The 2026–27 AFC Challenge League group stage will be played from 18 September to 23 October 2026. The top two teams from each group qualified for the knockout stage.
Draw
The draw for the round of 16 will be held at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 20. The 20 teams were drawn into five groups: three comprising four teams from the West (groups A–C) and two comprising four teams from the East region (groups D–E). Teams were seeded ino four pots for West and East each, and drawn into the relevant positions within each group, based on their association ranking. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
The following 20 teams entered the group stage draw, which included the 11 direct entrants, three losers from the AFC Champions League Two qualifying play-offs and the two winners of the preliminary stage.
RegionGroupsPot 1 Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4A–C Al-ArabiACL2 Al-Qadsia (H) Istiklol (H) ParoPS (H) GoaACL2 Ansar Al Ittihad AhliPS Regar-TadAZPS Ahal Nejmeh FortisPS Homs Al FidaaPSD–E Manila DiggerACL2 One Taguig Hang YuanPS KasukaPS Borneo (H) Shan United (H) Tainan City(PS) Yangon UnitedPS Legend ACL2: AFC Champions League Two qualifying play-off losers PS: Preliminary stage winners H: Host
Format
In the group stage, each group will be played in a single round-robin format on a centralised venue. Eight teams will progress to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage : the three group winners and best-ranked runners-up from the West, and the group winners and runner-ups of each group from the East. Tiebreakers
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 8.3): Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Penalty shoot-out if only two teams playing each other in the last round of the group are tied; Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points); Drawing of lots.
Schedule The schedule of the group stage is as follows. RoundDates (East region)Dates (West region)Matchday 118 October 202617 October 2026Matchday 221 October 202620 October 2026Matchday 324 October 202623 October 2026
Groups The detailed schedule will be announced on August 25, 2026, after the draw ceremony. West Region Group A
Group B
Group C
Ranking of second-placed teams
East Region Group D
Group E
Notes
See also 2026–27 AFC Champions League Elite league stage 2026–27 AFC Champions League Two group stage
References
External links