2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite knockout stage

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The 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite knockout stage began on 3 March with the round of 16 and ended on 3 May 2025, with the final that decided the champions of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite, Al Ahli.[1] A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout stage.

The tournament winners qualified for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup and 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup. Additionally, the winners entered the league stage of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite, if they had not already qualified through their domestic performance.[2]

Qualified teams

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The top eight teams in the league stage from each region advanced to the round of 16, with eight teams each from West Region and East Region.

Format

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In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. The round of 16 saw each team play against a team from the same region on a home-and-away two-legged basis. All ties afterwards were played as a single match, with cross-regional pairings in the quarter-finals. Extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 10).[3] The match-ups for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final were determined at a single draw event.[4]

Schedule

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The schedule of the knockout component was as follows.[1][4]

Stage Round Draw date West Region East Region
Round of 16 No draw[a] 3–4 and 10–11 March 2025 4–5 and 11–12 March 2025
Finals[b] Quarter-finals 17 March 2025 25–27 April 2025
Semi-finals 29–30 April 2025
Final 3 May 2025

Bracket

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Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
W8Uzbekistan Pakhtakor101
25 April – Jeddah
W1Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal044
W1Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal7
E4South Korea Gwangju FC0
E5Japan Vissel Kobe202
29 April – Jeddah
E4South Korea Gwangju FC (a.e.t.)033
W1Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal1
W2Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli3
W7Qatar Al-Rayyan101
26 April – Jeddah
W2Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli325
W2Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli3
E6Thailand Buriram United0
E6Thailand Buriram United011
3 May – Jeddah
E3Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim000
W2Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli2
E2Japan Kawasaki Frontale0
E8China Shanghai Port011
26 April – Jeddah
E1Japan Yokohama F. Marinos145
E1Japan Yokohama F. Marinos1
W3Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr4
W6Iran Esteghlal000
30 April – Jeddah
W3Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr033
W3Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr2
E2Japan Kawasaki Frontale3
E7China Shanghai Shenhua101
27 April – Jeddah
E2Japan Kawasaki Frontale044
E2Japan Kawasaki Frontale (a.e.t.)3
W4Qatar Al-Sadd2
W5United Arab Emirates Al-Wasl112
W4Qatar Al-Sadd134

Round of 16

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Summary

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The first legs were played on 3–5 March, and the second legs were played on 10–12 March 2025.

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
West Region
Pakhtakor Uzbekistan1–4Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal1–00–4
Al-Rayyan Qatar1–5Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli1–30–2
Esteghlal Iran0–3Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr0–00–3
Al-Wasl United Arab Emirates2–4Qatar Al-Sadd1–11–3
East Region
Shanghai Port China1–5Japan Yokohama FM0–11–4
Shanghai Shenhua China1–4Japan Kawasaki Frontale1–00–4
Buriram United Thailand1–0Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim0–01–0
Vissel Kobe Japan2–3South Korea Gwangju FC2–00–3 (a.e.t.)

West Region

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Pakhtakor Uzbekistan1–0Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
  • Flamarion 29'
 Report
Attendance: 5,226
Referee: Ma Ning (China)
Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia4–0Uzbekistan Pakhtakor
 Report
Attendance: 24,316

Al-Hilal won 4–1 on aggregate.

Al-Rayyan Qatar1–3Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli
 Report
Attendance: 8,836
Referee: Yusuke Araki (Japan)
Al-Ahli Saudi Arabia2–0Qatar Al-Rayyan
 Report
Attendance: 44,916

Al-Ahli won 5–1 on aggregate.

Esteghlal Iran0–0Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr
Report
Attendance: 75,130
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)
Al-Nassr Saudi Arabia3–0Iran Esteghlal
 Report
Attendance: 23,256
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)

Al-Nassr won 3–0 on aggregate.

Al-Wasl United Arab Emirates1–1Qatar Al-Sadd
 Report
Attendance: 3,188
Al-Sadd Qatar3–1United Arab Emirates Al-Wasl
 Report
Attendance: 8,693

Al-Sadd won 4–2 on aggregate.

East Region

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Shanghai Port China0–1Japan Yokohama F. Marinos
Report
Attendance: 10,860
Yokohama F. Marinos Japan4–1China Shanghai Port
 Report
Attendance: 9,482
Referee: Khalid Saleh Al-Turais (Saudi Arabia)

Yokohama F. Marinos won 5–1 on aggregate.

Shanghai Shenhua China1–0Japan Kawasaki Frontale
 Report
Attendance: 20,837
Referee: Salman Falahi (Qatar)
Kawasaki Frontale Japan4–0China Shanghai Shenhua
 Report
Attendance: 13,277
Referee: Omar Mohamed Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)

Kawasaki Frontale won 4–1 on aggregate.

Buriram United Thailand0–0Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim
Report
Attendance: 22,207
Referee: Mohammed Al Hoaish (Saudi Arabia)
Johor Darul Ta'zim Malaysia0–1Thailand Buriram United
Report
Attendance: 34,644
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Kuwait)

Buriram United won 1–0 on aggregate.

Vissel Kobe Japan2–0South Korea Gwangju FC
 Report
Attendance: 7,630
Referee: Adel Al Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)
Gwangju South Korea3–0 (a.e.t.)Japan Vissel Kobe
 Report
Attendance: 3,617

Gwangju won 3–2 on aggregate.

Finals

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The four winners from West Region and the four winners from East Region in the round of 16 advanced to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final were held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 25 April to 3 May 2025.[5]

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 17 March 2025.[4] Each quarter-final featured a team from West Region against a team from East Region. Based on the league stage results, Al-Hilal and Yokohama F. Marinos (as the best remaining teams of their respective Region) were allocated positions on opposite sides of the tournament bracket, with the draw determining the positions of the other six teams. As Al-Hilal had a better record than Marinos, they were the highest overall seed and played in the first quarter-final, while the Marinos played in the third quarter-final. The match pairings of the semi-finals and final were pre-determined.[4]

Venues

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The matches were played in two stadiums in the city of Jeddah.[6]

class=notpageimage|
Location of the host city of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite finals.
 Jeddah
King Abdullah
Sports City Stadium 		Prince Abdullah
Al-Faisal Stadium
Capacity: 63,079 Capacity: 27,000

Matches

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Quarter-finals

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Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia7–0South Korea Gwangju FC
 Report
Attendance: 48,713
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Kuwait)
Al-Ahli Saudi Arabia3–0Thailand Buriram United
 Report
Attendance: 43,027
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)
Yokohama F. Marinos Japan1–4Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr
 Report
Attendance: 12,003
Referee: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)
Kawasaki Frontale Japan3–2 (a.e.t.)Qatar Al-Sadd
 Report
Attendance: 2,873
Referee: Ma Ning (China)

Semi-finals

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Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia1–3Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli
S. Al-Dawsari 42' Report
Attendance: 50,613
Al-Nassr Saudi Arabia2–3Japan Kawasaki Frontale
 Report
Attendance: 28,810

Final

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Main article: 2025 AFC Champions League Elite final
Al-Ahli Saudi Arabia2–0Japan Kawasaki Frontale
 Report
Attendance: 58,281

Notes

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  1. ^ Pre-determined format
  2. ^ Single-leg ties, all played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  3. ^ Pakhtakor played their home matches at JAR Stadium, Tashkent, instead of their regular home stadium Pakhtakor Central Stadium, Tashkent.

References

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  1. ^ a b "AFC Competitions Calendar (Jul 2024 - Jun 2025)" (PDF). The AFC. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  2. ^ "More Member Associations to benefit from inclusive AFC Champions League". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  3. ^ "AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 Competition Regulations" (PDF). the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "ACLElite draw to reveal epic Finals showdowns". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 13 March 2025. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
  5. ^ "Saudi Arabia to host AFC Champions League Elite – Final Stage". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Venues for AFC Champions League Elite Finals confirmed". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 20 February 2025.
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