2024–25 AFC Challenge League knockout stage

The 2024–25 AFC Challenge League knockout stage will be played from 5 March to 10 May 2025.^[1] A total of 8 teams will compete in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2024–25 AFC Challenge League.^[2]

Qualified teams

The following teams advanced from the group stage:

• The winners of the groups and the best runners-up in the West Region (Groups A–C).
• The winners and runner-ups of each group in the East Region (Groups D–E).

Region	Group	Winners	Runners-up
West Region	A	East Bengal	—
	B	Arkadag	Al-Arabi
	C	Al-Seeb	—
East Region	D	Shan United	Tainan City
	E	Madura United	Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng

Format

In the knockout stage, the 8 teams will play a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, except the final which will be played as a single match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the winners if necessary (note that the away goals rule is abolished). (Regulations Article 10).

Round	Matchups
Quarter-finals	West Region (Matchups and order of legs determined by identity of best runners-up: first team listed host first leg, second team listed host second leg) If best runners-up from Group A QF1: Group A runners-up vs. Group B winners QF2: Group C winners vs. Group A winners If best runners-up from Group B QF1: Group B runners-up vs. Group C winners QF2: Group A winners vs. Group B winners If best runners-up from Group C QF1: Group C runners-up vs. Group A winners QF2: Group B winners vs. Group C winners East Region (First team listed host first leg, second team listed host second leg) QF3: Group E runners-up vs. Group D winners QF4: Group D runners-up vs. Group E winners
Semi-finals	(First team listed host first leg, second team listed host second leg) West Region SF1: Winners of QF1 vs. Winners of QF2 East Region SF2: Winners of QF3 vs. Winners of QF4
Final	(Winners of East Region semi-finals host match) Winners of SF2 vs. Winners of SF1

Schedule

After the draw, the schedule of each round is as follows.^[1]

Stage	Round	First leg	Second leg
Knockout stage	Quarter-finals	5–6 March 2025	12–13 March 2025
	Semi-finals	9–10 April 2025	16–17 April 2025
	Final	10 May 2025

Bracket

	Quarter-finals							Semi-finals							Final
	E2	Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng	6	1	7
	D1	Shan United	2	2	4
								Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng
	East Region
								Madura United
	D2	Tainan City	0	0	0
	E1	Madura United	0	3	3
	B2	Al-Arabi (a.e.t.)	1	2	3
	C1	Al-Seeb	0	2	2
								Al-Arabi
	West Region
								Arkadag
	A1	East Bengal	0	1	1
	B1	Arkadag	1	2	3

Quarter-finals

Summary

In the quarter-finals, the eight qualified teams play in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs determined by the group stage draw and the identity of the best runners-up in the West region.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Region
Al-Arabi	3–2	Al-Seeb	1–0	2–2 (a.e.t.)
East Bengal	1–3	Arkadag	0–1	1–2
East Region
Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng	7–4	Shan United	6–2	1–2
Tainan City	0–3	Madura United	0–0	0–3

West Region

Al-Arabi	1–0	Al-Seeb
Al Salamah 90+1'	Report

5 March 2025 (2025-3-5)

21:30 UTC+3

Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Stadium, Sulaibikhat

Attendance: 4,327

Referee: Sultan Mohamed Yousif (United Arab Emirates)

Al-Seeb	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Al-Arabi
Al-Mushaifri 41' Kamara 89'	Report	Ashkanani 23' Bouchar 102'

12 March 2025 (2025-3-12)

22:00 UTC+4

Al-Seeb Stadium, Al-Seeb

Attendance: 4,387

Referee: Thoriq Alkatiri (Indonesia)

Al-Arabi won 3–2 on aggregate.

---

East Bengal	0–1	Arkadag
	Report	Gurbanow 10'

5 March 2025 (2025-3-5)

19:00 UTC+5:30

Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata

Attendance: 25,497

Referee: Mohammed Ahmed Al-Shammari (Qatar)

Arkadag	2–1	East Bengal
Annadurdyýew 89' (pen.), 90+8'	Report	Bouli 1'

12 March 2025 (2025-3-12)

15:30 UTC+5

Arkadag Stadium, Arkadag

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Sheikh Ahmad Alaeddin (Lebanon)

Arkadag won 3–1 on aggregate.

East Region

Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng	6–2	Shan United
Cristian 17' (pen.), 31', 58' (pen.) Fujii 54' Zwe Khant Min 65' (o.g.) Ratanak 75'	Report	Krya 38' (o.g.) Efrain Rintaro 88'

6 March 2025 (2025-3-6)

19:00 UTC+7

Morodok Techo National Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 15,778

Referee: Hiroki Kasahara (Japan)

Shan United	2–1	Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng
Khun Kyaw Zin Hein 1' Ye Yint Aung 26'	Report	Moresche 56' (pen.)

13 March 2025 (2025-3-13)

17:00 UTC+6:30

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 550

Referee: Amir Arab Baraghi (Iran)

Svay Rieng won 7–4 on aggregate.

---

Tainan City	0–0	Madura United
	Report

6 March 2025 (2025-3-6)

19:00 UTC+8

Kaohsiung Nanzih Football Stadium, Kaohsiung

Attendance: 892

Referee: Choi Hyun-jai (South Korea)

Madura United	3–0	Tainan City
Júnior 38' Lulinha 59' Ezzejjari 84'	Report

13 March 2025 (2025-3-13)

20:30 UTC+7

Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Gresik

Attendance: 1,379

Referee: Zaid Thamer Mohammed (Iraq)

Madura United won 3–0 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

Summary

In the Semi-finals, the winners of quarter-finals from each region will face each other in two leg matches. The winners of each tie advance to the final.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Region
Al-Arabi	SF1	Arkadag	9 Apr	16 Apr
East Region
Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng	SF2	Madura United	10 Apr	17 Apr

West Region

Al-Arabi	v	Arkadag

9 April 2025 (2025-4-9)

19:00 UTC+3

Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Stadium, Sulaibikhat

Arkadag	v	Al-Arabi

16 April 2025 (2025-4-16)

15:30 UTC+5

Arkadag Stadium, Arkadag

East Region

Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng	v	Madura United

10 April 2025 (2025-4-10)

19:00 UTC+7

Morodok Techo National Stadium, Phnom Penh

Madura United	v	Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng

17 April 2025 (2025-4-17)

15:30 UTC+7

Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium, Gresik

Final

Main article: 2025 AFC Challenge League final

In the final, the winners of the each semi-finals will play each other, with the host team alternating every season. The winner will be given a direct slot for the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two group stage, if not already qualified through the domestic performance.