AFC Challenge League
The cast was finalised following the conclusion of the Preliminary Stage earlier this month, which saw nine teams progress to join the eight sides that had been granted direct entry to the Group Stage, along with the three eliminated clubs from the AFC Champions League Two™ 2025/26 Preliminary Stage.
Of the 20 teams in the hat—12 West, 8 East—for the draw, five will be making their debuts in the Group Stage of an AFC competition: Al Shabab Club of Oman, Dewa United FC of Indonesia, Ezra FC of Laos, Manila Digger FC of the Philippines and FC Muras United of the Kyrgyz Republic.
In accordance with the latest MA rankings, the teams will be seeded into four pots per region, as below:
The country protection principle will be in force and a bespoke draw software will be utilised to prevent any deadlock situations from occurring.
The Group Stage is set to be played from October 25 to November 1, 2025, in a single round-robin centralised league format. Kuwait’s Kuwait SC, Bhutan’s Paro FC and Kyrgyz Republic’s FC Muras United will serve as centralised hosts for the West, while Indonesia’s Dewa United FC and Cambodia’s Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC will do likewise in the East.
The Quarter-finals and Semi-finals—both double-legged affairs—are scheduled for March and April 2026 respectively, with the Final pencilled in for May 9.
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