Key principles for the competition were released by the AFC on 20 August 2023.[3]
There is one entry per participating member association, with allocation based on the FIFA Women's World Ranking as of 15 March 2024. Clubs from the top ranked associations qualified directly to the group stage, with the remaining clubs starting from the preliminary stage.[4][5]
Originally, 22 (out of 47) member associations applied to enter the competition.[5] However, Naegohyang from North Korea withdrew before the draw.[6]
a preliminary stage (one group of four and three groups of three teams) in centralised venues
a main tournament with 12 teams (three groups of four teams) in centralised venues
quarter-finals hosted by the group winners and the best second-placed team
semi-finals and final in a centralised venue
Tiebreakers
Teams in the preliminary stage and the group stage are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:[8]
Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out, if only two teams are tied, and the teams in question have played their last group match against each other;
Location of the 2024–25 AFC Women's Champions League group stage teams
Clubs from the top eight member associations qualified directly to the group stage, while the remaining 13 clubs entered at the preliminary stage.[5][6]
The group stage was played from 6 to 12 October 2024. The four teams in each of the three groups played one another in a centralised single round-robin format.[4] The top two finishers in each group, together with the two best third-placed teams, advanced to the knockout stage. China, Thailand and Vietnam were the hosts of the three groups.[6]
Source: AFC Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Discilpinary points; 5) Drawing of lots.
Knockout stage
The knockout stage will be played in a single-leg knockout format. The semi-finals and the final match will be played in a centralised location.[8]
Draw
For the quarter-finals draw, teams will be seeded based on their performance in the group stage.
Three group winners and the best second-placed team will be seeded, and the remaining four teams will be unseeded.
The seeded teams will be drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the quarter-final match.
Teams from the same group cannot be drawn against each other.
In the semi-finals, the winners of the quarter-final 1 will play against the winners of the quarter-final 2 and the winners of the quarter-final 3 against the winners of the quarter-final 4.
The winners of the semi-final 1 will be designated as the "home" team for the final.[8]
