The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced the draw mechanism for the league stage of the AFC Champions League Elite 2026-27, with the draw scheduled for August 18 at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
The new season will feature 32 clubs in an expanded format for the first time since the competition was restructured, with 16 teams from the West region and 16 from the East. The clubs in each region will be divided into four levels, with each team playing eight matches against eight different opponents, including four at home and four away.
The top eight teams from each region will advance to the round of 16, which will be held from March 1 to 17. The competition will then move to Saudi Arabia for the combined finals, featuring the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final from April 23 to May 1.
In the West region, the first level includes defending champions Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia, Al Ain of the UAE, Qatar's Al Sadd and Iran's Esteghlal.
The second level features Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr, Uzbekistan's Nasaf Qarshi, Iraq's Al Quwa Al Jawiya and UAE side Shabab Al Ahli.
The third level consists of Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal, Qatar's Al Gharafa, Iran's Tractor and UAE side Al Wasl.
The fourth level includes Saudi Arabia's Al Qadsiah and Al Ittihad, Qatar's Al Shamal and Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor.
According to the AFC's draw mechanism, clubs will not be assigned eight opponents individually. Instead, the draw will use a fixed grid comprising four columns - A, B, C and D - in the West region.
The four first-level clubs will be drawn into positions A1, B1, C1 and D1, followed by the second-level clubs into A2, B2, C2 and D2, and the same process will be applied to the third and fourth levels.
The AFC said the draw will protect clubs from the same national association by ensuring they are not placed in adjacent columns, preventing them from facing each other in the league stage.
The principle of sporting fairness will also be applied to limit the repetition of home or away match patterns between clubs from specific national associations.
An electronic draw system will apply these restrictions and prevent any conflicts that could interrupt the draw process.
