August 07,2025: The quest to reach the AFC Challenge League™ (ACGL) 2025/26 Group Stage begins on August 12 (Tuesday) with the Preliminary Stage, which consists of nine single-leg ties. Reaffirming the tournament’s aim to spotlight the Continent’s emerging teams and talents, the 18-strong cast—10 from the West and eight from the East—is an increase from last season, where four sides were involved at the same stage. The nine winners progress to the Group Stage to join eight teams that were as well as the three eliminated sides from the AFC Champions League Two™ Preliminary Stage, to form a 20-team line-up for the 12th edition of Asia’s third-tier men’s club competition.The quartet of Abu Muslim Farah FC, Ezra FC, Khangarid FC and FC Muras United are poised to play their first ever Continental match, while four more teams will aim to secure their maiden ACGL participation: Al-Karamah SC, Hutteen SC, Taichung Futuro FC and Yangon United FC.
East
Kick-off begins at Ulaanbaatar’s MFF Stadium with a 4pm clash between SP Falcons and Taichung Futuro. The hosts claimed their second Mongolian league crown in 2024/25 and are aiming for a second tournament appearance, having reached the Group Stage last season. Their Chinese Taipei visitors, who made their Continental debut in the AFC Cup™ 2023/24, finished as runners-up in the 2024 domestic league – their best-ever placing. The Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon hosts the 4pm fixture between Myanmar’s Yangon United—league runners-up in 2024/25—and Ezra FC, who claimed their maiden Lao league title in style by posting an unbeaten 2024/25 campaign that saw them win 12 of their 14 matches. Tainan City FC reached the last eight on their ACGL debut in 2024/25 and the Chinese Taipei side, who claimed a record fifth domestic league crown in 2024, will have to overcome Mongolia’s Khangarid FC to secure a return to the competition. The visitors, who placed second in their league, will travel to the Taipei Municipal Stadium for the 7.30pm kick-off. No Bruneian club has qualified for the Group Stage of an AFC competition before, so Kasuka FC will be chasing history when they welcome Phnom Penh Crown FC to the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Bandar Seri Begawan at 8.15pm. The home side have displayed impressive domestic form, winning the last two league titles while staying unbeaten, but their Cambodian opponents—2024 cup winners and league runners-up—will be determined to reach their fourth Finals.
West
Having sewn up a fourth consecutive league title and record fifth overall, Maldivian champions Maziya Sports & RC are targeting a return after reaching last season’s Group Stage. Standing in their way is Kuwait’s league runners-up Al Arabi SC, who reached the 2024/25 semi-finals, with kick-off at 3pm at the Maldives National Football Stadium in Male. With five previous appearances (under the AFC President’s Cup banner), Abahani Limited Dhaka is the most experienced outfit at this stage and the Bangladeshi league runners-up will hope to end an absence that stretches back to 2013. Their quest starts at 5pm at the National Stadium Dhaka against Kyrgyz Republic’s FC Muras United, a club established only in 2023, who won the domestic cup for a second time in a row in 2024 to add to their highest-ever league placing of third. Reigning Bhutan league champions Paro FC will aim to repeat last season’s Preliminary Stage success when they take on Abu Muslim Farah FC, who lifted their maiden league title in 2024/25 and have the opportunity to become the first ever Afghan club to qualify for the Group Stage of an AFC competition; this match is slated for a 6pm start at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu.Fresh off a third consecutive league success, Kyrgyz Republic’s FC Abdysh-Ata are hunting a second consecutive ACGL Finals appearance as they go up against Syria’s Hutteen SC in Bishkek at 8pm at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium, with the visitors’ third-place league finish enough to secure Continental football for the first time since the 2000/01 Asian Cup Winners’ Cup.

Another Syrian side, Al-Karamah SC, finished as league runners-up and the 2006 AFC Champions League™ finalists will battle Bangladesh’s cup winners Bashundhara Kings—looking to reach a second consecutive ACGL Finals—in a neutral venue at the Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar at 8.30pm.