The AFC Cup was an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The competition was played primarily among clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying slots to the top-tier AFC Champions League, based on the AFC Club Competitions Ranking. In the first five editions of the Cup, the final match was played in two legs. After that, the final was always held as a single game and hosted by one of the two finalist teams or in a neutral country.
| Founded | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Abolished | 2024 |
| Region | Asia (AFC) |
| Number of teams | 36–48 (group stage) 2 (finalists) |
| Last champions |  Central Coast Mariners (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) |  Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Kuwait(3 titles each) |
Al-Jaish won the first edition of the tournament by beating Al-Wahda. The last champions were Central Coast Mariners, who beat Al-Ahed 1–0 in the 2024 edition.
Al-Kuwait SC and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya were the most successful clubs in the competition's history, having won three titles each. Clubs from Kuwait won four titles, making them the most successful nation in the competition. The tournament was dominated by clubs from West Asia, with the only winners from outside that region being Uzbek side FC Nasaf in 2011, Malaysian side Johor Darul Ta'zim in 2015 and Australian side Central Coast Mariners in 2024.
The AFC Cup was discontinued at the end of the 2023–24 season, with the AFC Champions League 2 and AFC Challenge League being introduced as Asia's new second and third-tier competitions.
List of finals edit
Performances edit
By club edit
Club
|
Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Kuwait
|
3 | 1 | 2009, 2012, 2013 | 2011 |
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
|
3 | 0 | 2016, 2017, 2018 | |
 Al-Faisaly
|
2 | 1 | 2005, 2006 | 2007 |
 Al-Muharraq
|
2 | 1 | 2008, 2021 | 2006 |
| Al-Qadsia
|
1 | 2 | 2014 | 2010, 2013 |
 Nasaf Qarshi
|
1 | 1 | 2011 | 2021 |
 Al-Ahed
|
1 | 1 | 2019 | 2023–24 |
 Al-Jaish
|
1 | 0 | 2004 | |
| Shabab Al-Ordon
|
1 | 0 | 2007 | |
| Al-Ittihad
|
1 | 0 | 2010 | |
 Johor Darul Ta'zim
|
1 | 0 | 2015 | |
 Al-Seeb
|
1 | 0 | 2022 | |
| Central Coast Mariners
|
1 | 0 | 2023–24 | |
| Erbil
|
0 | 2 | 2012, 2014 | |
 Istiklol
|
0 | 2 | 2015, 2017 | |
| Al-Wahda
|
0 | 1 | 2004 | |
| Nejmeh
|
0 | 1 | 2005 | |
| Safa
|
0 | 1 | 2008 | |
| Al-Karamah
|
0 | 1 | 2009 | |
 Bengaluru
|
0 | 1 | 2016 | |
 Altyn Asyr
|
0 | 1 | 2018 | |
 April 25
|
0 | 1 | 2019 | |
| Kuala Lumpur City
|
0 | 1 | 2022 |
By nation edit
| Nation | Titles | Runners-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kuwait
|
4 | 3 | 7 |
| Iraq
|
3 | 2 | 5 |
| Jordan
|
3 | 1 | 4 |
| Syria
|
2 | 2 | 4 |
| Bahrain
|
2 | 1 | 3 |
| Lebanon
|
1 | 2 | 3 |
| Uzbekistan
|
1 | 1 | 2 |
| Malaysia
|
1 | 1 | 2 |
| Oman
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Australia
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tajikistan
|
0 | 2 | 2 |
| India
|
0 | 1 | 1 |
| Turkmenistan
|
0 | 1 | 1 |
| North Korea
|
0 | 1 | 1 |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "AFC Executive Committee announces updates to 2020 competitions calendar". AFC. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
This article needs additional or more specific categories. (April 2024) |