The AFC Champions League Elite expands, AFC may prioritize broadening participating leagues.

Written by Han Bing On April 14, AFC officially announced: The AFC Competition Committee recommends expanding the AFC Champions League Elite to 32 teams starting from the 2026/27 season, still with 16 teams each in the East and West zones. Starting as early as the 2027/28 season, similar to the Champions League, a playoff mechanism will be introduced in the knockout stage. The expansion aims to provide more elite clubs with opportunities to participate in Asia's top club competitions, motivating more Asian leagues to enhance their professionalism and competitive standards.

After expansion, the number of teams in the AFC Champions League Elite main competition will be the same as the Copa Libertadores (32 teams), second only to the Champions League (36 teams). AFC's announcement claims that expanding the AFC Champions League Elite further demonstrates AFC's commitment to building a more inclusive and commercially viable Asian competition platform. By broadening the geographical coverage of the AFC Champions League Elite, it ensures the competition remains at the forefront of the world football landscape, delivering top-tier football spectacles for Asian fans and stakeholders. The announcement states that the expansion must be approved by the AFC Executive Committee to take effect, but given AFC's past traditions, approval of the expansion plan is virtually certain.

Originally, the 2026/27 AFC Champions League Elite had 12 teams each in the East and West Asian zones, with participation slots allocated based on AFC league rankings from the 2024/25 season. The Chinese Super League, having been surpassed by the Thai League in ranking, is only fourth in the East Asian zone, securing two participation slots. In the 2025 season, CSL champion Shanghai Port directly enters the league stage, while cup champion Beijing Guoan participates in the playoffs. However, after expansion, the East Asian zone will gain four additional main competition slots, and Chinese fans are most concerned about whether the CSL can benefit.

Following the news of the AFC Champions League Elite expansion, media from Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Hong Kong China promptly reported, each believing their leagues have hopes of increasing participating teams.

The last time the AFC top-tier competition had 16 teams each from East and West Asia entering the main competition was the 2020 season. At that time, 12 leagues from the East Asian zone participated in the AFC Champions League, with six leagues having 12 teams directly entering the group stage. A total of 14 teams from 12 leagues competed through three rounds of qualifiers for the remaining four main competition slots. The top three ranked leagues in the East Asian zone received four participation slots: the top two had 3+1, the third had 2+2, and the four teams participating in qualifiers directly advanced to the final playoff stage. The fourth and fifth ranked leagues received three slots: 2+1 and 1+2 respectively. The sixth ranked league received two slots (1+1), and the four teams from these three leagues participating in qualifiers entered the second qualifying round. The six leagues ranked 7th to 12th only had their league champions participating, starting from the qualifiers.

Since the establishment of the AFC Champions League Elite in the 2024/25 season, the East Asian zone qualifiers have only had one round. AFC's announcement emphasizes that expansion will not increase competition pressure, and a large-scale expansion of qualifiers is unlikely. In the most recent AFC Champions League East Asian zone with 16 participating teams, a total of 12 direct entry slots were allocated among the top six ranked leagues. Before expansion, the 2026/27 AFC Champions League Elite East Asian zone with 12 teams also allocated slots among the top six ranked leagues. After expansion, whether the tradition of the top six leagues monopolizing direct entry slots continues, or the number of leagues with direct entry slots is expanded, will directly impact whether the CSL's direct entry slots increase.

After expansion, AFC is likely to adopt the allocation scheme from the 2015-2020 season, increasing direct entry slots to 12. However, in the three seasons from 2021 to 2023/24, the AFC Champions League East Asian zone had 20 teams in the main competition, with direct entry slots shared by 10 leagues. AFC may more likely prioritize broadening the range of participating leagues, allowing leagues beyond the top six in ranking to share direct entry slots. This also means the possibility of the CSL gaining additional direct entry slots is unlikely to exceed 50%.

If after expansion, the four main competition slots in the AFC Champions League Elite East Asian zone are determined by playoffs, it implies at least eight teams will participate in the playoffs. Expanding the range of leagues participating in playoffs is certain; the question is whether the CSL's playoff slots can increase. If AFC chooses to evenly distribute the five new playoff slots among the five leagues ranked below fourth, up to five leagues would receive 1+1 slots, which may inadequately reflect fairness in league quality disparities. Considering both direct entry slots and playoff slots will increase, the CSL should at least secure one playoff slot.