2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite league stage

The 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite league stage was played from 15 September 2025 to 18 February 2026.

Draw The draw for the league stage was held on 15 August 2025, 17:00 MYT (UTC+8), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Seeding For each region, the title holder or the highest seeded team from each member association involved were allocated into Pot 1, while the remaining teams were allocated into Pot 2. RegionPot 1Pot 2 Al-Ahli Shabab Al Ahli Al Sadd Tractor Nasaf Al-Shorta Al-Ittihad Sharjah Al-Gharafa Al-Hilal Al Wahda Al-Duhail Vissel Kobe Ulsan HD Shanghai Port Buriram United Melbourne City Sanfrecce Hiroshima Gangwon FC Shanghai Shenhua Machida Zelvia FC Seoul

Grid result Each team was drawn a position in the draw grid for their region: column A–C for West and D–F for East. Teams from Pot 1 were drawn into positions 1 or 2 while teams from Pot 2 were drawn into positions 3 or 4.

Each position had pre-determined matchups as part of a pairings grid. Teams in each column played matches with the other columns in each region. ColumnABCDEFNumber1 Al Sadd Tractor Shanghai Port Ulsan HD Buriram United2 Nasaf Al-Shorta Al-Ahli Melbourne City Vissel Kobe3 Al-Duhail Sharjah Al-Hilal Shanghai Shenhua FC Seoul4 Al Wahda Gangwon FC Machida Zelvia

Schedule The schedule of the league stage is as follows:

RoundDates (West region)Dates (East region)Matchday 115–16 September 202516–17 September 2025Matchday 229–30 September 202530 September–1 October 2025Matchday 320–21 October 202521–22 October 2025Matchday 43–4 November 20254–5 November 2025Matchday 524–25 November 202525–26 November 2025Matchday 622–23 December 20259–10 December 20259–10 February 202610–11 February 2026Matchday 816–17 February 202617–18 February 2026

League stage West Region

Results summary

Matches Matchday 1

Matchday 2

Matchday 3

Matchday 4

Matchday 5

Matchday 6

Matchday 7

Matchday 8

East Region