A new era has dawned in Asian club football, with the very first edition of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League taking place in 2024-25.
The continental tournament is the first of its kind for women’s football in the AFC, established for the 2024-25 campaign in August, 2023 as part of a revamped approach to the confederation’s elite club competitions.
The first Women’s Champions League campaign comes after three editions of the Women’s Club Championship – the AFC’s “pilot” program.
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Ninja A-League club Sydney FC took part in the 2023 tournament after finishing the 2022-23 domestic season as Premiers; now, for the inaugural Women’s Champions League campaign, reigning Ninja A-League Premiers Melbourne City will represent Australia alongside 21 rival clubs from 21 different Asian nations.
Here’s everything you need to know about the AFC Women’s Champions League ahead of the group stage of the tournament.
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FINALS SERIES: 2024-25 Ninja A-League Women finals structure and dates
The format
The 2024-25 AFC Women’s Champions League campaign has three phases: a preliminary stage, a group stage, and the knockout stage.
The preliminary phase has already taken place, with the group stage set to begin on October 6.
Eight of the 12 clubs involved in this season’s AFC Women’s Champions League secured automatic qualification for the group stage, skipping the preliminary stage entirely; those eight clubs were the eight-highest-ranked nations in order of their Member Association’s standings on FIFA’s World Rankings.
Australia is ranked third in the AFC behind Japan and DPR Korea and as a result, Melbourne City earned direct qualification to the group stage.
View FIFA’s Latest Women’s World Rankings here
Eight automatic qualifiers for AFC Women’s Champions League group stage
| Rank | Member Association | Club |
| 1 | Japan | Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies |
| 2 | DPR Korea | Naegohyang Women’s FC |
| 3 | Australia | Melbourne City FC |
| 4 | China PR | Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC |
| 5 | Korea Republic | Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC |
| 6 | Vietnam | Ho Chi Minh City Women’s FC |
| 7 | Philippines | Kaya FC-Iloilo |
| 8 | Chinese Taipei | Taichung Blue Whale Women’s Football Team |
The preliminary round took place between August 25-31 with 14 clubs split into four groups – two groups of four teams and two groups of three.
Abu Dhabi Country Club, Sabah FA, Odisha FC and Bam Khatoon FC were the four winners in the preliminary round, and have joined the eight automatic qualifiers in the group stage which begins on October 6.
The group stage will feature 12 clubs split into three groups of four. Each club will play their three group opponents once each across three matchdays.
The groups
Group A
- Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC (CHN)
- Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC (KOR)
- Abu Dhabi Country Club (UAE)
- Sabah FA (MAS)
Group B
- Melbourne City (AUS)
- Kaya FC–Iloilo (PHI)
- College of Asian Scholars (THA)
- Bam Khatoon FC (IRN)
Group C
- Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (JPN)
- Ho Chi Minh City Women’s FC (VIE)
- Taichung Blue Whale Women’s Football (TPE)
- Odisha FC (IND)
The top two clubs in each group after the group stage will progress to the Quarter-Finals – as will the two best third-placed sides from the three groups.
Melbourne City’s group stage fixtures
Melbourne City v Bam Khatoon
Sunday, October 6 2024
BG Stadium, Thailand
Kick-off: 8:00pm AEDT
Broadcast: YouTube via the AFC Hub
Melbourne City v College of Asian Scholars
Thursday, October 10 2024
BG Stadium, Thailand
Kick-off: 12:00am AEDT
Broadcast: YouTube via the AFC Hub
Melbourne City v Kaya FC Iloilo
Saturday, October 12 2024
BG Stadium, Thailand
Kick-off : 8:00pm AEDT
Broadcast: YouTube via the AFC Hub
How to watch?
Every game of the AFC Women’s Champions League will be broadcast LIVE and FREE on YouTube via the AFC Hub.
The knockout stage will follow the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final format.
The four Quarter-Final matchups will be confirmed via a draw, with the higher-ranked team of each tie to serve as the home side. The Quarter-Finals will be single-leg encounters and take place between March 22 and 23.
Then comes the Finals: between May 21 and 24, the four Semi-Finalists will assemble in a centralised location (TBC) for both of the single-leg Semis as well as the Final.
The prize money
There’s significant financial incentive for City as the Ninja A-League’s representative in the 2024-25 Women’s Champions League campaign, with the winner of the inaugural edition of the tournament set to take home at least USD 1.3 million (roughly AUD 1.95 million).
City have secured automatic qualification to the group stage, which is great news for the Ninja A-League side as each group stage participant is set to receive an automatic prize of USD 100,000 (roughly AUD 150,000).
Should City reach the Quarter-Finals, an additional USD 80,000 (AUD 120,000) would go the way of Dario Vidosic’s side.
City would receive a further USD 120,000 (AUD 180,000) for reaching the Semi-Finals – and should the Ninja A-League side make the final but fall short, the runners-up would receive an additional USD 500,000 (AUD 750,000). The winners would receive an additional USD 1 million (AUD 1.5 million), taking the winning club’s total winnings to USD 1.3 million (AUD 1.95 million).
