2016 AFC Champions League
international football competition
The 2016 AFC Champions League was the 35th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 14th under the current AFC Champions League title.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeated Al-Ain in the final to win their second AFC Champions League title, and qualified as the AFC representative at the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, their second appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup. Guangzhou Evergrande were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.
Association team allocation
The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014, which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014. The 46 AFC member associations (excluding the associate member Northern Mariana Islands) are ranked based on their national team's and clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions, with the allocation of slots for the 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2014 rankings:
The associations are split into West Zone and East Zone, with 23 associations in each zone:
West Zone consists of the associations from West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, except India and Maldives
East Zone consists of the associations from ASEAN and East Asia, plus India and Maldives
In each zone, there are a total of 12 direct slots in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
The top 12 associations in each zone as per the AFC rankings are eligible to enter the AFC Champions League, as long as they fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria.
The top six associations in each zone get at least one direct slot in the group stage, while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:
The associations ranked 1st and 2nd each get three direct slots and one play-off slot (in play-off round).
The associations ranked 3rd and 4th each get two direct slots and two play-off slots (one in play-off round, one in preliminary round 2).
The associations ranked 5th each get one direct slot and two play-off slots (both in preliminary round 2).
The associations ranked 6th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot (in preliminary round 2).
“2016 AFC Champions League” enters the record as international football competition. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Champions, League and international can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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