85 Asian clubs participate in continental championships

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced the participation of 85 clubs representing 37 Member Associations in its three competitions: the AFC Champions League, the AFC Champions League II, and the AFC Challenge League for the 2025-26 season. The preliminary round matches are scheduled for August 12 and 13, while the draw for the AFC Champions League League and the AFC Champions League Group Stage will be held on August 15. Twenty-four clubs will participate in the AFC Champions League, and 24 clubs from twelve Member Associations from each of the West and East zones, with each zone comprising 12 clubs in the league stage. The Confederation of Asian Football Confederation (CAF) announced the participation of three Qatari clubs in the AFC Champions League elite tournament: Al Sadd and Al Gharafa, with two direct places from the league stage. Al Duhail will begin their journey from the preliminary round, where they will face Iranian club Sepahan in a single match, with the winner qualifying for the league stage. In the second match, Chengdu Rongcheng of China will meet Bangkok United of Thailand, with the winners of both matches qualifying for the league stage, while the losers will advance to the group stage of the second AFC Champions League for the 2025-2026 season. The remaining list of clubs participating in the tournament from the West includes defending champions Al Ahli Jeddah, Al Ittihad and Al Hilal (from Saudi Arabia), Shabab Al Ahli and Sharjah (from the UAE), Tractor and Sepahan (from Iran), in addition to Nasaf (from Uzbekistan), and a representative from Iraq to be determined later. The list of clubs from the East Zone includes Vissel Kobe, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and Machida Zelvia (from Japan), Ulsan Hyundai, Gangwon FC, and Seoul FC (from South Korea), Shanghai Port, Shanghai Shenhua, and Chengdu (from China), Buriram United and Bangkok United (from Thailand), in addition to Melbourne City (from Australia) and Johor Darul Ta'zim (from Malaysia). In the second round of the AFC Champions League for the West Zone, the AFC announced the participation of Al-Ahli of Qatar in the tournament starting from the group stage, in addition to Al-Nasr of Saudi Arabia, Al-Wasl of the UAE, Esteghlal of Iran, Andijan of Uzbekistan, Al-Hussein Irbid of Jordan, Al-Muharraq of Bahrain, Mohan Bagan of India, Esteghlal of Tajikistan, Arkadag of Turkmenistan, and Al-Seeb of the Sultanate of Oman. Participating in the AFC Challenge League from the West region are Al Kuwait SC and Al Arabi SC from Kuwait, Al Shabab SC from Oman, Al-Teen SC from Turkmenistan, Abahani Dhaka SC and Bashundra SC from Bangladesh, Abdish SC and Moras United SC from Kyrgyzstan, Maziya SC from Maldives, Paro SC from Bhutan, and Abu Muslim Farah SC from Afghanistan. The names of the clubs representing Syria and Lebanon will be determined later.