ASEAN Club Championship
| Organising body | AFF |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Region | Southeast Asia |
| Number of teams | 14 (group stage) 16 (total) |
| Current champions | Buriram United (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) | East Bengal Tampines Rovers Buriram United (1 title each) |
| Website | aseanutdfc.com |
| 2025–26 ASEAN Club Championship | |
The ASEAN Club Championship or ACC, also known as the Shopee Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an international club football competition organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) between domestic champion clubs.[1] The competition is backed by AFC and FIFA (except first two editions).
Qualification to the competition is for champions clubs from countries affiliated with the AFF.[2][3][4]
History
18 years ago (40 years ago as of now), the first club championship was held, in which the name was ASEAN Champions' Cup, it served as the qualifier for Asian Club Championship and Bangkok Bank became their first champions in the tournament.[5]
The ASEAN Club Championship was first held as biannual tournament in 2003 and 2005.[6] The first edition was sponsored by LG Electronics, which was also known as LG Cup Asean Club Football Championship.[7] However, the tournament failed to gain traction due to lack of sponsors and conflict with the main calendar of the Asian Football Confederation. Plans to revive the tournament started as early as 2012.[8]
The tournament's revival was first proposed in 2019[1] but was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] The tournament was revived in April 2024 for the 2024–25 edition with a new title sponsor, Shopee.[10]
Format and regulations
The format of the ASEAN Club Championship was the same as that for the AFC Cup, each national football associations in Southeast Asia sending their champion club representing the domestic league winners. The participating teams were split into groups of several teams (depending on the actual number of participating teams in each group), with each team playing the others in the group in a round-robin format. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to quarter-finals or semi-finals, depending on the number of groups. These finals were played as a knockout competition in the host country.
Results
| Season | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single match format | ||||
| 2003 | East Bengal | 3–1 | BEC Tero Sasana | Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia |
| 2005 | Tampines Rovers | 4–2 | Pahang FA | Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei |
| 2022 | Cancelled
| |||
| Two-legged format | ||||
| 2024–25 | Buriram United | 2–2 | Cong An Hanoi | Hàng Đẫy Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam |
| 3–3 (3–2 p) | Chang Arena, Buriram, Thailand | |||
| 2025–26 | ||||
Awards
Top scorers
| Season | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Baichung Bhutia | East Bengal | 9 |
| 2005 | Bernard Tchoutang | Pahang | 7 |
| Nguyễn Đình Việt | Hoang Anh Gia Lai | ||
| 2024–25 | Lucas Crispim | Buriram United | 6 |
| Léo Artur | Cong An Hanoi |
Best player
| Season | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Therdsak Chaiman | BEC Tero Sasana |
| 2005 | Not awarded | |
| 2024–25 | Lucas Crispim | Buriram United |
Best young player
| Season | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Not awarded | |
| 2005 | ||
| 2024–25 | Ilhan Fandi | BG Pathum United |
Best goalkeeper
| Season | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Sandip Nandy | East Bengal |
| 2005 | Not awarded | |
| 2024–25 | Chatchai Budprom | Buriram United |
Statistics
By club
| Club | Title(s) | Runners-up | Semi-finalists |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Bengal | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tampines Rovers | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Buriram United | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Pahang | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| BEC Tero Sasana | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Cong An Hanoi | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Petrokimia Putra | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| DPMM | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hoang Anh Gia Lai | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| PSM Makassar | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| BG Pathum United | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Perak | 0 | 0 | 1 |
By nation
| Nation | Winners | Runners-up | Semi-finalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thailand | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| India | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Singapore | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Vietnam | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Malaysia | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Brunei | 0 | 0 | 1 |
All-time ranking table
- As of May 2025 (after 2024–25 final round)
| Rank | Club | Years | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | FW | F | SF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cong An Hanoi | 1 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Buriram United | 1 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Tampines Rovers | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | PSM Makassar | 1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Pahang | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 4 | +14 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | BEC Tero Sasana | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | BG Pathum United | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Hoàng Anh Gia Lai | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 11 | +12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | East Bengal | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Petrokimia Putra | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Perak | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Terengganu | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Svay Rieng | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Persita Tangerang | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Đông Á Thanh Hóa | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | –1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Borneo Samarinda | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 9 | –2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Kuala Lumpur City | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | –2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DPMM | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | –4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Lion City Sailors | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | –8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Finance and Revenue | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | –1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Kaya–Iloilo | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 12 | –8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Zebra Baucau | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 22 | –18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Singapore Armed Forces | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | –3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Thailand Tobacco Monopoly | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | –3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | MCTPC | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | –3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Samart United | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | –4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Philippine Army | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | –9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Nagacorp | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | –10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Shan United | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 20 | –13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
See also
- Mekong Club Championship
- ASEAN Super League
- CAFA Silk Way Cup
- SAFF Club Championship
- Marianas Club Championship
- A3 Champions Cup
- Arab Club Champions Cup
- Gulf Club Champions League
References
- ^ a b McCullagh, Kevin (6 November 2019). "Asean Club Championship to launch after getting AFC and Fifa backing". SportBusiness. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ "AFC Statement on the Asean Club Championship | Football News |". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
- ^ "Fox Sports". Archived from the original on 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
- ^ Ninan, Susan (1 November 2016). "Before BFC in 2016, there was East Bengal's ASEAN win in 2003". ESPN. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ "Champions' Cup 1985/86". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
- ^ "AFF to launch ASEAN Club Championship in 2020 featuring top clubs from Southeast Asia". Fox Sports Asia. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ Krishnan, Raghu (3 August 2003). "Corporate sponsorships made East Bengal champions". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ Noveanto, Eric (8 February 2012). "South-East Asia nations to organise Asean Club Championship". Goal. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ "Asean Club Championship postponed to next year". The New Paper. 26 March 2020. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
- ^ Chia, Han Keong (4 April 2024). "New ASEAN Club Championship launched with 14 top regional football clubs set to vie for annual honours". Yahoo News. Archived from the original on 4 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.