AFC Champions League Elite 2026/27™: Expanded #ACLElite set for League Stage Draw

Kuala Lumpur: The route to ultimate glory in the AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) 2026/27™ will be charted at the League Stage Draw on August 18 (Tuesday), 4pm at the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Taking place for the 24th time in the modern ACL era, this upcoming edition of Asia’s top-tier men’s club competition will feature an expanded cast of 32 sides for the first time since the revamp to its current name in 2024/25 as part of a series of strategic enhancements.

Set to kick off its first matchday on September 14, 16 clubs will each do battle in the West and East League Stage—an increase of four in each region—all vying for progress to the Round of 16.

Reigning champions Al Ahli Saudi FC will aim to become the first club to win three titles in a row, with eight more former winners hoping to stand on top of Asia once again as well: Al Ain FC, Gamba Osaka, Al Hilal SFC, Al Ittihad Club, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC, Kashima Antlers, FC Pohang Steelers and Al Sadd SC.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Al Shamal SC and Kyoto Sanga F.C. are set to make their Continental debuts, while Al Qadsiah Club and Cong An Ha Noi FC are playing in this competition for the first time.

The cast, drawn from across 13 Member Associations (MAs), will be placed into four pots each within the West and East, as below:

Each club will play against eight different opponents, split evenly between four home and four away matches. The pairings will be determined based on a fixed pattern via a Draw Grid, as shown below:

A club will always face opponents from the column on their right at home and opponents from the column on their left away. For example, clubs in column B will play four home matches against clubs from column C and four away matches against clubs from column A. Clubs positioned on the edge of the grid will face teams from the opposite end – clubs in column A face opponents from columns B (home) and D (away) and those in column D do likewise with A (home) and C (away).

For each region, every club will be drawn into their respective position in the Draw Grid. In the example depicted above, which applies to the West region, Pot 1 clubs occupy the first possible position in the order of A1, B1, C1 and D1; an identical process applies to the other pots i.e. Pot 2 in the order of A2, B2, C2 and D2 and so on. The process is replicated for clubs in the East region, which will be classified from E1 to E4, F1 to F4, G1 to G4 and H1 to H4.

The country protection principle will be in force, so clubs from the same MA will not be allocated to neighbouring columns. Furthermore, the sporting fairness principle will be in place to minimise extensive home or away pairings between clubs from the same two MAs.

The observance of both principles will be ensured by the draw software, which will also prevent the occurrence of any deadlock situations.

The top eight finishers of each League Stage advance to the Round of 16, to be played from March 1 to 17, 2027, before a centralised Finals—comprising all matches from the Quarter-finals onwards—is contested in Saudi Arabia between April 23 and May 1, 2027.

Tune in to the League Stage draw ceremony on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 4pm (GMT+8) here!

Expanded #ACLElite set for League Stage Draw

PS: Al Jazira FSC (UAE) 1-4 Al Ittihad Club (KSA)

PS: Pakhtakor (UZB) 3-0 Al Hussein (JOR)

PS: Gangwon FC (KOR) 0-1 Gamba Osaka (JPN)

PS: Adelaide United (AUS) 0-2 Cong An Ha Noi FC (VIE)

#ACLElite 2026/27 - All you need to know