The Asian Football Confederation announced the continuation of hosting the final stage of the AFC Champions League Elite in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The 2026-27 season of Asia's biggest club competition will see the number of teams participating in the group stage increase to 32 clubs.
The Confederation stated in its announcement: "Following the successful organization of the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 editions, the temporary hosting rights granted to the Saudi Federation for the AFC Champions League Elite finals, which were approved in December 2023, have been confirmed as hosting rights for the 2026-2027, 2027-2028 and 2028-2029 seasons".
2028 #AFCU23 heads to the 'Land of the Rising Sun' as 🇯🇵 Japan secure hosting rights!@afcasiancup
Saudi Arabia hosted the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the 2025 edition, which was won by Al-Ahli Jeddah.
It also hosted the Western Section matches starting from the round of 16 in the 2026 edition, which ended with Al-Ahli Saudi claiming the title as well.
In the same context, Japan will host the AFC U23 Asian Cup finals in 2028.
Hosting rights for the AFC U17 Asian Cup in 2027 were also transferred to the Uzbekistan Football Association, while the Saudi Federation was granted hosting rights for the next edition of the tournament in 2029.
New AFC Champions League Elite format
The 2026-27 edition of the AFC Champions League Elite will see the number of teams increase to 32, with 16 in the Eastern Section and the same number in the Western Section.
Each team will play 8 matches between September 2026 and February 2027, facing two teams from each seeding category.
The round of 16 will be played on a home-and-away basis in March 2027.
The Kingdom will host the quarter-finals and semi-finals between 23 and 30 April 2027.
The final will take place on 1 May to determine the continental champion, who will participate in the 2027 Intercontinental Cup and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.
