![]() In the current format, up to 40 teams can participate in group stage, while 20 teams only will be in the group stage of the new system. I can say that the 3rd tier competition will be like the minified version of current AFC Cup. So the strength in the 2nd tier competition will not be far away from the 1st tier, unlike the current AFC Cup. ![]() The road to the champions including wins against team from Japan, Australia, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Shanghai Port from China win this 2nd tier competition after defeating Al-Shabab in the final. After that, the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final will follow the traditional system. The round of 16 will be drawn with group winner facing runner-up from another group. In the East region, Bangkok United, Hanoi, Shanghai Port, and Sydney FC win their group, while Jeju United, Lion City Sailors, BG Pathum United, and Kashima Antlers also qualify as group runner-ups. In the West region, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Sogdiyona, Al-Shabab, and AGMK emerge as group winners, while Gol Gohar, Al-Ramtha, Al-Wahda, and Al-Kuwait qualify as runner-up in their group. Region separation will be kept until the final. The format will resemble the old-style AFC Cup, with 32 teams divided into 8 groups. So Japan, Saudi Arabia will participate, but also Bahrain and Singapore. The 2nd tier competition will consists of team from top and middle-level countries. The official title for the 2nd tier competition hasn’t been announced yet, but for this simulation we will use AFC Cup as the competition name. Traditional semi-finals and final match will follow after the quarter-finals.Ĭongratulations to Jeonbuk for winning the first edition of the ACL revamp, defeating Al-Hilal in the final. All winners from the round of 16, will qualify to the quarter-finals which a random draw will be made to determine the pairing. The highest-ranked team will face the lowest-ranked team in each group, the 2nd highest-ranked will face the 2nd lowest-ranked and so on. In the round of 16, team will be paired according to their results in the league phase. While in the West, the top 8 are Al-Hilal, Al-Duhail, Al-Ain, Al-Nassr, Al-Sadd, Al-Ittihad, Sharjah, and Persepolis. ![]() In this simulation, the top 8 in East group are Ulsan, Jeonbuk, Vissel, Frontale, Melbourne Victory, Buriram United, Shandong, and Daegu. Top 8 teams in each group will qualify to the round of 16. After the completion of the 8 matches, all teams in the group will be ranked by their points. ![]() Every team will play 8 matches, 4 home & 4 away in their group. The 24 teams will be divided into West & East group, each consists of 12 teams. The traditional group stage will also be replaced by Swiss system. While from the East, there are Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Australia, and Malaysia. So from West, there are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, UAE, Uzbekistan, and Iraq. The major difference with the previous system is only top 6 countries from each region can participate in the competition. The AFC Champions League itself will only have 24 participating teams, down from 40 in the current system. Third tier competition will be introduced for teams from middle and low-ranked countries, while the AFC Champions League will be limited to top countries only. Starting from the 2024-25 season, AFC will revamp its club competition.
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