Asia's second-tier club cup grew from a contest for developing football nations
In 2004 the Asian Football Confederation created a cup for clubs from countries that could not get into its top competition. Fourteen developing football nations entered 18 teams. Two decades on, the renamed AFC Champions League Two admits clubs from stronger leagues too, and Kuwaiti sides have lifted the trophy more than anyone.
The tournament started life as the AFC Cup, a second-tier partner to the Champions League played mostly by clubs whose countries lacked direct places at the top table. Group winners and three runners-up moved into the knockout rounds of the first edition, and Syria's Al-Jaish took the trophy, edging compatriots Al-Wahda on away goals.
Syrian clubs then left for four years to try their luck in the Champions League, and Jordan filled the gap. Al-Faisaly beat Lebanon's Nejmeh in the 2005 final, and Jordanian teams also won the following edition. Bahrain entered around this time, while Bangladesh dropped down to the AFC President's Cup, which survived until 2014. Bahrain's Al-Muharraq interrupted the Jordanian run in 2008, winning the last final played over two legs; since then the showpiece has been a single match. By 2017 the group stage had grown to 36 teams, a dozen each from West Asia and Southeast Asia and four apiece from East, Central and South Asia.
On 23 December 2022 the confederation announced a new structure from the 2024–25 season: this event would become the second tier, with a new AFC Challenge League beneath it. The rebrand came in 2024 along with bigger prize money and a wider field. Entry now covers the top 12 nations in each of the East and West regions; the six best-ranked send their highest club that missed the Elite, while those ranked seventh to twelfth enter their leading clubs directly. The AFC confirmed in May 2024 that the old AFC Cup records carry over.
Al-Kuwait and Iraq's Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya share the club record with three titles each, and Kuwaiti clubs have four in total. The winner earns a preliminary route into the next Elite season, and Japan's Gamba Osaka hold the crown after beating Al-Nassr in the 2026 final.
Source: AFC Champions League Two
