AFC Champions League Two

The AFC Cup began in 2004 as a second-tier competition to relate back to the AFC Champions League, as 14 countries that had developing status competed in the first competition, with 18 teams being nominated. The winners and three runners-up would then head to the knock-out stage. Al-Jaish took the first AFC Cup after they defeated fellow Syrian opponents Al-Wahda on away goals. In 2005, 18 teams competed from nine nations with the nations still being allowed to choose from one or two teams entering. After Syrian teams left the AFC Cup to try at the AFC Champions League for four years, Al-Faisaly defeated Nejmeh in the final. With it, Jordanian teams would win the next two AFC Cup seasons with Bahrain joining the league while Bangladesh was relegated to the AFC President's Cup until the tournament's abolition in 2014. Al-Muharraq would break the trend in 2008 as they won the last two-legged final before it headed back into a one-leg system, a rule that was never changed until now. On 23 December 2022, it was announced that the AFC competition structure would change from the established formats from the 2024–25 season. A new second-tier tournament called the AFC Champions League Two would be introduced. Meanwhile, a new third-tier competition was also launched under the name AFC Challenge League. On 24 May 2024, AFC announced that the records and statistics of the preceding AFC club competitions will be recognised and integrated within the revamped club competitions, with the data from the AFC Cup transferring to the AFC Champions League Two. ==Format==

Some changes were applied in terms of teams and format for the 2017 AFC Cup. A total of 36 teams participated in the group stage (12 each from West Asia and ASEAN, and 4 each from East Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia). The final is played as a one-off match. Allocation The allocation of group stage teams by member country was listed below; asterisks represent occasions where at least one team was eliminated in qualification for the group stage. Those who had not reached the group stage but had only played in qualification are not bolded. ==Prize money==

The prize money as of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two are as follows, in United States dollar (USD): ==Marketing==

Sponsorship The tournament has been sponsored by a group of multinational corporations, in contrast to the single main sponsor typically found in national top-flight leagues. Official Global Partners • Neom • Qatar Airways • Visit Saudi Official Global Supporters • Barbican • Kelme • Midea • Toshiba (Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong only) • Tecno Mobile • Visa Inc. ==Records and statistics==

Results Performance by club Performance by nation Most Valuable Player Top scorers Winning coaches Top goalscorers ==See also==