The AFC Champions League Elite Doubles to Thirty-Two Teams With Johor Darul Tazim and Buriram United in the East
The league stage was drawn in Kuala Lumpur on 18 August and starts on 14 September. Both Southeast Asian champions reached the quarter-finals last season.
The AFC Champions League Elite has expanded from 24 to 32 teams for 2026/27, split 16 West and 16 East, with the league stage drawn at the Grand Hyatt in Kuala Lumpur on 18 August and the first matches on 14 September 2026.
The new shape
| Element | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 32 (16 West, 16 East) |
| Matches per club | 8, four home and four away |
| League stage begins | 14 September 2026 |
| Qualify for round of 16 | Top 8 in each region |
Eight matches instead of six, and a top-eight cut in each half of the continent rather than group winners and runners-up. It is the same structural idea UEFA adopted in Europe, applied to Asia a season later.
Two Southeast Asian entries
Johor Darul Tazim, champions of Malaysia, and Buriram United, champions of Thailand, are both in the East. Both reached the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 edition before going out, which is the high-water mark for the region in the competition's current form and the baseline they will be measured against.
No Singaporean club is in ACL Elite this season. Lion City Sailors and Tampines Rovers are in the second-tier AFC Champions League Two, at group and play-off stage respectively.
What is not settled yet
The draw was made on 18 August but the published fixture lists for JDT and Buriram were still being circulated at the time of writing. Round of 16 ties are scheduled for March 2027 and the finals for late April into May 2027.
Following it on Playdash
Playdash prices AFC Champions League Elite with match winner, Asian handicap, over/under, both teams to score, correct score and first goalscorer on every fixture, plus qualification and outright markets across the league stage. Kick-offs across the East region land in the Malaysian and Singaporean evening, so in-play runs at a sensible hour rather than overnight, and JDT and Buriram fixtures carry expanded player and corner markets.
Format, draw date, expansion and start date as published by the AFC. Specific fixtures and opponents are not stated here as they were not confirmed from the AFC draw page at the time of writing on 27 August 2026.