2025/26 ACL Elite

[Brenton1986]

Match dates,
Playoff Round: Tuesday August 12th 2025
League stage Matchday 1 (West region): Monday September 15th 2025 & Tuesday September 16th 2025
League stage Matchday 1 (East region): Tuesday September 16th 2025 & Wednesday September 17th 2025
League stage Matchday 2 (West region): Monday September 29th 2025 & Tuesday September 30th 2025
League stage Matchday 2 (East region): Tuesday September 30th 2025 & Wednesday October 1st 2025
League stage Matchday 3 (West region): Monday October 20th 2025 & Tuesday October 21st 2025
League stage Matchday 3 (East region): Tuesday October 21st 2025 & Wednesday October 22nd 2025
League stage Matchday 4 (West region): Monday November 3rd 2025 & Tuesday November 4th 2025
League stage Matchday 4 (East region): Tuesday November 4th 2025 & Wednesday November 5th 2025
League stage Matchday 5 (West region): Monday November 24th 2025 & Tuesday November 25th 2025
League stage Matchday 5 (East region): Tuesday November 25th 2025 & Wednesday November 26th 2025
League stage Matchday 6 (West region): Monday December 8th 2025 & Tuesday December 9th 2025
League stage Matchday 6 (East region): Tuesday December 9th 2025 & Wednesday December 10th 2025
League stage Matchday 7 (West region): Monday February 9th 2026 & Tuesday February 10th 2026
League stage Matchday 7 (East region): Tuesday February 10th 2026 & Wednesday February 11th 2026
League stage Matchday 8 (West region): Monday February 16th 2026 & Tuesday February 17th 2026
League stage Matchday 8 (East region): Tuesday February 17th 2026 & Wednesday February 18th 2026
Round of 16 first leg (West region): Monday March 2nd 2026 & Tuesday March 3rd 2026
Round of 16 first leg (East region): Tuesday March 3rd 2026 & Wednesday March 4th 2026
Round of 16 second leg (West region): Monday March 9th 2026 & Tuesday March 10th 2026
Round of 16 second leg (East region): Tuesday March 10th 2026 & Wednesday March 11th 2026
Quarter Finals: Friday April 24th 2026, Saturday April 25th 2026, Sunday April 26th 2026*
Semi Finals: Tuesday April 28th 2026 & Wednesday April 29th 2026*
Final: Saturday May 2nd 2026*

*quarter finals, semi finals, final to be held in Jeddah.

 

[Brenton1986]

Draw dates,
League stage: Friday August 15th 2025
Round of 16: To Be Determined by AFC
Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, Final: Wednesday March 18th 2026

 

[Brenton1986]

Playoff Round fixtures,

West region – Tuesday August 12th:
Al Duhail – Qatar v Sepahan – Iran*

East region – Tuesday August 12th:
Chengdu Rongcheng – China v Bangkok United – Thailand*

*losing teams drop into ACL Two group stage.

 

[Brenton1986]

ACL Elite league stage line up (West region),
Al Ahli Jeddah – Saudi Arabia
Al Ittihad Jeddah – Saudi Arabia
Al Hilal Riyadh – Saudi Arabia
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai – United Arab Emirates
Sharjah – United Arab Emirates
Al Wahda Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates
Al Sadd – Qatar
Al Gharafa – Qatar
Tractor Sazi – Iran
FC Nasaf Qarshi – Uzbekistan
Al Shorta/Al Zawraa – Iraq*
Al Duhail – Qatar/Sepahan – Iran

*have four league matches left.

ACL Elite league stage line up (East region),
Vissel Kobe – Japan
Sanfrecce Hiroshima – Japan
Machida Zelvia – Japan
Ulsan Hyundai – South Korea
Gangwon – South Korea
FC Seoul – South Korea
Shanghai Port – China
Shanghai Shenhua – China
Buriram United – Thailand
Melbourne City – Australia
Johor Darul Tazim – Malaysia
Chengdu Rongcheng – China/Bangkok United – Thailand

 

[Brenton1986]

A reminder that if Melbourne City gets a home game on matchday 2 in ACL Elite (Tuesday September 30th or Wednesday October 1st) that AAMI Park is now not going to be unavailable due to Monster Jam was announced only last week to be held on Saturday October 4th as per AAMI Park website.

Monster Jam

aamipark.com.au

 

[Brenton1986]

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has officially announced that starting August 2025, matches on artificial turf will be banned in several key competitions!
This ban applies to:
Final Round of AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers
AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (from Round 2 onwards)
Women’s Olympic Qualifiers
AFC Champions League Elite
AFC Champions League Two
AFC Women’s Champions League