The 2026–27 AFC Champions League Elite league stage is being played from 14 September 2026 and will end on 17 February 2027, as part of the 2026–27 AFC Champions League Elite.
Draw The draw for the league stage was held on 18 August 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Seeding For each region, teams will be seeded into four pots and each club will play two matches against the clubs from each pot.
RegionPot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4West Region Al-Ahli Al Ain Al Sadd Esteghlal Neftchi Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Nassr Shabab Al Ahli Al-Gharafa Tractor Al-Hilal Al Wasl Al-Shamal Al-Qadsiah Al-Ittihad Pakhtakor East Region Kashima Antlers Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Buriram United Shanghai Port Newcastle Jets Johor Darul Ta'zim Vissel Kobe Daejeon Hana Citizen Port Beijing Guoan Kashiwa Reysol Pohang Steelers Ratchaburi Kyoto Sanga Gamba Osaka Công An Hà Nội
Grid result Each team is drawn a position in the draw grid for their region: column A–D for West and E–H for East. Teams from Pot 1 are drawn into positions 1, while teams from Pot 2 were drawn into positions 2, and so on.
Teams in each column play matches with their adjacent columns in each region. They play the teams on the right-hand side at home and the ones on the left-hand side away. Teams from the last column play teams from the first column at home, and teams from the first column play teams from the last column away.
ColumnABCDEFGHNumberWest RegionEast Region1 Al Ain Esteghlal Al Sadd Al-Ahli Buriram United Kashima Antlers Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Shanghai Port2 Shabab Al Ahli Al-Nassr Neftchi Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Daejeon Hana Citizen Vissel Kobe Newcastle Jets Johor Darul Ta'zim3 Al-Gharafa Tractor Al Wasl Al-Hilal Port Beijing Guoan Pohang Steelers Kashiwa Reysol4 Pakhtakor Al-Qadsiah Al-Shamal Al-Ittihad Công An Hà Nội Kyoto Sanga Ratchaburi Gamba Osaka
Schedule The schedule of the league stage is as follows:
RoundDates (West region)Dates (East region)Matchday 114–15 September 202615–16 September 2026Matchday 212–13 October 202613–14 October 2026Matchday 326–27 October 202627–28 October 2026Matchday 42–3 November 20263–4 November 2026Matchday 523–24 November 202624–25 November 2026Matchday 67–8 December 20261–2 December 2026Matchday 78–9 February 20279–10 February 2027Matchday 815–16 February 202716–17 February 2027
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
Results summary
Matches Matchday 1
Matchday 2
Matchday 3
Matchday 4
Matchday 5
Matchday 6
Matchday 7
Matchday 8
See also 2026–27 AFC Champions League Two group stage 2026–27 AFC Challenge League group stage
Notes
References
External links