The 2021 AFC Champions League final was the final of the 2021 AFC Champions League, the 40th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 19th under the AFC Champions League title.
The final was contested as a single match between Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia and Pohang Steelers from South Korea. Prior to the match, both teams were joint most successful teams in the AFC Champions League, with three titles each. Al-Hilal won the match 2–0 and clinched their fourth title, becoming the outright most successful team in the history of the competition. As Asian champions, they also qualified for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
Teams In the following table, the finals until 2002 were in the Asian Club Championship era, and since 2003 in the AFC Champions League era.
TeamRegionPrevious finals appearances (bold indicates winners) Al-HilalWest Region (Zone: WAFF)7 (1986, 1987, 1991, 2000, 2014, 2017, 2019) Pohang SteelersEast Region (Zone: EAFF)3 (1997, 1998, 2009)
Notes
Venue On 20 October 2021, the AFC announced that Mrsool Park would host the final. It was later changed to King Fahd International Stadium, also in Riyadh.
Road to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away; *: played in centralized group locations).
Al-HilalRound Pohang SteelersOpponentResultGroup stageOpponentResult AGMK2–2*Matchday 1 Ratchaburi Mitr Phol2–0* Shabab Al-Ahli2–0*Matchday 2 Nagoya Grampus0–3* Istiklol3–1*Matchday 3 Johor Darul Ta'zim4–1* Istiklol1–4*Matchday 4 Johor Darul Ta'zim2–0* AGMK3–0*Matchday 5 Ratchaburi Mitr Phol0–0* Shabab Al-Ahli0–2*Matchday 6 Nagoya Grampus1–1*Group A runners-upFinal standingsGroup G runners-upOpponentResultKnockout stageOpponentResult Esteghlal2–0 (A)Round of 16 Cerezo Osaka1–0 (A) Persepolis3–0 (H)Quarter-finals Nagoya Grampus3–0 (H) Al-Nassr2–1 (A)Semi-finals Ulsan Hyundai1–1 (A)
Format The final was played as a single match. If tied after regulation time, extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out would have been used to decide the winning team.
Match
GK 1 Abdullah Al-MayoufRB 2 Mohammed Al-BreikCB 20 Jang Hyun-sooCB 32 Muteb Al-MufarrijLB 16 Nasser Al-DawsariCM 7 Salman Al-Faraj (c)CM 28 Mohamed Kanno RW 17 Moussa Marega AM 15 Matheus Pereira LW 29 Salem Al-DawsariCF 18 Bafétimbi Gomis Substitutes:GK 31 Habib Al-WotayanGK 33 Abdullah Al-JadaaniDF 12 Yasser Al-Shahrani DF 23 Madallah Al-OlayanDF 70 Mohammed Jahfali MF 43 Musab Al-JuwayrMF 56 Mohammed Al-QahtaniMF 88 Hamad Al-YamiFW 11 Saleh Al-ShehriFW 14 Abdullah Al-HamdanManager: Leonardo Jardim GK 21 Lee JunRB 32 Park Seung-wookCB 13 Gwon Wan-gyu CB 2 Alex Grant LB 10 Kang Sang-woo (c)CM 17 Shin Kwang-hoonCM 57 Lee Soo-bin RW 8 Mario Kvesić AM 6 Sin Jin-hoLW 77 Lim Sang-hyub CF 82 Manuel PalaciosSubstitutes:GK 41 Cho Sung-hoonDF 3 Lee Kwang-junDF 4 Jeon Min-gwang DF 30 Kim Ryun-seongMF 14 Oh Beom-seokMF 37 Kim Ho-namMF 38 Kim Jin-hyunMF 79 Go Young-joon FW 20 Lee Ho-jae FW 25 Kim Seong-juManager: Kim Gi-dong
Man of the Match: Moussa Marega (Al-Hilal)
Assistant referees: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Hasan Al-Mahri (United Arab Emirates) Fourth official: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates) Video assistant referee: Ammar Al-Jeneibi (United Arab Emirates) Assistant video assistant referees: Omar Mohamed Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates) Hanna Hattab (Syria)Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if tied. Penalty shoot-out if still tied after extra time. Ten named substitutes, of which up to five may be used, with a sixth allowed in extra time.
Notes
References
External links , the-AFC.com