Competitions – Inside World Football

Ronaldo on fire as Asian Champions League Elite last 8 gather in Saudi for final shoot-out

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 03:55:14 +0000

April 25 – The revamped Asian Champions League Elite has reached the quarter final stage with Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal SFC kicking off against South Korea’s Gwangju FC tonight in the first of the single leg ties at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.

The competition is now centralised in Saudi Arabia for its final week with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, imperious throughout the competition to date, in action against Japan’s Yokohama F.

Uzbekistan claim second AFC U17 title with Saudi Arabia win

Andy Elliott — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 09:21:19 +0000

April 22 – Uzbekistan clinched a second AFC U17 Asian Cup title on Sunday night in Taif, overcoming a two-man disadvantage to defeat host nation Saudi Arabia 2-0 in a pulsating final that underlined their rising stature in Asian youth football.

The Young White Wolves were forced to play the entire second half with nine men after a chaotic end to the first period saw both forward Nurbek Sarsenbaev and defender Miraziz Abdukarimov sent off.

AFC goes deeper step into esports with launch of eChampions League Elite in Jeddah

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 07:37:40 +0000

April 16 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is accelerating its entry into the virtual football space with the official launch of the AFC eChampions League Elite (eACL Elite) this month in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – the brainchild of its first-ever Football eSports Forum in Kuala Lumpur in late 2024.

The inaugural eACL Elite competition will take place at the King Abdullah Sports City Sports Hall on April 24, running alongside the AFC Champions League Elite Finals,

Thailand and China awarded hosting rights to AFC’s women’s youth Asian Cups

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 05:54:51 +0000

April 14 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed Thailand and China as the host nations for its upcoming women’s youth tournaments, marking a significant step forward in the regional body’s strategy to elevate the women’s game across Asia.

Following approval by the AFC Executive Committee on April 11, The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) has been awarded hosting rights for the U20 Women’s Asian Cup 2026, while the Chinese Football Association (CFA) will host three consecutive editions of the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup from 2026 to 2028.

U17 Asian Cup set for April 3 kick off; 8 teams qualify for U17 World Cup in November

Paul Nicholson — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 04:30:53 +0000

April 1 – The 16-nation AFC U17 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2025 kicks off Thursday, April 3 with the top eight finishers qualifying for the first of the expanded annual 48-team U-17 World Cups to be played in Qatar this November.

All matches will be played in the cities of Jeddah and Taif.
Record four-time champions Japan (1994, 2006, 2018, 2023) are one fo the favourites to win the title and are one of nine former winners.

AFC sets 2028 dates for expanded Futsal championships and Beach Soccer finals

Paul Nicholson — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 04:15:42 +0000

April 1 – Following on from success of the AFC’s Beach Soccer finals in Thailand last week, dates for the next editions of the Beach Soccer and Futsal Asian Cups have been announced by the AFC Futsal & Beach Soccer Committee.

The next edition of the Beach Soccer Asian Cup will see qualifiers played at the end of May 2026 with the finals in Indonesia in November.

As well as confirming the dates for the next men’s and women’s Futsal championship in 2028,

Iran win 4th Asian Beach Soccer title and head to Seychelles World Cup with Oman and Japan

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 08:20:13 +0000

March 31 – Iran cemented their dominance in Asian beach soccer with a record-breaking fourth AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup title on Sunday, dismantling Oman 8-1 in a commanding final in Pattaya, Thailand. The victory not only solidified Iran’s status as the most successful team in the tournament’s history but also secured back-to-back championships for the reigning champions.

The final at the Jomtien Beach Arena began as a cagey affair, with both teams struggling to find a breakthrough until the closing seconds of the first period.

Final four qualify for inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League centralised semis and final

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 01:10:08 +0000

March 28 – The inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League has reached the semi-final stage with four teams from four countries set to compete at yet to be named centralised venue on May 21-24.

Australia’s Melbourne City FC and China’s Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC were the last clubs to book their semi-final slots.

The winners of the AFC Champions League will the region’s representative at the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup in early 2026.

Asia 2026 qualifiers go down to the wire with four slots open going into last two group rounds

Paul Nicholson — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 06:13:10 +0000

March 27 – The Road to 2026 Asian Qualifiers are going down to the wire with two match days left in June to qualify four more teams for the World Cup next year.

Round 3 of AFC qualifying has seen 18 teams in three groups of six with each nation playing each other home away over the 10 match schedule. The top two teams in each group qualify direct to World Cup 2026 and after eight rounds of matches,

Iran qualify for 2026 World Cup but US visas could be biggest challenge

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 12:31:36 +0000

March 26 – Iran have become the second Asian team to clinch World Cup qualification following a 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan.

The Iranians were held to a draw as Inter striker Mehdi Taremi got two second-half goals, but it was enough to confirm their spot at the 2026 finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada. They join the three hosts as well as Japan and New Zealand as finalists.

The result ensures that Iran,

Japan are first qualifiers for 2026 World Cup and an 8th consecutive finals

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 02:13:14 +0000

March 21 – With goals from Daichi Kamada and Takefusa Kubo in a 2-0 victory against Bahrain, Japan became the first country to qualify for the enlarged 48-team 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

In the second half, substitute Kamada opened the score before Kubo added the second three minutes from time to earn Japan three more points in the qualifiers and a ticket to the global finals next year.

Inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League reaches knockout stage

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 00:59:19 +0000

March 19 – The inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League 2024/25 has reached the quarter finals stage with matches to be played on Saturday, March 22, between the eight teams from eight different nations.

From an initial 13 teams in the groups, the qualifiers now move to the knockout stage with matches played as single ties.

Four of the qualified clubs are in their first season of AFC club competition: Abu Dhabi Country Club (UAE),

AFC completes last 8 draw for centralised Champions League Elite Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Paul Nicholson — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 06:04:38 +0000

March 18 – The draw for the last eight of the AFC Champions League Elite Finals Jeddah 2025 has pitched four West Asian sides against four from East Asia.

Under the renamed, revamped and repackaged Asian Champions League Elite teams the best teams from the two zones meet at the quarter final stage rather than previously not meeting until the final.

The quarter-finals will be centralised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and will be played as single tie knock-outs between April 25 and May 3.

Qatar readies to host U17 World Cup and Arab Cup back-to-back to close out 2025

Paul Nicholson — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 06:21:40 +0000

March 6 – ‘If you build it, they will come’ was the mantra behind the 1989 baseball movie Field of Dream. In Qatar’s case they keep on coming and November and December will see the Arab state full of footballers again.

The now annual U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025 will be played November 3 – 27 as the first of Qatar’s five-year tenure as hosts of the tournament. Germany are the defending champions from 2023.

Aussies win their first U20 Asian Cup title with shoot-out win against Saudi

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 16:03:04 +0000

March 3 – Australia’s rising stars etched their names into history, claiming their first-ever AFC U20 Asian Cup title with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over three-time winners Saudi Arabia in Shenzhen, China.

With the final locked at 1-1 after extra time, goalkeeper Steven Hall emerged as the hero, denying Bassam Hazazi from the spot as the Young Socceroos triumphed 5-4 on penalties at the Baoan Sports Centre Stadium.

It was a fitting end to a flawless tournament for the Socceroos,

Venues unveiled for the Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 03:34:36 +0000

February 27 – The match schedule for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026, to be played March 1 to 21, 2026, has been released.

The 12-team competition will be played across Sydney, Perth and the Gold Coast, using five venues, including those used to host matches at the Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023.
The 79,500-capacity Stadium Australia in Sydney will host the final as well as Australia’s third and fourth group games,