AFC Champions League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| AFC Champions League | |
|---|---|
 AFC Champions League 2007 |
|
 |
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| Sport | Football (soccer) |
| Founded | 1967 |
| No. of teams | 28+1 (Group stages) |
| Country | AFC member nations |
| Current champions |  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
The AFC Champions League is an annual international inter-club football competition between the champions and cup winners of the top 14 Asian leagues. It is run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Contents |
[edit] History
Originally known as the Asian Club Championship, the tournament began in 1967 with just eight clubs registered to take part. In 1972, with only two entrants able to take part, the tournament was cancelled.
After 1972 the competition went into hiatus but was resurrected again in 1986 and reborn as the Asian Champions Cup. Entry was restricted to domestic champions only, with Cup winners playing in the Asian Cup Winners Cup tournament. The winners of the two major tournaments then played off for the Asian Super Cup.
From 2002-03 the Asian Champions Cup and Asian Cup Winners Cup were merged into one competition and was rebranded the AFC Champions League.
Seven clubs have won the tournament two times; Suwon Samsung Bluewings, Pohang Steelers, Al-Hilal, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Thai Farmers Bank, Esteghlal F.C. and Al Ittihad. Maccabi cannot add any further titles, as the Israel Football Association has not been an AFC member for over 30 years, and has since joined UEFA.
With the introduction of the Australian national competition, the Hyundai A-League, in 2005 and the move of Australia from the Oceania Football Confederation to the AFC in 2006, two Australian teams will participate in the tournament starting in 2007. Sydney FC and Adelaide United will be the first Australian teams in the competition.
[edit] Qualification & format
The domestic champions of the 14 top Asian federations qualify automatically for the tournament, along with the respective cup winners of the same federations. The tournament holders receive a bye into the quarter-finals. Teams which are not in the top 14 federations go into the AFC Cup.
In total, 29 clubs competed in the 2006 Champions League tournament.
The qualifying teams are split on a regional basis into seven groups of four teams. The teams play each other home and away, and the top team from each group qualifies for the quarter-finals, where they join the reigning holders. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are played on a home-and-away basis in the format of a knockout competition.
In 2007 the tournament will stay at 28 teams for the qualifying stages and the current Champions (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) will join the 7 group winners in the quarter finals.
Due to their teams' technical performance and match results of the Thai and Vietnamese clubs in recent seasons, the AFC decided that Thailand and Vietnam would be reduced to one representative each in the competition with their second places teams demoted to the AFC Cup. Two teams from Australia's A-League have been offered places in the tournament to replace the demoted teams.
[edit] Competing Asian Federations
[edit] Central & West Asia
Iran | Iraq | Kuwait | Qatar | Saudi Arabia | Syria | UAE | Uzbekistan
[edit] East Asia
Australia | China | Indonesia | Japan | South Korea | Thailand | Vietnam
[edit] Asian Champions Cup & Champions League Finals
[edit] AFC Champions League records and statistics
[edit] By Nation
The following table lists countries by number of winners and runner-up in AFC Champions League (Asian Club Championship also included).
| # | Nation | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Korea Republic |
7 | 4 |
| 2 |  Saudi Arabia |
4 | 5 |
| 3 |  Japan |
3 | 3 |
| 4 |  Iran |
3 | 2 |
| 5 |  Israel |
3 | 1 |
| 6 |  Thailand |
2 | 1 |
| 7 |  China PR |
1 | 2 |
| 8 |  Qatar |
1 | 1 |
| 8 |  United Arab Emirates |
1 | 1 |
| 10 |  Iraq |
0 | 2 |
| 11 |  Malaysia |
0 | 1 |
| 11 |  Oman |
0 | 1 |
| 11 |  Syria |
0 | 1 |
[edit] By Club
The following table lists Clubs by number of winners and runner-up in AFC Champions League (Asian Club Championship also included).
| Team | Winners | Runners-Up | Years Won | Years Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Esteghlal |
2 | 2 | (1970, 1991) | (1992, 1999) |
 Al-Hilal |
2 | 2 | (1992, 2000) | (1987, 1988) |
| Al-Ittihad |
2 | 0 | (2004, 2005) | - |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings |
2 | 0 | (2001, 2002) | - |
| Pohang Steelers |
2 | 0 | (1997, 1998) | - |
 Thai Farmers Bank FC |
2 | 0 | (1994, 1995) | - |
 Maccabi Tel Aviv |
2 | 0 | (1969, 1971) | - |
| Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma |
1 | 2 | (1996) | (1997, 2004) |
 Júbilo Iwata |
1 | 2 | (1999) | (2000, 2001) |
 Al-Ain |
1 | 1 | (2003) | (2005) |
 Liaoning FC |
1 | 1 | (1990) | (1991) |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv |
1 | 1 | (1967) | (1970) |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
1 | 0 | (2006) | - |
| Pas |
1 | 0 | (1993) | - |
 Al Sadd |
1 | 0 | (1989) | - |
| Yomiuri |
1 | 0 | (1988) | - |
| Furukawa Electric |
1 | 0 | (1987) | - |
| Daewoo Royals |
1 | 0 | (1986) | - |
 Al Karama |
0 | 1 | - | (2006) |
| BEC Tero Sasana |
0 | 1 | - | (2003) |
| Anyang LG Cheetahs |
0 | 1 | - | (2002) |
| Dalian Wanda |
0 | 1 | - | (1998) |
| Al-Nasr |
0 | 1 | - | (1996) |
| Al-Arabi |
0 | 1 | - | (1995) |
 Oman Club |
0 | 1 | - | (1994) |
| Al-Shabab |
0 | 1 | - | (1993) |
| Nissan FC |
0 | 1 | - | (1990) |
 Al Rasheed |
0 | 1 | - | (1989) |
| Al-Ahly |
0 | 1 | - | (1986) |
| Al Shourta |
0 | 1 | - | (1971) |
| Yangzee FC |
0 | 1 | - | (1969) |
 Selangor FA |
0 | 1 | - | (1968) |
[edit] Top Scorers
| Year | Footballer | Club | Goals | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-2003 | Hao Haidong | Dalian Shide |
9 | China |
| 2004 | Kim Do-Hoon | Ilhwa Chunma |
9 | Republic of Korea |
| 2005 | Mohamed Kallon | Al-Ittihad |
6 |  Sierra Leone |
| 2006 | Magno Alves | Gamba Osaka |
9 |  Brazil |
[edit] Trivia
- The first goalkeeper to have scored in the AFC Champions League is Choi Eun-Sung of Daejeon againstMonte Carlo (Macao) on the 9th October 2002. Daejeon went on to beat Monte Carlo (Macao) 5-1.
[edit] External links
| AFC Champions League Seasons |
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Asian Club Championship - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 |
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AFC football
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Asian Cup | Challenge Cup | Youth Championship | U-17 Championship | Futsal Championship |
| AFC clubs football |
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Champions League | Cup | President's Cup | Cup Winners Cup (defunct) | Super Cup (defunct) |
| AFC women's football |
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