AFC announces important news, Vietnamese football welcomes a major opportunity

AFC announces a major restructuring of the Asian Champions League, expanding the number of participating teams, thereby creating additional opportunities for Vietnamese clubs to return to the continent's top competition.

Asian Football Confederation AFC is planning a significant milestone for the continent's most prestigious club competition, AFC Champions League Elite, by proposing an expansion of its scale starting from the 2026/27 season.

According to recommendations from AFC's Competitions Committee, the number of teams participating in the League Stage will increase from 24 to 32. The tournament will maintain its structure divided into East and West zones, each comprising 16 teams. This change is expected to enhance competitiveness while providing more opportunities for top clubs across Asia to compete at the highest level.

Notably, the expansion is also seen as a positive signal for Vietnamese football. As the participation quota is widened, representatives from the V-League will have more chances to return to the continent's most prestigious tournament, something that has become increasingly difficult in recent years.

Not only increasing the number of teams, AFC also aims to adjust the format to boost excitement. Accordingly, starting after the 2026/27 season, the top six teams from each zone will secure direct qualification to the Round of 16. Meanwhile, teams ranked from 7th to 10th will enter a playoff round to compete for the remaining spots.

In this playoff round, higher-ranked teams will have home advantage, thereby creating additional competitive motivation during the group stage. However, due to the congested international match schedule, the playoff format is expected not to be implemented immediately from the 2026/27 season but will be rolled out in subsequent seasons.

With these strategic changes AFC demonstrates ambition to elevate AFC Champions League Elite both in professional quality and commercial value. Simultaneously, this is also an opportunity for many football nations, including Vietnam, to gradually narrow the gap with continental powerhouses. Nevertheless, the entire proposal still needs approval from AFC's Executive Committee before officially taking effect in the near future.