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Organising body | AFC |
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Founded | 2005 (rebranded in 2024) |
Region | Asia |
Number of teams | 20 (group stage) |
Qualifier for | AFC Champions League Two |
Related competitions | AFC Champions League Elite (1st tier) AFC Champions League Two (2nd tier) |
Current champions | ![]() |
Most successful club(s) | ![]() |
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The AFC Challenge League is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. The competition is played among clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying slots to the top-tier AFC Champions League Elite or the second-tier AFC Champions League Two, based on the AFC club competitions ranking.
The tournament was founded in 2005 as the AFC President's Cup, the third-tier club competition in Asian football, and was discontinued in 2014. In 2024, the AFC re-introduced a revamped competition under the name AFC Challenge League, with the records and statistics of the AFC President's Cup transferring to the new competition.
Qualification to the competition initially was for clubs from AFC-affiliated countries which fall into the AFC's emerging nations category as laid out in their Vision Asia document.
Between 8 and 12 clubs participated in each edition of the competition. From 2005 to 2007, 8 clubs were placed in the two groups of 4. The winners and runners up would advance to the semi-final stage. All the matches were held in a single host country.
From 2008 to 2010, the tournament was increased to 11 clubs. A qualification round was created and clubs were split into three groups. Each group was played in a different country. The three group winners and the best ranked runner up qualified for the final stage.
From 2011 to 2014, the tournament was increased to 12 clubs. In the qualification round, there were three groups of 4 clubs. The group winners and runners up qualified for the final stage. These 6 clubs were broken into two groups of 3. The top clubs of each group qualified for the final.[1]
In November 2013 the AFC announced that the 2014 AFC President's Cup would be the last edition of the tournament.[2] Starting from 2015, league champions of "emerging countries" are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup qualifying play-off.[3] The qualifying round for the 2016 AFC Cup, with a similar format to the AFC President's Cup (but without a final stage), was held in August 2015, which qualified two teams to the AFC Cup play-offs.[4]
On 23 December 2022, it was announced that a third-tier club competition would be reintroduced from the 2024–25 season, which would be named the AFC Challenge League.[5][6]
Coach | Club | Winners |
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2005, 2008, 2009 |
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2006, 2007 |
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2010 |
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2012 |
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2011 |
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2013 |
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2014 |
# | Nation | Winners | Runners-up |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
4 | 1 |
2 | ![]() |
2 | 4 |
3 | ![]() |
2 | 0 |
4 | ![]() |
1 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | |
6 | ![]() |
0 | 1 |
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0 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 |
Club | Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years lost |
---|---|---|---|---|
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3 | 0 | 2005, 2008, 2009 | |
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2 | 4 | 2006, 2007 | 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 |
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1 | 0 | 2010 | |
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1 | 0 | 2011 | |
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1 | 0 | 2012 | |
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1 | 0 | 2013 | |
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1 | 0 | 2014 | |
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0 | 1 | 2006 | |
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0 | 1 | 2007 | |
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0 | 1 | 2011 | |
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0 | 1 | 2012 | |
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0 | 1 | 2013 | |
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0 | 1 | 2014 |
Season | Player | Goals |
---|---|---|
2005 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
4 |
2006 | ![]() ![]() |
5 |
2007 | ![]() |
6 |
2008 | ![]() |
6 |
2009 | ![]() |
6 |
2010 | ![]() |
5 |
2011 | ![]() |
6 |
2012 | ![]() |
8 |
2013 | ![]() |
9 |
2014 | ![]() |
11 |
Season | Player | Club |
---|---|---|
2005 | - | - |
2006 | - | - |
2007 | ![]() |
Dordoi-Dynamo |
2008 | - | - |
2009 | ![]() |
Regar-TadAZ |
2010 | ![]() |
Dordoi-Dynamo |
2011 | ![]() |
Taipower |
2012 | ![]() |
Istiqlol |
2013 | ![]() |
Balkan |
2014 | ![]() |
HTTU Asgabat |
Rank | Player | Club(s) | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Dordoi Bishkek | 19 |
2 | ![]() |
Dordoi Bishkek | 12 |
3 | ![]() |
Regar-TadAZ | 11 |
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HTTU | ||
5 | ![]() |
Aşgabat Balkan |
10 |
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Ratnam | ||
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Regar-TadAZ Istiklol | ||
8 | ![]() |
KRL | 9 |
9 | ![]() |
Aşgabat HTTU |
8 |
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Yadanarbon | ||
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Nepal Police Club |