2023/24 AFC club competitions (AFC Champions League, AFC Cup)

[amenina]

West and ASEAN Zone contenders to kick off #AFCCup Knockout Stage

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cup ... stage.html

Kuala Lumpur: The final edition of the iconic AFC Cup™ will resume with the Knockout Stage for the 2023/24 season on Monday, February 12.

Eleven teams remain in contention for the 19th AFC Cup™ crown and eight are set to continue their quest for glory across the West and ASEAN Zonal Semi-finals, while the remaining three will be in action during the Inter-Zonal Playoffs between March 6 to April 24, 2024.

Bahrain’s Al Riffa topped Group C to progress to this stage for the fifth time in six tournament appearances and the 14-time league champions will host Al Nahda of Oman in the first leg of their West Zone Semi-final at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Manama at 7pm.

Al Riffa, who have twice stumbled when left with one hurdle to the Final, first in the Semi-finals in 2010 on their competition debut to Al Qadsia of Kuwait and then in the West Zone Final last year to eventual champions Al Seeb Club of Oman, will hope to make the Final this time round.

It is a second Knockout Stage appearance in four participations for Group A winners Al Nahda, who qualified for the Group Stage via the Playoffs. They also reached the last four on their AFC Cup™ debut back in 2008 and the 2022/23 Omani League champions will hold the return leg on February 19 at the Sultan Qaboo Sports Complex in Muscat.

The second West Zone Semi-final sees 2019 champions Al Ahed FC welcome Iraqi outfit Al Kahrabaa SC to the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex – a neutral venue in Muscat, Oman – on February 13. The home side have reached their seventh Knockout Stage on their 11th tournament involvement, with this being their fourth Zonal Semi-final appearance since the current format was implemented in 2017.

The only Lebanese team to have lifted the AFC Cup™, the nine-time domestic league champions progressed as the best runners-up and will come up against debutants Al Kahrabaa. The Group B winners’ qualification to this edition marked the first time that clubs from Iraq have participated in the competition since 2018, when Air Force Club became the only club to win three titles in a row. Kick-off is scheduled for 8pm, with the return leg to start at 7pm on February 20 at the Basra International Stadium.

The Semi-final winners will do battle in the West Zone Final across two legs on April 16 and 23 to earn the right to contest the coveted AFC Cup™ 2023/24 Final, which is set for May 5, 2024.

In the ASEAN Zone, four more clubs – including the debutant trio of Central Coast Mariners, Macarthur FC and Sabah FC – will play their single-leg Zonal Semi-finals on February 13.

The first Australian side to ever play in an AFC Cup™, 2022 Australia Cup winners Macarthur plundered a tournament-best of 23 goals enroute to topping Group F. They face Group H winners Sabah, who finished third in the 2023 Malaysia Super League, at 6pm at the Campbeltown Sports Stadium in Leumeah.

The second tie also takes place Down Under as the Central Coast Stadium in Gosford takes centre stage when the Mariners welcome Phnom Penh Crown FC, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm. The 2022/23 A-League Men runners-up finished first in Group G while their opponents qualified as the best runners-up, edging Terengganu FC of Malaysia on goal difference, to make history as the first ever Cambodian side to reach the AFC Cup™ Knockout Stage on their second tournament appearance.

The two Semi-final winners will face each other in the single-leg ASEAN Zone Final on February 22; the winner will join the winners of Groups D, E and I, namely Odisha FC of India, FK Abdysh-Ata of the Kyrgyz Republic and Taichung Futuro FC of Chinese Taipei to contest the two-legged home-and-away Inter-zonal Semi-finals. The pairings were determined during the Knockout Stage draw in December, as below:

Semi-final 1: FK Abdysh-Ata (KGZ) v Taichung Futuro FC (TPE)
Semi-final 2: ASEAN Zone champions v Odisha FC (IND)

Debutants Abdysh-Ata, the 2022 Kyrgyz Premier League champions and 2022 Cup winners, went unbeaten in the Group Stage – winning five of their six matches – to become the first ever side from their nation to reach the AFC Cup™ Knockout Stage. They host fellow debutants Taichung Futuro, similarly the first Chinese Taipei club to make it to this stage, in the first leg at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in Bishkek on March 6, 2024, with kick-off scheduled for 6pm. The return leg will take place in Taipei at 6pm on March 13.

Another team that is participating in the AFC Cup™ for the first time, 2023 Indian Super Cup champions Odisha are aiming to be the second club from India to reach the Final after Bengaluru FC finished runners-up in 2016. They will play the first leg away to the ASEAN Zone champion on March 7, 2024 before hosting the second leg on March 14 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

The winners of the Inter-zonal Semi-finals square off in the two-legged Inter-zonal Final on April 17 and 24, with the winning side to face the West Zone champion in the AFC Cup™ 2023/24 Final. The Final will be hosted by the West Zone champion.

All times indicated are in respective local times.


West Zonal Semi-finals, first leg
February 12
Semi-final 1: Al Riffa (BHR) v Al Nahda (OMA)

February 13
Semi-final 2: Al Ahed FC (LBN) v Al Kahrabaa Club (IRQ)

ASEAN Zonal Semi-finals (single leg)
February 13
Semi-final 1: Macarthur FC (AUS) v Sabah FC (MAS)
Semi-final 2: Central Coast Mariners (AUS) v Phnom Penh Crown FC (CAM)

[amenina]

AFC Cup result, 12 February
West Zonal Semi-finals, first leg

Semi-final 1: Al Riffa (BHR) 1-1 Al Nahda (OMA)

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cup ... riffa.html



Second leg on 19 February

[amenina]

AFC Champions League fixtures
Round of 16 first legs (East)

13 February
R16-7: Shandong Taishan (CHN) v Kawasaki Frontale (JPN)

14 February
R16-5: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (KOR) v Pohang Steelers (KOR)
R16-8: Bangkok United (THA) v Yokohama F. Marinos (JPN)

15 February
R16-6: Ulsan Hyundai FC (KOR) v Ventforet Kofu (JPN)

[amenina]

AFC Cup results, 13 February
ASEAN Zonal Semi-finals (single leg)

Semi-final 1: Macarthur FC (AUS) 3-0 Sabah FC (MAS)
Semi-final 2: Central Coast Mariners (AUS) 4-0 Phnom Penh Crown FC (CAM)

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cup ... mas_2.html

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cup ... cam_2.html





ASEAN Zonal Final (single leg)
February 22
Macarthur FC (AUS) v Central Coast Mariners (AUS)

[amenina]

AFC Champions League result, 13 February
Round of 16 first legs (East)

R16-7: Shandong Taishan (CHN) 2-3 Kawasaki Frontale (JPN)

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... jpn_2.html

[amenina]

AFC Cup result, 13 February
West Zonal Semi-finals, first leg

Semi-final 2: Al Ahed FC (LBN) 0-1 Al Kahrabaa Club (IRQ)

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cup ... hed_1.html



Second leg on 20 February

[amenina]

AFC Champions League fixtures
Round of 16 first legs (West)

14 February
R16-1: FC Nasaf (UZB) v Al Ain FC (UAE)
R16-2: Al Fayha SC (KSA) v Al Nassr (KSA)

15 February
R16-4: Navbahor (UZB) v Al Ittihad (KSA)
R16-3: Sepahan SC (IRN) v Al Hilal SFC (KSA)

[amenina]

AFC Champions League results, 14 February
Round of 16 first legs (East)

R16-5: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (KOR) 2-0 Pohang Steelers (KOR)
R16-8: Bangkok United (THA) 2-2 Yokohama F. Marinos (JPN)

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... kor_2.html

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... jpn_2.html

[amenina]

AFC Champions League results, 14 February
Round of 16 first legs (West)

R16-1: FC Nasaf (UZB) 0-0 Al Ain FC (UAE)
R16-2: Al Fayha SC (KSA) 0-1 Al Nassr (KSA)

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... uae_2.html

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... fayha.html

[amenina]

AFC Champions League result, 15 February
Round of 16 first legs (East)

R16-6: Ulsan Hyundai FC (KOR) 3-0 Ventforet Kofu (JPN)

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... jpn_2.html

[amenina]

AFC Champions League results, 15 February
Round of 16 first legs (West)

R16-4: Navbahor (UZB) 0-0 Al Ittihad (KSA)
R16-3: Sepahan SC (IRN) 1-3 Al Hilal SFC (KSA)

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... ate_1.html

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... pahan.html

[amenina]

https://x.com/footyrankings/status/1758 ... 77132?s=46

#AFCRanking updates after #ACL and #AFCCup action this week

Australia 11th (1)
Malaysia 12th (1)
Bahrain 17th (1)
India 18th (1)

View the full rankings: https://footyrankings.com/crank2024/

[amenina]

AFC Cup result, 19 February
West Zonal Semi-finals, second leg

Semi-final 1: Al Nahda (OMA) 3-1 Al Riffa (BHR)
(after extra time; 1-1 after 90 minutes)
Al Nahda (OMA) won 4-2 on aggregate and advanced to West Zonal Final.

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cup ... riffa.html

[amenina]

AFC Champions League fixtures
Round of 16 second legs (East)

20 February
R16-7: Kawasaki Frontale (JPN) v Shandong Taishan (CHN)
R16-5: Pohang Steelers (KOR) v Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (KOR)

21 February
R16-6: Ventforet Kofu (JPN) v Ulsan Hyundai FC (KOR)
R16-8: Yokohama F. Marinos (JPN) v Bangkok United (THA)

[amenina]

AFC Champions League results, 20 February
Round of 16 second legs (East)

R16-7: Kawasaki Frontale (JPN) 2-4 Shandong Taishan (CHN)
Shandong Taishan (CHN) won 6-5 on aggregate.

R16-5: Pohang Steelers (KOR) 1-1 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (KOR)
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (KOR) won 3-1 on aggregate.

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... iller.html

https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cha ... _spot.html