41st edition of premier club football tournament organized by the AFC
2022 AFC Champions League
Tournament details
Dates
Qualifying: 8–15 March 2022 Competition proper: 7 April 2022 – 6 May 2023
Teams
Group stage: 39 Total (maximum): 49
Final positions
Champions
Urawa Red Diamonds (3rd title)
Runners-up
Al-Hilal
Tournament statistics
Matches played
130
Goals scored
384 (2.95 per match)
Attendance
511,749 (3,937 per match)
Top scorer(s)
Edmilson Junior (8 goals)
Best player(s)
Hiroki Sakai[1]
Fair play award
Urawa Red Diamonds
← 2021
2023–24 →
(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying results)
International football competition
The 2022 AFC Champions League was the 41st edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 20th under the current AFC Champions League title.
This edition was the last in an all-year-round (spring-to-autumn) schedule despite actually being held from 2022 to 2023; from the next season onwards, the competition switched to an autumn-to-spring schedule.[2]
This edition saw increase in numbers of preliminary players registration with 35 players, up from 30 in previous editions. This paved the way for more foreign players to be included in squad, although the AFC "3+1" foreign players rule was in effect during the match.[3][4]
Due to scheduling issues, it was confirmed that the final, originally scheduled for October 2022, would not be completed until May 2023. As the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup would already be held by that time, the AFC confirmed on 23 December 2022 that Al-Hilal would be their representative at the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup as the reigning champions from the 2021 AFC Champions League.
Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia were the defending champions. Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Al-Hilal 2–1 on aggregate in the final to win their third title.[5] As Asian champions, they automatically qualified for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs since they did not qualify through their domestic performance. In addition, they earned the right to play in both the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
2021 AFC Cup winners Al-Muharraq, having not obtained an AFC license, were not eligible to participate in this edition.[6]
^"Urawa's Hiroki Sakai crowned Most Valuable Player". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
^"AFC Executive Committee unveils dynamic enhancements to the AFC Club Competitions". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 25 February 2022. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
^"More Member Associations to benefit from inclusive AFC Champions League". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
^"AFC's club competitions set for strategic reforms". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 30 November 2021. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
^Orlowitz, Dan (6 May 2023). "Urawa beats Al Hilal to capture third Asian Champions League title". The Japan Times. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
^"المحرق خارج دوري أبطال آسيا رسميًا - صحيفة الأيام البحرينية". alayam.com. Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
and 24 Related for: 2022 AFC Champions League information
The 2022AFCChampionsLeague final was the final of the 2022AFCChampionsLeague, the 41st edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized...
The 2021 AFCChampionsLeague was the 40th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the...
The AFCChampionsLeague (abbreviated as ACL; to be rebranded as the AFCChampionsLeague Elite in the 2024–25 season) is an annual continental club football...
The AFCChampionsLeague 2 is an upcoming annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will be...
with the finals in November of the same year. The AFCChampionsLeague is open to the leaguechampions and cup winners of Asian Football Confederation member...
2023–24 AFCChampionsLeague and entered the qualifying play-offs, since Omani teams were unable to qualify through domestic performance. The 47 AFC member...
under the current AFCChampionsLeague title. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeated Al-Ain in the final to win their second AFCChampionsLeague title, and qualified...
The 2018 AFCChampionsLeague was the 37th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the...
under the current AFCChampionsLeague title. Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Al-Hilal in the final to win their second AFCChampionsLeague title, and qualified...
The 2022AFCChampionsLeague group stage was played from 15 April to 1 May 2022 for the East Region and from 7 to 27 April 2022 for the West Region. A...
2021 AFCChampionsLeague (although they had already qualified through their domestic performance), the first time since 2008 that the AFCChampions League...
The 2019 AFCChampionsLeague was the 38th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the...
16 teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2022AFCChampionsLeague. The group winners and three best runners-up in the group...
did not receive direct qualifying slots to the top-tier AFCChampionsLeague, based on the AFC Club Competitions Ranking. Al-Kuwait SC and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya...
The 2021 AFCChampionsLeague final was the final of the 2021 AFCChampionsLeague, the 40th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized...
The league is currently contested by twelve teams. National champion gains qualification into the continental competition, AFC Challenge League. The...
the scheduling of the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup. However, the AFC confirmed on 23 December 2022 that as the 2022AFCChampionsLeague would not be completed...
the last four years of the AFCChampionsLeague and the AFC Cup. The ranking is used for determine slot allocation for the AFC member associations in its...
representing UEFA as the reigning champions of the UEFA ChampionsLeague, and Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, representing the AFC. Real Madrid won the match 5–3...
as champions but later from 2022-23 season, the champions designation was given to table toppers instead of playoff champions. Currently, the league only...
have won a record eight Asian Football Confederation trophies — the AFCChampionsLeague in 1991, 2000, 2019 and 2021, the Asian Cup Winners Cup in 1997 and...
Global Information
Urawa Red Diamonds (3rd title)
Al-Hilal
Edmilson Junior