024 | ||
| Matchday 6 | 2–3 December 2024 | 3–4 December 2024 | ||
| Matchday 7 | 3–4 February 2025 | 11–12 February 2025 | ||
| Matchday 8 | 17–18 February 2025 | 18–19 February 2025 | ||
| Round of 16[b] | No draw[a] | 3–4 and 10–11 March 2025 | 4–5 and 11–12 March 2025 | |
| Finals[c] | Quarter-finals | 17 March 2025 | 25–27 April 2025 | |
| Semi-finals | 29–30 April 2025 | |||
| Final | 3 May 2025 at King Abdullah Sports City,Jeddah | |||
The two winners of the play-off round (one from West Region and one from East Region) advanced to theleague stage to join the 22 direct entrants. The losers of the qualifying play-offs entered thegroup stage of the2024–25 AFC Champions League Two.[9]
A total of 2 teams played in the preliminary round.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
Sepahan  | 1–4 (a.e.t.) |  Shabab Al-Ahli |
A total of 4 teams played in the play-off round: 3 teams which entered in this round, and 1 winners of the preliminary round.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| West Region | ||
Al-Gharafa SC  | 1–0 | Shabab Al-Ahli |
| East Region | ||
Shandong Taishan  | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3p) |  Bangkok United |
Orange: East Region;
Blue: West Region| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al-Hilal | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 7 | +19 | 22 | Advance toround of 16 |
| 2 | Al-Ahli | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 22 | |
| 3 | Al-Nassr | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 17 | |
| 4 | Al-Sadd | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 12 | |
| 5 | Al Wasl | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 11 | |
| 6 | Esteghlal | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 9 | |
| 7 | Al-Rayyan | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 8 | |
| 8 |  Pakhtakor | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 7 | |
| 9 | Persepolis | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 7 | |
| 10 | Al-Gharafa | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 7 | |
| 11 |  Al-Shorta | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 17 | −10 | 6 | |
| 12 | Al Ain | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 22 | −11 | 2 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 7 | +14 | 18 | Advance toround of 16 |
| 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 15 | |
| 3 |  Johor Darul Ta'zim | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 14 | |
| 4 |  Gwangju | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 14 | |
| 5 | Vissel Kobe | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 13 | |
| 6 | Buriram United | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 12 | |
| 7 | Shanghai Shenhua | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 10 | |
| 8 | Shanghai Port | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 8 | |
| 9 | Pohang Steelers | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 6 | |
| 10 | Ulsan HD | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 16 | −12 | 3 | |
| 11 |  Central Coast Mariners | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 1 | |
| 12 | Shandong Taishan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrawn[a] |
| Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||||
| W8 | Pakhtakor | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 25 April –Jeddah | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Al-Hilal | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Al-Hilal | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Gwangju FC | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Vissel Kobe | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 29 April –Jeddah | ||||||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Gwangju FC(a.e.t.) | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Al-Hilal | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Al-Ahli | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W7 | Al-Rayyan | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 26 April –Jeddah | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Al-Ahli | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Al-Ahli | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E6 | Buriram United | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E6 | Buriram United | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 May –Jeddah | ||||||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Al-Ahli | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E8 | Shanghai Port | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 26 April –Jeddah | ||||||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Al-Nassr | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W6 | Esteghlal | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 30 April –Jeddah | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Al-Nassr | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Al-Nassr | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E7 | Shanghai Shenhua | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 27 April –Jeddah | ||||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Kawasaki Frontale(a.e.t.) | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Al-Sadd | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W5 | Al-Wasl | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Al-Sadd | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
A total of 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage, with eight teams in each region.
The first legs were played on 3–5 March, and the second legs were played on 10–12 March 2025.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Region | ||||
| Pakhtakor | 1–4 | Al-Hilal | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| Al-Rayyan | 1–5 | Al-Ahli | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| Esteghlal | 0–3 | Al-Nassr | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| Al-Wasl | 2–4 | Al-Sadd | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| East Region | ||||
| Shanghai Port | 1–5 | Yokohama FM | 0–1 | 1–4 |
| Shanghai Shenhua | 1–4 | Kawasaki Frontale | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| Buriram United | 1–0 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Vissel Kobe | 2–3 | Gwangju FC | 2–0 | 0–3 (a.e.t.) |
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, all as single-legged ties, were held inJeddah, Saudi Arabia from 25 April to 3 May 2025.
| Al-Hilal | 7–0 | Gwangju FC |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 1–4 | Al-Nassr |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Al-Hilal | 1–3 | Al-Ahli |
|---|---|---|
S. Al-Dawsari 42' | Report |
|
| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | MD7 | MD8 | R16-1 | R16-2 | QF | SF | F | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salem Al-Dawsari | Al-Hilal | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||||||
| 2 |  Riyad Mahrez | Al-Ahli | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||||||
 Jasir Asani | Gwangju FC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 4 |  Cristiano Ronaldo | Al-Nassr | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||||
| Anderson Lopes | Yokohama F. Marinos | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| 6 |  Aleksandar Mitrović | Al-Hilal | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||
| Roberto Firmino | Al-Ahli | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
 Ivan Toney | Al-Ahli | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Akram Afif | Al-Sadd | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Arif Aiman | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
 Matías Vargas | Shanghai Port | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||
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