| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | August 1996 – March 1997 |
| Teams | 26 |
| Venue | Shan Alam (final round) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Pohang Steelers (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma |
| Third place |  Persepolis |
| Fourth place |  Al-Zawraa |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 51 |
| Goals scored | 155 (3.04 per match) |
| Top scorer | Park Tae-Ha (3 goals) |
| Best player | An Ik-Soo |
| Fair play award | Al-Zawraa |
←1995 1997–98 → | |
The1996–97Asian Club Championship was the 16th edition of the annual international club football competition held in theAFC region (Asia). It determined that year's club champion ofassociation football inAsia.
Pohang Steelers ofSouth Korea won the final and became Asian champions for the first time after beatingCheonan Ilhwa Chunma in the first ever Asian top club tournament that ended in a one-country final.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
FK Neftchy Farg'ona | 8–2 |  Pamir Dushanbe | 4–1 | 4–1 |
AiK Bishkek | 3–6 |  Yelimay Semipalatinsk | 2–4 | 1–2 |
Köpetdag Aşgabat | 0–1 | Persepolis | 0–0 | 0–1 |
Kazma | 10–1 |  Dhofar | 9–0 | 1–1 |
West Riffa | 2-4 |  Nejmeh | 2–1 | 0–3 |
Al-Nassr | w/o1 |  Al-Sharjah | ||
Al-Rayyan | bye | |||
| Al-Zawraa | bye |
1Al-Sharjah withdrew.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Shanghai Shenhua | 9–2 |  Instant-Dict FC | 7–1 | 2–1 |
Công an Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh | 1–2 |  Johor F.C. | 0–1 | 1–1(a.e.t.) |
JCT FC | 2–2 (4–2p) |  New Road Team | 1–1 | 1–1 |
PSM Makassar | 1–4 | Pohang Steelers | 1–0 | 0–4 |
New Radiant | 1–0 |  Pettah United SC | 1–0 | n/p1 |
Yokohama Marinos | w/o2 |  GD Artilheiros | ||
Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | bye | |||
Thai Farmers Bank FC | bye |
1 The 2nd leg was cancelled due to political violence in Sri Lanka.
2GD Artilheiros withdrew.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Zawraa | 3–1 | FK Neftchy Farg'ona | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Yelimay Semipalatinsk | 3–5 | Persepolis | 3–0 | 0–5 |
| Nejmeh | 1–4 | Al-Nassr | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| Al-Kazma | 1–2 | Al-Rayyan | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 1–0 | Shanghai Shenhua | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Yokohama Marinos | 3–1 | Johor F.C. | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| JCT FC | 1–2 | New Radiant | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Thai Farmers Bank FC | 1–5 | Pohang Steelers | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persepolis | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 6 |
| Al-Zawraa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
| Al-Nassr | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Al-Rayyan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 |
| Al-Nassr | 3–2 | Persepolis |
|---|---|---|
Kennedy 71',88',90' |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 7 |
| Pohang Steelers | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 5 |
| Yokohama Marinos | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 4 |
| New Radiant | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25 | −25 | 0 |
| Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 9–0 | New Radiant |
|---|---|---|
|
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 7 March –Shah Alam | ||||||
| Persepolis | 1 | |||||
| 9 March –Shah Alam | ||||||
| Pohang Steelers | 3 | |||||
| Pohang Steelers(a.s.d.e.t.) | 2 | |||||
| 7 March –Shah Alam | ||||||
| Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 1 | |||||
| Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 1 | |||||
| Al-Zawraa | 0 | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| 9 March –Shah Alam | ||||||
| Persepolis | 4 | |||||
| Al-Zawraa | 1 | |||||
| Persepolis | 1–3 | Pohang Steelers |
|---|---|---|
| Azizi 88' |
|
| Persepolis | 4–1 | Al-Zawraa |
|---|---|---|
| Fawzi 8' |
Source:[1]
| Pohang Steelers | 2–1 (a.s.d.e.t.) | Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma |
|---|---|---|
|
|
| Award[2] | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Sanyo Most Valuable Player | An Ik-soo | Pohang Steelers |
| Coca-Cola Best Defender | An Ik-soo | Pohang Steelers |
| Diadora Top Goalscorer[a] | Park Tae-ha | Pohang Steelers |
| Snickers Fair Play Award | — | Al-Zawraa |
