AFC Champions Cup
 | |
| Organising body | Adula Football Confederation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Region | Adula |
| Number of teams | 34 |
 2024 AFC Nations Cup | |
The AFC Champions Cup is an annual international football competition organized by the Adula Football Confederation, and contested by top-division Adulan clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in Adulan football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations.
In its present format, the Champions Cup begins in late February, usually following the World Cup, with a preliminary round, three qualifying rounds and a play-off round, all played over two legs. The six surviving teams enter the group stage, joining 26 teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams and play each other in a double round-robin system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in mid-late May. The winner of the Champions Cup automatically qualifies for the following year's Champions Cup.
Format
Qualification
The AFC Champions Cup begins with a double round-robin group stage of 32 teams, which is preceded by two qualification 'streams' for teams that do not receive direct entry to the tournament proper. The two streams are divided between teams qualified by virtue of being league champions, and those qualified by virtue of finishing second or third in their national championship.
Four of the remaining six qualifying places are granted to the winners of a six-round qualifying tournament between the remaining national champions, within which those champions from associations with higher coefficients receive byes to later rounds.
In addition to sporting criteria, any club must be licensed by its national association to participate in the Champions Cup. To obtain a license, the club must meet certain stadium, infrastructure and finance requirements.
Group stage and knockout phase
The tournament proper begins with a group stage of 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four. The draw to determine which teams go into each group is seeded based on teams' performance in AFC competitions, and no group may contain more than one club from each nation. Each team plays six group stage games, meeting the other three teams in its group home and away in a round-robin format. The winning team and the runners-up from each group then progress to the next round.
For the next stage – the last 16 – the winning team from one group plays against the runners-up from another group. From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw is entirely random, without association protection.
The group stage is played from February to April, whilst the knock-out stage starts in late-April or early May. The knock-out ties are played in a two-legged format, with the exception of the final. The final is typically held in the middle two weeks of May.
Results
| Season | Final | Third place play-off | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | Third | Score | Fourth | |
| 1997 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 1998 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 1999 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2000 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2001 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2002 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2003 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 2004 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 2005 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2006 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2007 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 2008 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2009 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2010 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2011 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2012 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 2013 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2014 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2015 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2016 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2017 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2018 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2019 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2020 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2021 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2022 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2023 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |
| 2024 | winner | score stadium, city, country
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Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
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Fourth |