Which Teams Have Qualified for the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite Knockout Stage?

Saudi Pro League Sides Dominate AFC Champions League Group Stage

A total of 24 teams from across the AFC region entered the new-look AFC Champions League this season, and after an exhilarating group stage, the 16 teams that will progress to the next round of the competition have now been revealed. Owing to Shandong Taishan’s enforced withdrawal after the club confirmed they did not intend to play their league stage match against Ilsan HD, a total of seven teams were eliminated during the league phase. 

In the Western Conference, we saw the Saudi Pro League sides dominate the standings, with Al-Hilal perched at the summit. The Blue Waves were near-flawless, notching up seven wins and one draw in their eight league phase games and ended the group stage as the highest scoring team in the competition with 24 goals, led by Salem Al-Dawsari, who found the back of the net seven times, while also recording an assist in his eight appearances.  

Al-Hilal’s fellow PIF-owned rivals Al Ahli were equally impressive, finishing in second place and level on 22 points, but ended second owing to a worse goal difference of just two. In third was Al-Nassr with 17 points (W5 D2 L1), and it was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo who, even at 40 years of age, is still banging in goals at will, netting six times in the competition, and he is currently joint-second in the leading goal-scorer standings with Anderson Lopes. 

The undoubted biggest shock in the group stage of the competition was the elimination of defending champions Al Ain. The Iranian outfit failed to win a single league phase game and managed just two points by way of draws against Al Sadd and the Uzbekistani side Pakhtakor. Al Zaeem scored just 11 goals in their eight round-robin matches, but their major issue came in defence, where they shipped a whopping 22 goals - the most of any team from the East and West Regions. 

Over in the East Region, we saw the J1 League’s representatives dominate proceedings, with Yokohama F. Marinos emerging as the top team with 18 points in seven games. Marinos’ only defeat came against Gwangju in round one, but they bounced back from that early disappointment brilliantly and went on to score 21 goals, five more than any other team in the region. Kawasaki Frontale and Vissel Kobe finished second and fifth, respectively, while A-League side Central Coast Mariners were arguably the biggest disappointment, as they were eliminated without winning a single game. 

Qualified Teams and Round of 16 Draw

The Round of 16 kicks off on March 3, and you can check out all the latest AFC Champions League odds and AFC Champions League livescores right here on SportyTrader!

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