The 2022 AFC Champions League was the 41st edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 20th under the current AFC Champions League title.
This edition was the last in an all-year-round (spring-to-autumn) schedule despite actually being held from 2022 to 2023; from the next season onwards, the competition switched to an autumn-to-spring schedule.
This edition saw increase in numbers of preliminary players registration with 35 players, up from 30 in previous editions. This paved the way for more foreign players to be included in squad, although the AFC "3+1" foreign players rule was in effect during the match.
Due to the emerging complications caused by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the associated risks, as well as the unique circumstances surrounding the football schedule before and after the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it was confirmed that the final, originally scheduled for October 2022, would not be completed until May 2023. As the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup would already be held by that time, the AFC confirmed on 23 December 2022 that Al-Hilal would be their representative at the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup as the reigning champions from the 2021 AFC Champions League.
Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia were the defending champions. Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Al-Hilal 2–1 on aggregate in the final to win their third title. As Asian champions, they automatically qualified for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs since they did not qualify through their domestic performance. In addition, they earned the right to play in both the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
2021 AFC Cup winners Al-Muharraq, having not obtained an AFC license, were not eligible to participate in this edition.
Association team allocation The 47 AFC member associations were ranked based on their clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions (their national team's FIFA World Rankings no longer considered). The slots were allocated by the following criteria according to the Entry Manual: The associations were split into two regions (Article 3.1): West Region consisted of the 25 associations from the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), and the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA). East Region consisted of the 22 associations from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF). The AFC could reallocate one or more associations to another region if necessary for sporting reasons. The top 12 associations in each region were eligible to enter the AFC Champions League. In each region, there were five groups in the group stage, including 16 direct slots, with the 4 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 3.2). The slots in each region were distributed as follows: The associations ranked 1st and 2nd were each allocated three direct slots and one play-off slot. The associations ranked 3rd and 4th were each allocated two direct slots and two play-off slots. The associations ranked 5th were each allocated one direct slot and two play-off slots. The associations ranked 6th were each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot. The associations ranked 7th to 10th were each allocated one direct slot. The associations ranked 11th and 12th were each allocated one play-off slot. The AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders were each allocated one play-off slot should they not qualify for the tournament through domestic performance (Article 3.6). The following rules were applied: If the AFC Champions League title holders or AFC Cup title holders were from associations ranked 1st to 6th, their association was allocated the same number of play-off slots, and they replaced the lowest-seeded team from their association. Otherwise, their association was allocated one additional play-off slot, and they did not replace any team from their association (Articles 3.8, 3.9 and 3.10). If both the AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders were from the same association which is allocated only one play-off slot, their association is allocated one additional play-off slot, and only the lowest-seeded team from their association is replaced as a result (Article 3.11). The AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders were the lowest-seeded teams in the qualifying play-offs if they did not replace any team from their association (Article 3.12). If any association ranked 1st to 6th did not fulfill any one of the AFC Champions League criteria, they had all their direct slots converted into play-off slots. The direct slots given up were redistributed to the highest eligible association by the following criteria (Articles 3.13 and 3.14): For each association, the maximum number of total slots was four and the maximum number of direct slots was three (Articles 3.4 and 3.5). If any association ranked 3rd to 6th was allocated one additional direct slot, one play-off slot was annulled and not redistributed. If any association ranked 5th to 6th was allocated two additional direct slots, one play-off slot were annulled and not redistributed. If any association ranked 7th to 10th did not fulfill any one of the AFC Champions League criteria, they had their direct slot converted into a play-off slot. The direct slot given up was redistributed to the next association ranked 11th or 12th, whose play-off slot was annulled and not redistributed, or if neither were eligible, the highest eligible association by the same criteria as mentioned above (Articles 3.16 and 3.17). If any association with only play-off slot(s), including any association ranked 11th to 12th or those mentioned above, did not fulfill the minimum AFC Champions League criteria, the play-off slot(s) were annulled and not redistributed (Articles 3.19 and 3.20). For each association, the maximum number of total slots was one-third of the total number of eligible teams (excluding foreign teams) in the top division (Article 3.4). If this rule wss applied, any direct slots given up were redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots were annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.10). All participating teams had to be granted an AFC Champions League license, and apart from cup winners, finish in the top half of their top division (Articles 7.1 and 9.5). If any association did not have enough teams which satisfied these criteria, any direct slots given up were redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots were annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.9). If any team granted a license refused to participate, their slot, either direct or play-off, was annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.11).
Association ranking For the 2022 AFC Champions League, the associations were allocated slots according to their AFC Club Competitions Ranking which was published on 29 November 2019, which took into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup during the period between 2016 and 2019.
Participation for 2022 AFC Champions League Participating Not participating (N) Number of teams/associations originally entered, before withdrawal of teams from the competition after the draw
+West Region (5 groups)RankMemberAssociationPointsSlotsGroupstagePlay-off 1 297.644400 2 488.449310 3 681.724200 4 761.870220 5 948.992110 61045.562110 71233.852100 81529.576100 91728.361100102026.532100112124.746000122222.505010TotalParticipating associations: 111760623
+East Region (5 groups)RankMemberAssociationPointsSlotsGroupstagePlay-off 1 1100.0002(3)0(1)0 2 393.321310 3 585.979220 4 851.189220 51140.89611(0)1(2) 61332.130101 71430.100000 81628.571100 91826.960100101926.607100112319.945100122712.756000(1)TotalParticipating associations: 1015(16)6(8)2(4)823(24)
Notes
Teams In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count only those since the 2002–03 season (including qualifying rounds), when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League. Entry roundWest RegionEast RegionGroup stageTeamQualifying method TeamQualifying method Al-Sadd2020–21 Qatar Stars League champions and 2021 Emir of Qatar Cup winners17th Shandong Taishan2021 Chinese Super League champions and 2021 Chinese FA Cup winners10th Al-Duhail2020–21 Qatar Stars League runners-up11th Shanghai Port2021 Chinese Super League runners-up7th Al-Rayyan2020–21 Qatar Stars League third place12th Guangzhou2021 Chinese Super League third place11th Al-Gharafa2020–21 Qatar Stars League fourth place12th Kawasaki Frontale2021 J1 League champions9th Al-Hilal2020–21 Saudi Professional League champions18th Urawa Red Diamonds2021 Emperor's Cup winners8th Al-Faisaly2020–21 King Cup winners1st Yokohama F. Marinos2021 J1 League runners-up5th Al-Shabab2020–21 Saudi Professional League runners-up10th Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors2021 K League 1 champions15th Foolad2020–21 Hazfi Cup winners5th Jeonnam Dragons2021 Korean FA Cup winners3rd Sepahan2020–21 Persian Gulf Pro League runners-up13th BG Pathum United2020–21 Thai League 1 champions3rd Al-Jazira2020–21 UAE Pro League champions11th Chiangrai United2020–21 Thai FA Cup winners5th Shabab Al-Ahli2020–21 UAE President's Cup winners2020–21 UAE Pro League third place10th Melbourne City2020–21 A-League regular season premiers1st Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya2020–21 Iraqi Premier League champions and 2020–21 Iraq FA Cup winners6th United City2020 Philippines Football League champions5th Pakhtakor Tashkent2021 Uzbekistan Super League champions18th Hoang Anh Gia Lai2021 V.League 1 first-placed team3rd Al-Wehdat2021 Jordanian Pro League runners-up7th Johor Darul Ta'zim2021 Malaysia Super League champions8th Mumbai City2020–21 Indian Super League league shield winners1st Lion City Sailors2021 Singapore Premier League champions3rd Istiklol2021 Tajikistan Higher League champions4th Kitchee2020–21 Hong Kong Premier League champions7th Ahal2021 Ýokary Liga runners-up1stPlay-off round Al-Taawoun2020–21 Saudi Professional League fourth place3rd Changchun Yatai2021 Chinese Super League fourth place3rd Baniyas2020–21 UAE Pro League runners-up3rd Vissel Kobe2021 J1 League third place2nd Sharjah2020–21 UAE Pro League fourth place5th Ulsan Hyundai2021 K League 1 runners-up10th Al-Zawraa2020–21 Iraqi Premier League runners-up7th Daegu FC2021 K League 1 third place3rd Nasaf Qarshi2021 Uzbekistan Cup winners7th Buriram United2020–21 Thai League 1 runners-up10th Al-Jaish2020–21 Syrian Premier League runners-up3rd Port2020–21 Thai League 1 third place3rd Preliminary round Sydney FC2020–21 A-League regular season runners-up7th Melbourne Victory2021 FFA Cup winners9th Kaya–Iloilo2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara winners2nd Shan United2020 Myanmar National League champions3rd Notes
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows. The final version was originally announced on 13 January 2022, with the following modifications made on 9 December 2022: the West Region knockout stage matches were pushed back by two weeks in February, while the final was moved from 19 and 26 February to 29 April and 6 May 2023.
StageRoundDraw dateWest RegionEast RegionPreliminary stagePreliminary roundNo draw8 March 2022Play-off stagePlay-off round15 March 2022Group stageMatchday 117 January 20227–8 April 202215–16 April 2022Matchday 210–11 April 202218–19 April 2022Matchday 314–15 April 202221–22 April 2022Matchday 418–19 April 202224–25 April 2022Matchday 522–23 April 202227–28 April 2022Matchday 626–27 April 202230 April – 1 May 2022Knockout stageRound of 1619–20 February 202318–19 August 2022Quarter-finalsE: 20 August 2022 W: 21 February 202323 February 202322 August 2022Semi-finals26 February 202325 August 2022Final29 April and 6 May 2023
Original schedule