The 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite knockout stage began in the East region on 3 March with the round of 16, and ended on 25 April 2026 with the final to decide the champions of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite. A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout stage.

The tournament winner qualified for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup and 2026 FIFA Intercontinental Cup. Additionally, the winner entered the league stage of the 2026–27 AFC Champions League Elite, if they have not already qualified through their domestic performance.

Qualified teams The top eight teams in the league stage from each region advanced to the round of 16, with eight teams each from West Region and East Region.

+West RegionTeam1 Al Hilal2 Al-Ahli3 Tractor4 Al-Ittihad5 Al Wahda6 Shabab Al Ahli7 Al-Duhail8 Al Sadd +East RegionTeam1 Machida Zelvia2 Vissel Kobe34 Buriram United5 Melbourne City6 Johor Darul Ta'zim7 FC Seoul8 Gangwon FC

Format

In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. The round of 16 saw each team play against team from its region, with cross-regional pairings made for the quarter-finals. Each tie was played as a single match, except the round of 16 which was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. Extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 10). The match-ups for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final were determined at a single draw event.

Schedule The round of 16 for the West Region was postponed due to the impacts from the 2026 Iran war. On 24 March, the AFC announced that all West Region round of 16 ties would be changed to single-leg ties at a centralised venue.

The schedule of the competition was as follows.

+Schedule for 2025–26 AFC Champions League EliteStageRoundDraw dateEast RegionWest RegionRound of 16No draw3 March 2026 (first leg)10 March 2026 (second leg)13–14 April 2026 25 March16–18 April 2026Semi-finals20–21 April 2026Final25 April 2026

Bracket

Round of 16 Summary

The first legs for the East Region were played on 3 and 4 March, with the second legs played on 10 and 11 March.

The West Region round of 16 fixtures (originally scheduled for March 2026) were postponed by the AFC due to the impacts from the 2026 Iran war. The format changed to single-leg ties, held on 13 and 14 April in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

West Region

East Region

Machida Zelvia won 1–0 on aggregate.

Vissel Kobe won 3–1 on aggregate.

Johor Darul Ta'zim won 3–2 on aggregate.

1–1 on aggregate, Buriram United won 4–2 on penalties.

Finals The eight winners from the West and East Regions in the round of 16 advanced to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final were held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 17 to 25 April 2026.

The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 25 March 2026. As the West Region round of 16 fixtures were postponed by the AFC due to the impacts of the 2026 Iran war, participating clubs from the West Region had not yet been determined at the time of the draw. The AFC allocated placeholders for the West Region based on the results of the higher-seeded team in each round of 16 fixture, which meant if the team with the lower coefficient advanced, it simply took the seeding of its opponent.

Based on the league stage results, the two highest-ranked teams overall based on merit (i.e. all first-placed teams in each region are ranked above all second-placed teams, etc.), the winner of the tie between Al Hilal and Al Sadd from West Region and Machida Zelvia from the East region were allocated positions on opposite sides of the tournament bracket, with the draw determining the positions of the other six teams. The team with the highest overall ranking played in the first quarter-final, while the team with the second-highest overall ranking played in the third quarter-final. The remaining quarter-final fixtures were determined by an open draw, with each fixture featuring a team from the West and East Regions. The match pairings of the semi-finals and final were pre-determined.

Rank Team 1 Machida Zelvia E 1 8 5 2 1 15 7 +8 172 Al-Ahli W 2 8 5 2 1 21 9 +12 173 Vissel Kobe E 2 8 5 1 2 14 7 +7 164 Al-Ittihad W 4 8 5 0 3 22 9 +13 155 Buriram United E 4 8 4 2 2 9 7 +2 146 Johor Darul Ta'zim E 6 8 3 2 3 9 8 +1 117 Shabab Al Ahli W 6 8 3 2 3 14 14 0 118 Al-Sadd W 8 8 2 2 4 12 16 −4 8

All times are local (AST).

Venues The matches were played in two stadiums in the city of Jeddah.

Jeddah Capacity: 62,345 Capacity: 27,000

Matches Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Notes

References

External links , the-AFC.com