On the 18th, Incheon Hyundai Steel, challenging for the title of Asia’s strongest women’s soccer team, will find out who they will face in the 2024-25 AFC Women’s Champions League.
The AFC announced on the 12th that the 2024-25 AWCL qualifying round and group stage draw will be held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 4 p.m. on the 18th.
The AWCL is a newly launched Asian women’s soccer club competition by the AFC. In this inaugural tournament, 21 teams will compete, including last year’s WK League winner, Hyundai Steel. Initially, 22 teams were expected to participate, but North Korea withdrew its participation.
Eight teams will proceed directly to the main group stage, including Hyundai Steel and Urawa Reds from Japan, Melbourne City from Australia, and Wuhan Jianghan University from China. The remaining 13 teams will be divided into four groups to play in the qualifiers, with the top team in each group advancing to the main stage.
The AWCL group stage, which divides four teams into three groups, will be held in China, Thailand, and Vietnam from October 6 to 12. The first- and second-place teams will compete for the championship cup in the quarterfinal tournament.
The tournament will be a single-elimination match. The quarterfinals will be held at the home stadium from March 22 to 23 next year, and the semi-finals and final will be held in a selected location from May 21 to 24. The AWCL winning team will receive a minimum prize of $1.3 million with the championship cup.