AFC club competitions ranking

The AFC club competitions ranking is a ranking system launched by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2014. ^{[1] [2]} It was initially launched by the AFC to provide an informative ranking, rather than to determine the number of places each country would be allocated in its club competitions. ^[2]

In 2024, the AFC announced changes in the format for ranking the three revamped Club competitions – AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE), AFC Champions League Two (ACL2), AFC Challenge League (ACGL) – which would come into effect from the 2024–25 season. ^[3] Using a weighted formula, the current structure takes into account the results of clubs from each member association from the past eight seasons. ^[4]

Following the conclusion of the inaugural AFC Women's Champions League, the AFC introduced a ranking system for women's club competitions. ^{[5] [6]} This ranking system takes into account the results of clubs from each member association (70%), and each member associations FIFA Women's World Ranking (30%). This system came into effect from the 2025–26 season.

Men's ranking

The men's club competitions ranking (former member association ranking, or MA ranking) is used to rank associations and determine the total number of clubs from each association that will participate in the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE), AFC Champions League Two (ACL2), and AFC Challenge League (ACGL). ^[7] The ranking is provisional, as all teams participating in AFC club competition must pass club licensing requirements and be confirmed by the AFC prior to entry. If clubs are unable to meet said requirements, their spot will be redistributed to another club in their member association. If no clubs from a member association are able to meet the necessary licensing requirements, the AFC may redistribute the qualification position to another member association or adjust the structure of its competition to reflect the total number of teams participating.

Due to the 2020 AFC Cup being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and Australia, the AFC announced that all points from the 2020 AFC Champions League and AFC Cup would be excluded from all ranking calculations. ^{[8] [9]} The AFC later reaffirmed this decision in 2022, when the ranking system was adjusted to take into account the results of the previous eight seasons. ^[3]

Calculation principle

From the 2024–25 season onwards, clubs are awarded points based on their performance and bonus points. Performance points are awarded based on the results of each club in AFC club competitions. In the AFC Champions League Elite, three points are awarded for each win by a club, and one for a draw (in the qualifying rounds teams receive 0.3 points for a win and 0.15 points for a draw). Clubs participating in the Champions League Two and Challenge League will be awarded two-thirds and one-third of the ACLE points respectively. As is the case in the UEFA men's association coefficient, results determined by extra time do count in determining the allocation of points, but results determined by penalty shootouts do not affect the allocation of points, other than for bonus points given for qualification into the latter rounds.

Bonus points are awarded to clubs based on their qualification into later rounds of the competition. Clubs can receive a maximum of 10.5 bonus points in the ACLE, 7 in the ACL2, and 5 in the ACGL. Clubs eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the ACGL are awarded 0.5 participation points.

At the end of each season, the total number of points awarded to each member association is based on the average performance of all clubs participating in AFC Club competitions.

Performance points	Score [a]
	ACLE	ACL2	ACGL
Wins in qualifying rounds	0.3	0.2	0.15
Draws in qualifying rounds	0.15	0.1	0.075
Wins in Group stage/League phase onwards	3	2	1.5
Draws in Group stage/League phase onwards	1	0.666	0.5
Bonus points	Score [a]
	ACLE	ACL2	ACGL
Group stage/League phase participation	3	2	1.5
Elimination in qualifying rounds	– [b]	– [b]	0.5
Round of 16 participation	3	2	1.5 [c]
Quarter-finals participation	1.5	1
Semi-finals and Final participation	1.5	1	0.75

1. There is a points multiplier which takes into consideration the maximum number of points that can be earned in each competition, where in 2025 ^[10] it is calculated as:
   • ACLE: 1
   • ACL2: 0.666 (by formula 2/3 * 49.5/49.5)
   • ACGL: 0.5 (By formula 1/3 * 49.5/33.0)
2. Losing teams in ACLE or ACL2 qualifying rounds qualify to the ACL2 or ACGL group stage respectively, earning the respective participation points.
3. The ACGL knockout stage begins at the quarter-finals.

Current ranking

The ranking below takes into account of each association's performance in Asian competitions over the past eight seasons, with the 2025–26 season underway. The final ranking at the end of the 2025–26 season will be used to determine the slot allocation for the 2027–28 AFC club competitions.

As of 24 December 2025, the ranking is as follows: ^[11]

Ranking				Member association (L: League, C: Cup)	Club points								Total	Active teams [a]	2027–28 Competition
2025–26	2024–25	Mvmt	Region		2017 (×0.3)	2018 (×0.4)	2019 (×0.5)	2021 (×0.6)	2022 (×0.7)	2023–24 (×0.8)	2024–25 (×0.9)	2025–26 (×1.0)			ACLE	ACL2	ACGL	Total
1	1	—	W1	Saudi Arabia (L, C)	18.600	10.000	26.350	20.950	19.075	27.100	34.542	15.500	116.945	4/4	3	1	0	4
2	2	—	E1	Japan (L, C)	21.850	13.850	21.800	17.875	20.088	21.350	27.970	15.000	105.035	4/4
3	3	—	E2	South Korea (L, C)	9.950	18.350	13.600	22.750	15.800	22.350	14.762	11.417	84.418	4/4
4	4	—	W2	United Arab Emirates (L, C)	11.350	8.100	7.633	14.400	8.083	25.500	16.400	13.083	73.003	4/4
5	6	+1	W3	Iran (L, C)	16.200	18.850	11.500	14.225	13.250	9.300	13.274	12.065	67.412	3/3
6	5	–1	W4	Qatar (L, C)	13.400	19.850	15.900	7.300	13.500	8.100	14.701	8.967	62.418	4/4	2	1	0	3
7	7	—	E3	Thailand (L, C)	15.050	16.200	5.050	8.500	11.110	8.567	14.875	9.417	56.055	3/4	3	1	0	4
8	8	—	E4	China (L, C)	24.567	16.200	17.350	0.800	0.500	11.900	10.250	6.883	48.983	3/4	2	1	0	3
9	9	—	W5	Uzbekistan (L, C)	5.050	9.400	9.000	8.960	10.057	11.250	10.333	4.167	44.658	1/2	1	1	0	2
10	10	—	E5	Australia (L, C)	5.900	7.300	2.600	0.000	7.900	10.593	12.796	12.833	44.344	2/2
11	11	—	E6	Malaysia (L, C)	4.395	3.633	4.450	4.000	9.677	6.213	15.511	6.833	39.934	1/2
12	13	+2	W6	Jordan (L, C)	4.900	7.633	7.967	4.893	6.000	5.415	12.000	8.023	38.798	1/2
13	12	–1	W7	Iraq (L, C)	8.933	8.633	8.300	3.250	7.450	7.473	8.500	7.000	38.077	2/2	0	2	0
14	14	—	E7	Vietnam (L, C)	2.800	3.267	10.752	6.000	5.300	5.400	11.333	8.667	38.020	1/2
15	15	—	E8	Singapore (L, C)	5.138	5.617	4.133	0.000	3.253	3.640	14.833	11.667	36.061	1/2
16	16	—	W8	Bahrain (L, C)	3.467	1.633	2.500	5.510	5.215	7.020	7.583	6.333	28.674	0/2
17	17	—	W9	Oman (L, C)	2.200	1.583	1.433	0.000	6.795	9.780	9.000	5.500	28.190	1/2
18	25	+7	E9	Indonesia (L, C)	0.000	4.100	5.045	0.000	3.960	3.560	7.204	9.783	26.049	2/2
19	20	+1	W10	Turkmenistan (L, C)	4.483	7.583	5.267	3.125	2.640	3.463	7.450	5.600	25.810	1/3
20	21	+1	E10	Cambodia (L, C)	1.683	2.250	1.000	0.000	2.070	5.620	11.000	6.600	24.350	2/2
21	21	—	W11	Kuwait (L, C)	0.000	0.000	3.433	7.070	4.160	3.165	8.075	5.350	24.020	1/2	0	1	1
22	19	–3	E11	Hong Kong (L, C)	1.750	3.300	3.650	7.333	6.587	4.900	3.333	4.333	23.933	0/2
23	24	+1	W12	Tajikistan (L, C)	12.900	4.433	3.000	4.970	2.493	2.230	3.276	5.000	21.603	0/2
24	22	–2	W13	Lebanon (L, C)	0.833	3.933	6.933	2.670	1.525	4.840	4.500	4.750	20.631	1/2	0	0	1	1
25	18	–7	W14	India (L, C)	6.250	4.417	3.217	3.677	4.797	3.453	6.500	1.200	20.627	0/2
26	26	—	W15	Kyrgyzstan (L, C)	1.400	0.150	2.433	0.835	0.565	11.830	4.600	3.950	20.147	1/2
27	27	—	E12	Philippines (L, C)	8.120	5.843	4.782	2.600	0.300	0.600	3.667	4.250	16.965	1/2	0	1	1	2
28	28	—	W16	Bangladesh (L, C)	1.333	1.433	6.933	2.790	3.760	4.730	1.500	2.100	15.980	0/2	0	0	1	1
29	31	+2	E13	Chinese Taipei (L)	0.000	0.000	0.333	2.000	0.000	5.145	6.050	3.600	14.528	0/2
30	30	—	E14	Myanmar (L, C)	1.300	4.062	1.600	0.000	0.000	1.640	7.150	2.050	12.612	0/2
31	29	–2	W17	Syria (L, C)	5.933	2.000	3.133	1.785	2.890	1.400	2.500	1.000	11.610	0/2
32	34	+1	E15	Mongolia (L, C)	0.000	0.100	0.100	0.000	0.100	5.080	2.200	3.600	9.804	0/2
33	32	–1	E16	North Korea (L, C)	3.433	7.433	11.067	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	9.537	0
34	33	–1	W18	Maldives (L, C)	4.300	4.300	0.000	0.200	2.030	2.640	1.500	0.500	8.513	0/1
35	36	+1	W19	Bhutan (L, C)	0.150	0.150	0.100	0.100	0.100	0.100	3.600	2.100	5.705	0/1
36	35	–1	W20	Palestine (L, C)	0.200	0.150	2.967	0.835	0.610	0.100	2.500	0.000	4.862	0
37	38	+1	E17	Laos (L, C)	0.150	0.150	0.333	0.000	0.000	0.100	1.650	1.550	3.387	0/1
38	37	–1	E18	Macau (L, C)	0.000	4.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	1.370	0.000	0.000	2.696	0
39	39	—	W21	Nepal (L)	0.000	0.000	0.667	0.200	0.100	0.200	0.500	0.000	1.134	0
40	41	+1	W22	Afghanistan (L)	0.150	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.500	0.500	0.995	0/1
41	42	+1	E19	Brunei (L, C)	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.100	0.000	0.500	0.580	0/1
42	40	–2	W23	Sri Lanka (L, C)	0.100	0.000	0.350	0.100	0.200	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.405	0
43	43	—	W24	Yemen (L, C)	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0
43	43	—	E20	East Timor (L, C)	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0
43	43	—	W24	Pakistan (L, C)	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0
43	43	—	E20	Guam (L, C)	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0
43	43	—	E20	Northern Mariana Islands (L)	Not an AFC member			0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0

  Indicates active associations which have teams still competing in the current season's ACL Elite

  Indicates active associations which have teams still competing in the current season's ACL Two

  Indicates active associations which have teams still competing in the current season's Challenge League.

  Associations which have no remaining teams in the current season's competitions.

  Associations which did not compete in the current season's competitions.

1. Number of teams still active from association in AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two or AFC Challenge League.

Slot allocation

The following is the preliminary slot allocation for the 2026–27 season. ^[12]

	Champions League Elite					Champions League Two					Challenge League
Ranking	LP		QR			GS		QR			GS		QR
	W	E	W	E		W	E	W	E		W	E	W	E
1	3					1
2–3	2		1			1
4	1		1			1
5–6	1					1
7–10						1		1
11–12								1			1			1
13											1		1
14–22													1
23–25													1

History

The initial ranking system launched in 2014 took into account the results of clubs from each member association (70%), and their FIFA Men's World Ranking (30%), with the member association(s) with the most points in each part being given 70 and 30 points respectively. This system was later adopted for the AFC Women's Champions League in 2025. In 2017 the ratio was adjusted to 90% club points and 10% national team points, the member association with the most points in each part would now be awarded 90 and 10 points. From 2018 onwards the AFC has no longer taken member associations FIFA ranking into account.

The ranking until 2021 consisted of the total points of member associations' clubs over the previous four years. From the 2022 season onwards, the ranking has taken into account the points over the previous eight seasons, with earlier editions having a decreasingly smaller contribution through an applied multiplier.

Due to the 2020 AFC Cup being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and Australia, the AFC announced that all points from the 2020 AFC Champions League and AFC Cup would be excluded from all ranking calculations. ^{[8] [9]} The AFC later reaffirmed this decision in 2022, when the ranking system was adjusted to take into account the results of the previous eight seasons. ^[3]

Top associations by period

The following data indicates the three top-ranked associations by period. Initially the AFC measured each member associations performance over the previous four seasons from 2014 to 2021. Due to AFC competitions shifting from an all-year-round schedule to an August-to-May schedule for the 2023–24 season, there was no AFC competition ranking for 2023. ^[13]

Years	1st place	Points	2nd place	Points	3rd place	Points
2011–2014	South Korea	94.866	Saudi Arabia	88.268	Iran	80.794
2012–2015		89.837		89.217		78.153
2013–2016		96.311	United Arab Emirates	87.555	Saudi Arabia	84.698
2014–2017	United Arab Emirates	95.940	South Korea	87.480	China	86.671
2015–2018	Qatar	100.000	China	95.982	South Korea	88.620
2016–2019	China	100.000	Qatar	97.644	Japan	93.321
2017–2020 [a]		100.000	Japan	98.938	Saudi Arabia	94.551
2018–2021 [a]	Saudi Arabia	100.000	South Korea	95.462	Japan	93.412
2014–2022 [a] [b]		93.795	Japan	91.821	South Korea	88.295
2015–2024 [a]		103.148		96.999		93.600
2016–2025 [a]		119.957		107.663		90.982

1. Due to the 2020 AFC Cup being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic all points from the 2020 AFC Champions League and AFC Cup have been excluded from all ranking calculations.
2. Retroactively calculated

Women's ranking

The ranking below takes into account of each association's performance in the 2025–26 AFC Women's Champions League and their FIFA Women's World Ranking. The member association(s) with the most points in each part being given 70 and 30 points respectively. This is the same system used by the AFC for men's competitions from 2014 to 2017.

As of 23 November 2025, the ranking is as follows: ^[14]

Ranking			Member association (L: League)	Club points	National team points	Total	Active teams
2025–26	2024–25	Mvmt
1	1	—	Australia (L)	70.000	27.934	97.934	1/1
2	3	+1	Japan (L)	51.147	30.000	81.147	1/1
3	4	+1	China (L)	52.827	27.508	80.335	1/1
4	2	–2	South Korea (L)	48.067	27.075	75.141	1/1
5	5	—	Vietnam (L)	50.120	24.604	74.724	1/1
6	7	+1	Iran (L)	34.608	20.889	55.497	0/1
7	13	+6	North Korea (L)	24.080	29.592	53.672	1/1
8	11	+3	India (L)	23.688	21.435	45.123	0/1
9	9	—	Philippines (L)	20.720	23.583	44.303	1/1
10	8	–2	Chinese Taipei (L)	17.173	23.434	40.607	0/1
11	14	+3	Uzbekistan (L)	16.091	22.643	38.733	1/1
12	6	–6	United Arab Emirates (L)	19.992	17.554	37.546	0
13	10	–3	Thailand (L)	8.773	22.543	31.316	0/1
14	15	+1	Myanmar (L)	8.120	22.163	30.283	0/1
15	12	–3	Malaysia (L)	8.689	18.687	27.376	0/1
16	23	+7	Singapore (L)	8.120	15.735	23.855	0/1
17	16	–1	Jordan (L)	3.397	19.601	22.998	0/1
18	17	–1	Hong Kong (L)	2.837	19.342	22.179	0/1
19	19	—	Nepal (L)	2.025	18.930	20.956	0/1
20	18	–2	Laos (L)	2.277	17.730	20.008	0/1
21	22	+1	Guam (L)	0.933	18.293	19.227	0/1
22	24	+2	Cambodia (L)	1.213	17.470	18.683	0/1
23	28	+5	Bangladesh (L)	0.000	17.958	17.958	0
24	21	–3	Indonesia (L)	0.000	17.914	17.914	0
25	20	–5	Bahrain (L)	0.000	17.797	17.797	0
26	29	+3	Kyrgyzstan (L)	1.213	16.170	17.384	0/1
27	25	–2	Mongolia (L)	1.493	15.763	17.257	0/1
28	26	–2	Saudi Arabia (L)	3.341	13.844	17.185	0/1
29	27	–2	Lebanon (L)	0.000	16.920	16.920	0
30	30	—	Palestine (C)	0.000	16.769	16.769	0
31	33	+2	Bhutan (L)	2.333	14.005	16.338	0/1
32	31	–1	Turkmenistan (L)	0.000	16.193	16.193	0
33	34	+1	Pakistan (L)	0.000	15.331	15.331	0
34	36	+2	East Timor (L)	0.000	14.702	14.702	0
35	32	–3	Tajikistan (L)	0.000	14.462	14.462	0
36	36	—	Syria (L)	0.000	14.177	14.177	0
37	37	—	Sri Lanka (L)	0.000	14.158	14.158	0
38	38	—	Maldives (L)	0.000	13.831	13.831	0
39	39	—	Iraq (L)	0.000	13.664	13.664	0
40	40	—	Macau (L)	0.000	12.951	12.951	0
—			Afghanistan [a]	0.000	0.000 [b]	0.000	0
—			Brunei [a]	0.000	0.000 [c]	0.000	0
—			Kuwait (L)	0.000	0.000 [b]	0.000	0
—			Northern Mariana Islands (L)	0.000	0.000 [d]	0.000	0
—			Oman [a]	0.000	0.000 [c]	0.000	0
—			Qatar (L)	0.000	0.000 [b]	0.000	0
—			Yemen [a]	0.000	0.000 [c]	0.000	0

  Indicates active associations which have teams still competing in the current season's Champions League

  Associations which have no remaining teams in the current season's Champions League.

  Associations which did not compete in the current season's Champions League.

See also

• UEFA coefficient, a similar system used by UEFA
• CAF 5-year ranking, a similar system used by the Confederation of African Football

Notes

1. No women's domestic league
2. Unranked in the FIFA Women's World Ranking
3. Country does not field a women's national team.
4. The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association is not affiliated with FIFA, therefore the Northern Mariana Islands women's national football team is unable to obtain a FIFA ranking

References

1. "Al Hilal lead the way as AFC announces Club Ranking system". www.the-afc.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
2. "AFC Competitions Committee recommends new AFC Cup format". Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
3. "AFC Competitions Committee recommends strategic reforms to elevate Asian club football". www.the-afc.com. 23 December 2022. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
4. "AFC Club Competitions Ranking 2022". www.the-afc.com. 15 May 2023. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
5. Rosengarten, Jake (28 May 2025). "The Ninja A-League is officially the No.1 women's club competition in Asia". A-Leagues . Retrieved 2026-01-17.
6. "Australia finish top in latest AFC Women's Club Competition 2024/25 Rankings". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 2026-01-17.
7. "Entry Manual: AFC Club Competitions 2017–2020" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2017.
8. "AFC Executive Committee announces updates to 2020 competitions calendar". AFC. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
9. "AFC Club competitions ranking". the-AFC. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
10. "Ranking Formula". FootyRankings. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
11. "AFC Club Competitions Ranking 2026". FootyRankings. 24 December 2025. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
12. "AFC Club Competitions 2026/27 Slot Allocation" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
13. "AFC Executive Committee unveils dynamic enhancements to the AFC Club Competitions". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 25 February 2022. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
14. "AFC Women's Club Competition Mid-Season Ranking 2025/26" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. 2 December 2025.

External links

• AFC Club Competitions -- Entry Regulations
• Ranking at the-afc.com
• Rankings at FootyRankings