The Continent’s aspiring teams will embark on their quest for glory when the keenly anticipated AFC Challenge League™ 2024/25 season gets underway on Saturday, October 26.

Set to shine the light on Asia’s emerging leagues, the revamped third tier men’s club competition comprises 18 teams in its inaugural edition. The Group Stage, featuring three groups of four teams each from the West and two groups involving three teams each from the East, will be played in a centralised league format.
 
Further underlining the AFC’s commitment to bring top level Continental club football action to more Member Associations, three sides are poised for their debut, having qualified for an AFC club competition for the first time: Turkmenistan’s FC Arkadag, Mongolia’s SP Falcons, and Bhutan’s Paro FC.
 
West
 
East Bengal FC of India and Bhutan’s Paro FC will kick off the competition with their Group A clash at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu at 5pm. Semi-finalists in the AFC Cup™ in 2013, East Bengal won their first major trophy in 12 years by lifting the Super Cup in January. Hosts Paro, who won their third straight league crown in 2023 and fourth overall, became the fifth Bhutanese club to qualify for an AFC club competition after progressing from the Preliminary Stage.
 
AFC Cup™ 2005 runners-up Nejmeh SC, who claimed their ninth Lebanese league title in 2023/24 to end a 10-year drought, will face Bashundhara Kings at 9pm, with the latter becoming the first side to win five straight Bangladeshi league crowns in 2023/24.
 
Five-time Bahraini league champions Al Ahli will relish their return to the Continental stage 24 years after their last appearance at the 2000 Asian Club Championship when they open their Group C campaign at 5pm at the Al Seeb Stadium in Seeb. Their opponents, Hilal Al Quds, have claimed the Palestinian league trophy on four occasions and made their sole previous Continental appearance in 2013 at the AFC President’s Cup.
 
Home side Al Seeb Club, who enjoyed a victorious AFC Cup™ debut in 2022, enter Group C as reigning Omani league champions. Their journey begins at 8pm against Syrian league winners Al Futowa SC, who also won the Syrian Cup to complete a domestic double.
 
At the Kuwait Sports Club Stadium in Kuwait City, hosts and 17-time Kuwaiti league champions Al Arabi SC – runners-up in the 2023/24 season – will start their Group B journey at 5.30pm against FC Abdysh-Ata. The visitors’ maiden Kyrygz league crown was won in 2022, leading to their qualification for the AFC Cup™ 2023/24 – their Continental debut, where they fell just short of the Final. Back to back league triumphs in 2023 sealed a berth in the Preliminary Stage of this competition, which was safely negotiated to secure their Group Stage place.
 
Formed in 2023, FC Arkadag swiftly established dominance in Turkmenistan by winning all 24 league games and six cup games to claim a domestic double the same year. Having recently retained the league crown in 2024, they will aim to carry their form over to the Continental stage when they face Maziya Sports & Recreation at 9.30pm. With nine AFC Cup™ participations, the 2023 Maldivian league winners – a record fifth title – are one of the more experienced teams in this tournament.
 
East
 
Group E ignites on October 27 at the MFF Stadium in Ulaanbaatar, where 2023/24 Mongolian league champions SP Falcons – their first title – are eyeing a winning start on home soil. Their 3pm showdown has 2023/24 Indonesian league runners-up Madura United FC on the opposite end, with the three-time league champions making a long-awaited return to the Continental arena since featuring at the 1990/91 Asian Club Championship.
 
Cambodia’s Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC, who made their debut at the 2014 AFC President’s Cup, swing into action three days later on October 30. They won the league in 2023/24 to end a five-year drought and added a Cup triumph to seal a double, and will face SP Falcons at 3pm.
 
Young Elephants FC won their second league title in as many seasons to qualify to Group D and face 2023 Myanmar league champions Shan United FC on October 27 at 4pm, at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon, with the hosts able to draw on the experience of AFC President’s Cup campaigns from 2008 and 2009.
 
The third side in the group is Chinese Taipei’s Tainan City FC, who claimed their fourth consecutive league crown in 2023 and will square off with Young Elephants on October 30 at 4pm.
 
Eight teams will progress from the Group Stage – the three Group winners and best-ranked runners-up from the West, and the top two finishers of each Group from the East – to the Quarter-finals, which take place between March 5 and 13, 2025. The double-legged Semi-finals will unfold from April 9 to 17, 2025 and the Final is set to be played on May 10, 2025.