2023–24 AFC Champions League
The 2023–24 AFC Champions League is the 42nd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 21st and final under the current AFC Champions League title, as the competition will be rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite starting in 2024–25.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 15–22 August 2023 Competition proper: 18 September 2023 – 18 May 2024 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 40 (from 20 associations)
Total (maximum): 53 (from 23 associations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 130 |
| Goals scored | 413 (3.18 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,518,001 (11,677 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Soufiane Rahimi (11 goals) |
This season is the first to have an inter-year schedule from September (autumn-to-spring) instead of an intra-year schedule (spring-to-autumn) since the 2002–03 season. This edition sees an increase in numbers of preliminary players with 35 players able to be registered; teams will be able to field six foreign players in games, where one of these players must still be from another Asian nation.
The tournament winner will qualify for the 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States. Additionally, the winner will enter either the qualifying play-off stage or the League stage of the brand-new 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite if they have not already qualified through their domestic performance.
Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.