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The AFC Challenge League (previously known as the AFC President's Cup, abbreviated as ACGL) 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 2024-25 season marked its inaugural edition in the new format. The winner of the AFC Challenge League gets a direct spot in the group stage of the next season's AFC Champions League Two, if they haven't already qualified through domestic performance.
 | |
| Organising body | AFC |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 (as AFC President's Cup) 2024 (relaunched as AFC Challenge League) |
| Region | Asia |
| Number of teams | 18 (group stage) |
| Qualifier for | AFC Champions League Two |
| Related competitions | AFC Champions League Elite (1st tier) AFC Champions League Two (2nd tier) |
| Current champions | HTTU Aşgabat (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) | Regar TadAZ (3 titles) |
| Website | www.the-afc.com |
 2024–25 AFC Challenge League | |
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| Season | Winners |
|---|---|
| AFC President's Cup | |
| 2005 |  Regar TadAZ |
| 2006 |  Dordoi-Dynamo |
| 2007 | Dordoi-Dynamo (2) |
| 2008 | Regar TadAZ (2) |
| 2009 | Regar TadAZ (3) |
| 2010 |  Yadanarbon |
| 2011 |  Taipower |
| 2012 | Istiklol |
| 2013 |  Balkan |
| 2014 | HTTU Aşgabat |
| AFC Challenge League | |
| 2024–25 | |
The AFC President’s Cup was founded in 2005 as a third tier competition so that clubs from lower-ranked AFC member nations could participate in continental competition.[1]
On 25 November 2013, the AFC Competitions Committee proposed the year of 2014 to be the last edition of the competition.[2] Starting from 2015, league champions of emerging countries were eligible to participate in the AFC Cup qualifying play-off.[3]
The last edition in 2014 saw HTTU Aşgabat defeat Rimyongsu of North Korea 2–1, and became the second consecutive team from Turkmenistan to win the competition.
On 23 December 2022 it was announced that the AFC competition structure would change from the established formats from the 2024–25 season. A new third-tier tournament called the AFC Challenge League would be introduced.[4][5][6]
On 24 May 2024 AFC announced that the records and statistics will be recognised and integrated within the revamped club competitions, with the data from the AFC President's Cup transferring to the AFC Challenge League.[7]
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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.[8]
In November 2013 the AFC announced that the 2014 AFC President's Cup would be the last edition of the tournament.[9] Starting from 2015, league champions of "emerging countries" are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup qualifying play-off.[10] The qualifying round for the 2016 AFC Cup, with similar format to the AFC President's Cup (without final stage), was held in August 2015, which qualified two clubs to the AFC Cup play-offs.[11]
After the rebrand in 2024, the new format comprised 18 participating clubs divided into four groups for the inaugural season. The clubs compete in single-leg centralized format, with the top eight qualifying for the quarter-finals. The quarter and semi-finals are played over two legs, before the coveted final is staged over a single-leg contest.[12][13]
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Starting with the 2024–25 season, the distribution of the prize money is as follows:[14]
| Round | Teams | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per team | Total | ||
| Final (Champions) | 1 | $1m | $1,000,000 |
| Final (Runners-up) | 1 | $500k | $500,000 |
| Semi-finals | 4 | $120k | $480,000 |
| Quarter-finals | 8 | $80k | $640,000 |
| Group stage | 18 | $100k | $1,800,000 |
| Total | 18 | $4,420,000 | |
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List of finals
| † | Match won after extra time |
| * | Match won after a penalty shoot-out |
- The "Season" column refers to the season during which the competition was held, and links to the article about that season.
Performance by club
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regar-TadAZ |
3 | 0 | 2005, 2008, 2009 | — |
| Dordoi Bishkek |
2 | 4 | 2006, 2007 | 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 |
 Yadanarbon |
1 | 0 | 2010 | — |
 Taiwan Power Company |
1 | 0 | 2011 | — |
| Istiklol |
1 | 0 | 2012 | — |
| Nebitçi |
1 | 0 | 2013 | — |
| Ýedigen |
1 | 0 | 2014 | — |
| Khatlon |
0 | 1 | — | 2006 |
 Nepal Police Club |
0 | 1 | — | 2007 |
 Phnom Penh Crown |
0 | 1 | — | 2011 |
 Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari |
0 | 1 | — | 2012 |
 KRL |
0 | 1 | — | 2013 |
 Rimyongsu |
0 | 1 | — | 2014 |
Performance by nation
| Nation | Winners | Runners-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tajikistan |
4 | 1 | 5 |
| Kyrgyzstan |
2 | 4 | 6 |
| Turkmenistan |
2 | 0 | 2 |
| Chinese Taipei |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Myanmar |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Cambodia |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| Nepal |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| North Korea |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| Pakistan |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| Palestine |
0 | 1 | 1 |
Performance by coach
| Coach | Club | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| Makhmadjon Khabibulloev | Regar TadAZ | 2005, 2008, 2009 |
| Boris Podkorytov | Dordoi-Dinamo | 2006, 2007 |
| U Zaw Lay Aung | Yadanarbon FC | 2010 |
 Nikola Kavazović | Istiklol | 2012 |
| Chen Kuei-jen | Taiwan Power Company | 2011 |
| Rahym Kurbanmämmedow | Balkan | 2013 |
| Begench Garayev | HTTU Aşgabat | 2014 |
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Top scorers
| Season | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 |  Dudley Steinwall Hok Sochetra Khurshed Mahmudov Dzhomikhon Mukhidinov |
4 |
| 2006 | Chuang Yao-tsung Roman Kornilov |
5 |
| 2007 | Channa Ediri Bandanage |
6 |
| 2008 | Thi Ha Kyaw |
6 |
| 2009 | Soe Min Oo |
6 |
| 2010 | Rustam Usmonov |
5 |
| 2011 | Ho Ming-tsan |
6 |
| 2012 | Mirlan Murzaev |
8 |
| 2013 | Mirlan Murzaev |
9 |
| 2014 | Suleyman Muhadow |
11 |
Best player
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Club(s) | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mirlan Murzaev |
Dordoi Bishkek | 19 |
| 2 | David Tetteh |
Dordoi Bishkek | 12 |
| 3 | Khurshed Makhmudov |
Regar-TadAZ | 11 |
| Suleyman Muhadow |
HTTU | ||
| 5 | Amir Gurbani |
Aşgabat Balkan |
10 |
| Channa Ediri Bandanage |
Ratnam | ||
| Ibrahim Rabimov |
Regar-TadAZ Istiklol | ||
| 8 | Kaleemullah Khan |
KRL | 9 |
| 9 | Arslanmyrat Amanow |
Aşgabat HTTU |
8 |
| Yan Paing |
Yadanarbon | ||
| Ju Manu Rai |
Nepal Police Club |
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