Indian football clubs in Asian competitions

Indian football clubs have entered Asian football competitions (AFC Champions League and AFC Cup) since the 1960s. ^[1] The Asian Champion Club Tournament started in 1967, but there was no Indian representative during that inaugural season. Indian teams have participated every year in Asia, except for the early years between the 1990s and early 2000s. ^[2]

Slots for AFC competitions

Competition	Slots	Teams
Men's
AFC Champions League Two Group Stage	Indian Super League champion	1
AFC Champions League Two Qualifier	Super Cup champion	1
Women's
AFC Women's Champions League Qualifier	Indian Women's League champion	1

AFC competitions record

AFC Champions League/Asian Club Championship/Asian Champion Club Tournament

Year	Team	Progress	Score	Opponents	Venue(s)
Asian Champion Club Tournament 1
1967	Railways	Semi-finals	W/O	Hapoel Tel Aviv	Withdrew
1969	Mysore State	Fourth Place	0–2	Toyo Kogyo	at Bangkok, Thailand
1970	Bengal	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	Hapoel Tel Aviv PSMS Medan Royal Thai Police
1971	Punjab	4th in Group Stage	N/A	Bangkok Bank Maccabi Tel Aviv Aliyat Al-Shorta
1972–85	The tournament was not held
Asian Club Championship 2
1985	East Bengal	3rd in Group Semi's	N/A	Al-Ahli Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian
1986	None Entered
1987	Mohun Bagan	2nd in Group Stage	N/A	Al-Rasheed Dhaka Mohammedan Manang Marsyangdi PAF
1988–89	Mohun Bagan	4th in Group Semi's	N/A	Al-Rasheed Guangdong Wanbao Kazma
1989–90	Salgaocar	2nd in Group Stage	N/A	Fanja Punjab Kathmandu
1990–91	Salgaocar	2nd in Group Stage	N/A	Dhaka Mohammedan Club Lagoons
1991	None Entered
1992–93	None Entered
1993–94	None Entered
1994–95	Mohun Bagan	2nd Round	0–7	Thai Farmers Bank	0–4 in Thailand 0–3 due to Mohun Bagan being disqualified
1995	Mohun Bagan	1st Round	2–2	Club Valencia	2–1 in First Match 0–1 in Second Match
1996–97	JCT	2nd Round	1–2	New Radiant	1–0 in First Match 0–2 in Second Match
1997–98	Churchill Brothers	1st Round	1–2	Cao su Đồng Tháp	0–1 in First Match 1–1 in Second Match
1998–99	East Bengal	1st Round	0–6	Dalian Wanda	0–6 in First Match 0–0 in Second Match
1999–00	Mohun Bagan	2nd Round	0–8	Júbilo Iwata	at Yamaha Stadium
2000–01	None Entered
2001–02	None Entered
AFC Champions League
2002–03	Churchill Brothers	Qualifying Round 3	4–7	Osotsapa	1–1 Home 3–6 Away
	Mohun Bagan	Qualifying Round 3	1–8	Daejeon Citizen	6–0 Away 1–2 Home
2004	None Entered
2005	None Entered
2006	None Entered
2007	None Entered
2008	None Entered
2009	Dempo	Play-off round	0–3	Sharjah	at Sharjah Stadium
2010	Churchill Brothers	Qualifying play-off	2–5	Al-Wahda	at Al-Nahyan Stadium
2011	Dempo	Qualifying play-off	0–2	Al-Sadd	at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium
2012	None Entered
2013	None Entered
2014	Pune	Qualifying play-off Round 1	0–3	Hà Nội T&T	Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune
2015	Bengaluru	Preliminary Round 1	1–2	Johor Darul Ta'zim	Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru
2016	Mohun Bagan	Preliminary Round 2	0–6	Shandong Luneng Taishan	Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Jinan
2017	Bengaluru	Preliminary Round 2	1–2	Al-Wehdat	King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman
2018	Aizawl	Play-off round	1–3	Zob Ahan	Foolad Shahr Stadium, Isfahan
2019	Minerva Punjab	Preliminary Round 2	0–4	Saipa	Shahr-e Qods Stadium, Qods
2020	Chennai City	Preliminary Round 1	0–1	Al-Riffa	The Arena, Ahmedabad
2021	Goa	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	Persepolis Al-Rayyan Al-Wahda	Fatorda Stadium, Goa
2022	Mumbai City	2nd in Group Stage	N/A	Al Shabab Al Jazira Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh
2023–24	Mumbai City	4th in Group Stage	N/A	Al Hilal Navbahor Nassaji Mazandaran	Various

¹ Santosh Trophy winners entered tournament.
² Federation Cup winners entered tournament.

Asian Cup Winners' Cup

Year	Team	Progress	Score	Opponents	Venue(s)
1990–91	Mohun Bagan	First Round	0–5 (agg.)	Dalian
1991–92	East Bengal	Quarterfinals	1–7 (agg.)	Nissan
1992–93	Mohammedan	First Round	walkover 1	Fanja
1993–94	East Bengal	Second Round	1–5 (agg.)	South China
1994–95	East Bengal	First Round	walkover 2	Telephone Org. Thailand
1995	East Bengal	Second Round	2–3 (agg.)	New Radiant
1996–97	None Entered
1997–98	East Bengal	Second Round	3–5 (agg.)	Verdy Kawasaki
1998–99	Salgaocar	First Round	1–4 (agg.)	Beijing Guoan
1999–2000	None Entered
2000–01
2001–02

¹ Mohammedan withdrew.
² East Bengal withdrew after first leg.

AFC Cup/AFC Champions League Two

Year	Team	Progress	Score	Opponents	Venue(s)
AFC Cup1
2004	Mahindra United	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	Al-Wahda Dhofar
	East Bengal	Quarter finals	0–3	Al-Jaish	0–0 at Salt Lake Stadium 0–3 at King Abdullah Stadium
2005	Dempo	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	Al-Hussein Al Ahed
	East Bengal	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	Al-Faisaly Nebitçi Balkanabat Muktijoddha Sangsad KS
2006	Dempo	2nd in Group Stage	N/A	Al-Nasr Merv Mary
	Mahindra United	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	Al-Muharraq Al Ahed Brothers Union
2007	Mohun Bagan	2nd in Group Stage	N/A	Tampines Rovers Osotspa Pahang FA
	Mahindra United	Quarter-Final	4–5	Al-Nejmeh	1–2 at Fatorda Stadium 3–3 at Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium
2008	East Bengal	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	Safa Al-Wehdat Al-Ahli Club Sana'a
	Dempo	Semi-Final	1–5	Safa	0–1 at Sports City Stadium 1–4 at Gachibowli Athletic Stadium
2009	Mohun Bagan	4th in Group Stage	N/A	Al-Kuwait Al-Karamah Al-Wehdat
	Dempo	Round of 16	1–3	Al-Kuwait	at Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium
2010	East Bengal	4th in Group Stage	N/A	Al-Qadsia Al-Ittihad Al-Nejmeh
	Churchill Brothers	Round of 16	1–2	Al-Qadsia	at Mohammed Al-Hamad Stadium
2011	East Bengal	4th in Group Stage	N/A	Chonburi Persipura Jayapura South China AA
	Dempo	Round of 16	0–1	Duhok	at Duhok Stadium
2012	East Bengal	4th in Group Stage	N/A	Arbil Kazma Al-Oruba
	Salgaocar	4th in Group Stage	N/A	Al-Wehdat Neftchi Farg'ona Al-Oruba
2013	East Bengal	Semi-Final	2–7	Al-Kuwait	2–4 in first match 0–3 in second match
	Churchill Brothers	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	Kitchee Semen Padang Warriors
2014	Churchill Brothers	Round of 16	2–4	Vissai Ninh Bình
	Pune	4th in Group Stage	N/A	Kitchee Nay Pyi Taw Tampines Rovers
2015	Bengaluru	Round of 16	0–2	South China	Mong Kok Stadium
	East Bengal	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	Johor Darul Ta'zim Kitchee Balestier Khalsa
2016	Mohun Bagan	Round of 16	1–2	Tampines Rovers	Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium
	Bengaluru	Runners-Up	0–1	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium
2017	Bengaluru	Inter-zone play-off final	2–3	Istiklol	0–1 at Central Stadium 2–2 at Sree Kanteerava Stadium
	Mohun Bagan	3rd in Group stage	N/A	Bengaluru Dhaka Abahani Maziya S&RC
2018	Aizawl	4th in Group stage	N/A	Bengaluru Dhaka Abahani New Radiant
	Bengaluru	Inter-zone play-off semi-final	2–5	Altyn Asyr	2–3 at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore 0–2 at Köpetdag Stadium, Ashgabat
2019	Minerva Punjab	3rd in Group stage	N/A	Chennaiyin Dhaka Abahani Manang Marshyangdi Club
	Chennaiyin	2nd in Group stage	N/A	Minerva Punjab Dhaka Abahani Manang Marshyangdi Club
2020	Chennai City	Group Stage	Cancelled	Bashundhara Kings Maziya T.C. Sports Club	Cancelled
	Bengaluru	Play-off	4–4 (3–4 p)	Maziya	2–1 at National Football Stadium, Malé 3–2 at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru
2021	ATK Mohun Bagan	Inter-zone play-off semi-final	0–6	Nasaf	Markaziy Stadium, Qarshi
	Bengaluru	3rd in Group Stage	N/A	ATK Mohun Bagan Bashundhara Kings Maziya	National Football Stadium, Malé
2022	Gokulam Kerala	4th in Group Stage	N/A	Bashundhara Kings Maziya ATK Mohun Bagan	Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata
	ATK Mohun Bagan	Inter-zone play-off semi-final	1–3	Kuala Lumpur City	Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata
2023–24	Odisha	Inter-zone play-off semi-final	0–4	Central Coast Mariners	0–4 at Central Coast Stadium, Gosford 0–0 at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar
	Mohun Bagan SG	3rd in Group stage	N/A	Bashundhara Kings Maziya Odisha	Various
AFC Champions League Two
2024–25	Mohun Bagan SG	Group stage	Withdrawn	Ravshan Kulob Al-Wakrah Tractor	Various
	East Bengal	Qualifying playoff	2–3	Altyn Asyr	2–3 at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata
2025–26	Mohun Bagan SG	TBD in Group stage	N/A	Sepahan Al-Hussein Ahal	Various
	Goa	TBD in Group stage	N/A	Al-Nassr Al-Zawraa Istiklol	Various

AFC President's Cup/AFC Challenge League

Year	Team	Progress	Score	Opponents	Venue(s)
AFC President's Cup1
2005	None Entered
2006	None Entered
2007	None Entered
2008	None Entered
2009	None Entered
2010	None Entered
2011	None Entered
2012	None Entered
2013	None Entered
2014	None Entered
AFC Challenge League
2024–25	East Bengal	Quarterfinals	1–3	Arkadag	0–1 at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata 1–2 at Arkadag Stadium, Arkadag
2025–26	None Entered

AFC women's competitions record

AFC Women's Club Championship/AFC Women's Champions League

Year	Team	Progress	Score	Opponents	Venue(s)
AFC Women's Club Championship1
2019	None Entered
2021	Gokulam Kerala 2	Third place	N/A	Amman Shahrdari Sirjan Bunyodkor	Aqaba Development Corporate Stadium, Amman
2022	Gokulam Kerala	Group stage	Disqualified	Bam Khatoon Sogdiana Orthodox	Markaziy Stadium, Qarshi
2023	Gokulam Kerala	2nd in Group Stage	N/A	Urawa Red Diamonds Hualien Bangkok	Chonburi Stadium, Chonburi
AFC Women's Champions League
2024–25	Odisha	4th in Main Group Stage	N/A	Taichung Blue Whale Urawa Red Diamonds Hồ Chí Minh City	Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City
2025–26	East Bengal	TBD in Main Group Stage	N/A	TBC	TBD

² As the 2020–21 Indian Women's League season is cancelled, so Gokulam Kerala, the 2019–20 Indian Women's League season champions qualified for the event.

Other Asian competitions record

Invitational competitions won by Indian clubs/teams

Clubs/teams	Tournaments	Confederation	Countries	Years	Notes
Indian Army	Tribhuvan Challenge Shield	AFC	Nepal	1955, 1956	[3]
Mohammedan Sporting	Aga Khan Gold Cup	AFC	Bangladesh	1960	[4]
Birpur XI	Tribhuvan Challenge Shield	AFC	Nepal	1967	[3]
Brothers Club Kerala	Tribhuvan Challenge Shield	AFC	Nepal	1969	[3]
Bangalore XI	Tribhuvan Challenge Shield	AFC	Nepal	1982	[3]
Punjab Electricity Board	Tribhuvan Challenge Shield	AFC	Nepal	1984	[3]
Darjeeling United	Birthday Cup	AFC	Nepal	1985	[3]
East Bengal	Central Asia Champions' Cup	AFC	Sri Lanka	1985	[5]
East Bengal	Wai Wai Cup	AFC	Nepal	1993	[6]
Kerala SC	POMIS Cup	AFC	Maldives	1993	[7]
Belgeria SC	Budha Subba Gold Cup	AFC	Nepal	1999	[3]
East Bengal	ASEAN Club Championship	AFC	Indonesia	2003	[8]
Mahindra United	POMIS Cup	AFC	Maldives	2003	[9]
East Bengal	San Miguel International Cup	AFC	Nepal	2004	[10]

Statistics

Head to head

Head-to-head records against clubs form 35 nations whom they have played to date only in AFC Competitions.

Against	Region	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	%Win
Australia	AFF	2	0	1	1	0	4	−4	000.00
Bangladesh	SAFF	34	15	11	8	50	33	+17	044.12
Bahrain	WAFF	7	1	2	4	4	10	−6	014.29
Bhutan	SAFF	5	3	2	0	15	3	+12	060.00
China	EAFF	8	1	1	6	1	27	−26	012.50
Hong Kong	EAFF	17	4	5	8	23	32	−9	023.53
Indonesia	AFF	12	1	4	7	10	23	−13	008.33
Iran	CAFA	6	0	0	6	2	17	−15	000.00
Iraq	WAFF	12	4	0	8	10	23	−13	033.33
Israel	–	3	0	0	3	3	13	−10	000.00
Japan	EAFF	7	1	0	6	4	39	−35	014.29
Jordan	WAFF	14	4	0	10	16	36	−20	028.57
Kuwait	WAFF	14	0	1	13	12	49	−37	000.00
Laos	AFF	2	1	0	1	3	3	+0	050.00
Lebanon	WAFF	17	3	4	10	18	35	−17	017.65
Malaysia	AFF	14	5	2	7	19	23	−4	035.71
Maldives	SAFF	46	33	4	9	111	49	+62	071.74
Myanmar	AFF	7	4	3	0	20	12	+8	057.14
Nepal	SAFF	14	10	4	0	49	11	+38	071.43
Oman	WAFF	11	5	0	6	19	20	−1	045.45
North Korea	EAFF	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3	050.00
Pakistan	SAFF	4	3	1	0	14	1	+13	075.00
Philippines	AFF	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Qatar	WAFF	3	0	2	1	1	3	−2	000.00
Saudi Arabia	WAFF	5	0	0	5	1	19	−18	000.00
Singapore	AFF	25	13	4	8	22	31	−9	052.00
Syria	WAFF	10	1	2	7	5	21	−16	010.00
South Korea	EAFF	3	0	0	3	1	13	−12	000.00
Sri Lanka	SAFF	10	8	1	1	24	6	+18	080.00
Tajikistan	CAFA	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Thailand	AFF	10	2	4	4	12	23	−11	020.00
Turkmenistan	CAFA	10	2	1	7	20	22	−2	020.00
Chinese Taipei	EAFF	1	1	0	0	0	4	−4	100.00
United Arab Emirates	WAFF	6	0	2	4	2	11	−9	000.00
Uzbekistan	CAFA	7	0	1	6	3	29	−26	000.00
Vietnam	AFF	10	3	2	5	12	15	−3	030.00
Yemen	WAFF	8	4	1	3	9	10	−1	050.00
Cambodia	AFF	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Total	36 nations	365	132	66	167	537	665	−128	036.16

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• Last Updated on 25 August 2025.

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Top scorers

As of 30 June 2019

Pos	Player	Team	ACL2/AC	ACL/ACC	ACWC	Total
1	Ranti Martins	Dempo East Bengal	22 [11] [12] [13]	—	—	22
2	Sunil Chhetri	Churchill Brothers Bengaluru FC	18 [14] [15]	1	—	19
3	Bhaichung Bhutia	East Bengal JCT Mohun Bagan	4 [16] [17] [18]	2	8	14
4	Sisir Ghosh	Mohun Bagan	—	11	2	13
	Jeje Lalpekhlua	Mohun Bagan	12 [19]	1 [19]	—	13
6	Beto	Dempo	12 [11] [12]	—	—	12
7	Chidi Edeh	Dempo East Bengal	9 [12] [20]	—	—	9
8	Debasish Roy	East Bengal	—	8	—	8
9	Carlton Chapman	East Bengal JCT	—	1	5	6
	Cristiano Junior	East Bengal	6 [16]	—	—	6
	Sony Norde	Mohun Bagan	6 [21]	—	—	6
	Yusif Yakubu	Mahindra United East Bengal	6 [11] [18]	—	—	6

See also

• AFC Champions League
• AFC Cup
• Indian Super League
• I-League
• Indian football league system
• Australian clubs in the AFC Champions League
• Bangladeshi football clubs in the Asian Club Championship
• Bangladeshi clubs in the AFC Cup
• Chinese clubs in the AFC Champions League
• Indonesian football clubs in Asian competitions
• Iranian clubs in the AFC Champions League
• Iraqi clubs in the AFC Champions League
• Japanese clubs in the AFC Champions League
• Myanmar clubs in the AFC Champions League
• Qatari clubs in the AFC Champions League
• Saudi Arabian clubs in the AFC Champions League
• South Korean clubs in the AFC Champions League
• Thai clubs in the AFC Champions League
• Vietnamese clubs in the AFC Champions League

References

1. Chaudhuri, Arunava. "Indian Clubs in the Asian Cup Winners Cup". indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
2. Mukherjee, Soham; Easwar, Nisanth V (1 April 2020). "How have Indian clubs fared in AFC Champions League and AFC Cup?". goal.com. Goal. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
3. Atsushi Fujioka; Biplav Guatam; Malik Riaz Hai Naveed (1996). "Nepal — List of Champions and Cup Winners: Tribhuvan Challenge Shield – Other Cup Tournaments". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
4. Tom Lewis; Neil Morrison; Novan Herfiyana; Karel Stokkermans (2003). "Aga Khan Gold Cup (Dhaka, Bangladesh): Aga Khan Gold Cup 1960". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
5. Chakraborty, Sabyasachi (29 May 2020). "THROWBACK: When East Bengal FC became the Champions of Central Asia!". BADGEB. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
6. The World Sports Today (1 August 2020). "100 years of East Bengal: A timeline of Kolkata giant's key milestones". The World Sports Today. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
7. Hoodh Ali; Mikael Jönsson; Hans Schöggl (1997). "Maldives - List of Cup Winners: POMIS Cup (President of Maldives Invitational Soccer Cup)". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
8. Nayak, Nicolai (26 July 2020). "Making a mark in Asia: East Bengal's 2003 Asean Cup win – a defining moment for Indian club football". www.scroll.in. Scroll. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
9. Shahyb, Mohamed (21 September 2003). "Local teams struggle while foreign teams confirm participation in POMIS Cup". haveeru.com. Haveeru Daily. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
10. "East Bengal win Nepal tournament". Football Asia. 3 January 2005. Archived from the original on 12 January 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
11. "Afc Cup 2006". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
12. "Afc Cup 2008". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
13. "Ranti Martins Profile". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
14. "Sunil Chhetri Profile". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
15. "Sunil Chhetri named among 13 strikers to choose all-time best three in AFC Cup". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
16. "Afc Cup 2004". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
17. "Afc Cup 2005". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
18. "Afc Cup 2007". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
19. "Jeje Lalpekhlua Profile". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
20. "Chidi Edeh Profile". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
21. "Sony Norde Profile". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2018.

Further reading

• Ghosh, Soumo (22 September 2021). "The Last Goal – Remembering Cristiano Junior". the-aiff.com. New Delhi: All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2023.