List of Asian Club Championship and AFC Champions League finals
|
AFC Champions League trophy | |
| Founded | 1967 (since 2002 in its current format) |
|---|---|
| Region | Asia & Australia (AFC) |
| Number of teams |
32 (group stage) 2 (finalists) |
| Current champions |
 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2nd title) |
| Most successful club(s) |
Pohang Steelers (3 titles) |
 2016 AFC Champions League | |
The AFC Champions League is a seasonal association football competition that was established in 1967. It begins in January or February and ends with the finals in October or November of the same year. The AFC Champions League is open to the league champions and cup winners of Asian Football Confederation member associations, as well as to the clubs finishing in second and third position in the stronger leagues of each zone. Prior to the 2002–03 season, the tournament was named the Asian Club Championship.[1] Originally, only the champions of their respective national league and the defending champion of the competition were allowed to participate. However, this was changed in 2002 to allow the national cup winners to compete as well. Since 2009, the title holders do not qualify automatically for the following year competition.
Pohang Steelers hold the record for the most victories, with three wins since the competition's inception. They have also won the competition the most times consecutively along with Thai Farmers Bank, Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Al-Ittihad, winning it two times. Al-Hilal has contested more finals, with five, won two times and lost three, while Al-Ahli and FC Seoul are the only clubs to have finished as runners-up twice without winning. Overall, 23 different clubs have won the competition since its inception in 1967. Clubs from South Korea have won the most titles, eleven, Japanese clubs are second with five, and Saudi Arabian clubs are third with four wins. The current champions are Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, who beat Al-Ain 3–2 on aggregate in the 2016 final.
List of finals
| # | Finals did not play |
| * | Finals decided by a penalty shootout |
 |
Finals decided on away goals |
 |
Match was won during extra time |
- The "Year" column refers to the season the competition was held, and wikilinks to the article about that season.
- Official season orthography of Asian Club Championship is reset. Both one-year and two-year seasons listed separately.[2]
- Finals are listed in the order they were played.
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Performances
By club
The following table lists clubs by number of Winners and Runners-up in the Asian Club Championship and AFC Champions League.
- Notes
- 1 Club no longer exists.
- 2 In 1974 the Israel FA was expelled from the AFC due to political pressure, and became a full UEFA member in 1994. As a result, Israeli clubs no longer participate in AFC tournaments but in their UEFA counterparts instead.
By nation
| Nation | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 11 | 6 |
 Japan | 5 | 3 |
 Saudi Arabia | 4 | 8 |
 Iran | 3 | 4 |
 China | 3 | 2 |
 Israel | 3 | 1 |
 Qatar | 2 | 1 |
 Thailand | 2 | 1 |
 United Arab Emirates | 1 | 3 |
 Australia | 1 | 1 |
 Iraq | 0 | 2 |
 Malaysia | 0 | 1 |
 Oman | 0 | 1 |
 Syria | 0 | 1 |
See also
Notes
A. ^ The final was scratched and Maccabi Tel Aviv were awarded the championship after Al-Shorta players entered the field waving Iraqi and Palestinian flags around the pitch before refusing to play the Israeli side for political reasons.[3]
B. ^ The championship was decided in a final group round-robin of four teams.
C. ^ The final was scratched and Yomiuri FC were awarded the championship after Al-Hilal refused to participate in the final after 8 starting players were chosen to be in the national team's preparation camp which coincided with the final matches.[4]
D. ^ Score was 1–1 after 90 minutes and extra time. Al-Hilal won the penalty-shootout 4–3.[5]
E. ^ Score was 0–0 after 90 minutes and extra time. Pohang Steelers won the penalty-shootout 6–5.[6]
F. ^ Score was 0–0 after 90 minutes and extra time. Suwon Samsung Bluewings won the penalty-shootout 4–2.[7]
G. ^ Score was 2–2 after 90 minutes and extra time. Al-Sadd won the penalty-shootout 4–2.[8]
References
- ↑ "AFC Champions League: The drama , the glory....". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "AFC Champions League Official Programme". AFC.com.
- ↑ "Champions' Cup 1971". rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 26 December 2000. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "الزعيم تاريخ عريق من الانتصارات الآسيوية". al-jazirah.com (in Arabic). 7 March 2001. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "Champions' Cup 1991/92". rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "Champions' Cup 1997/98". rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "Champions' Cup 2001/02". rsssf.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- ↑ "Going the distance: A look back at the 2011 ACL final". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
| Asian Champion Club Tournament |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Asian Club Championship |
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| AFC Champions League |
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