Contenders gear up for #ChallengeLeague group battles
October 21, 2025
#134/2025
The cast of the AFC Challenge League™ (ACGL) will aim to begin their quest for glory in the 2025/26 campaign on a winning note when the Group Stage kicks off on October 25 (Saturday).
Split evenly into groups of five—three in the West and two in the East—in August, the 20 teams will contest the fixtures in a single round-robin centralised league format in the 12th edition of Asia’s third-tier men’s club competition, which was known as the AFC President’s Cup prior to its revamp in 2024/25.
Five clubs will be making their debuts in the Group Stage of an AFC competition, namely Al Shabab Club of Oman, Dewa United FC of Indonesia, Ezra FC of Laos, Manila Digger FC of the Philippines and FC Muras United of the Kyrgyz Republic, while a further four sides are playing in the ACGL for the first time: Altyn Asyr FC of Turkmenistan, Al Ansar FC and Safa SC of Lebanon, and Kuwait SC of Kuwait.
West
October 25
The opening fixture of Group A, to be staged at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan, kicks off at 3pm. Record eight-time Turkmenistan champions Altyn Asyr FC, third-placed in the league in 2024, face FC Abdysh-Ata, the reigning three-time Kyrgyz Republic league champions who are making their second ACGL appearance and emerged victorious in both previous meetings against Altyn Asyr in the AFC Cup™ 2023/24.
At 6pm, Al Shabab Club—winners of their maiden domestic cup title in 2024/25—face home side Paro FC, who are involved in the ACGL for a second time after winning their fourth consecutive league title—and record fifth overall—in 2024.
The Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah Stadium in Sulaibikhat, Kuwait will host Group B‘s quartet, with the first match scheduled for a 4pm start. Last season’s Quarter-finalists, Al Seeb Club, are the 2024/25 Omani league champions—their second title in a row and fourth overall—while opponents Bashundhara Kings lifted a fourth domestic cup trophy in 2024/25 on top of finishing third in the Bangladeshi league.
Al Ansar FC, who ended a four-year drought in claiming a record 15th Lebanese league title in 2024/25, are set for a 7pm kick-off against reigning Kuwaiti league champions Kuwait SC, whose most recent title was their fourth in a row and a record 20th overall. Both sides’ only previous encounter came in the AFC Cup™ 2022, which finished 1-1.
Set for their first Continental appearance since reaching the Round of 16 in the AFC Cup™ 2014, Lebanese league runners-up Safa SC are slated to take on Kuwait’s league runners-up Al Arabi SC, who reached the last four of the ACGL in 2024/25, at 4pm in Group C at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. Both meet for a second occasion, with Al Arabi running out 2-1 victors previously in 2009 in the AFC Cup™.
A second domestic cup triumph in 2024, coupled with a best-ever league finish of third, sees FC Muras United—founded in 2023—make their Continental bow at home at 8pm. They face experienced campaigners FC Regar-TadAZ, whose 2005 success in this competition made them the first Tajik club to win a Continental title. Two more titles (2008, 2009) followed and the 2024 domestic cup winners will target a record-extending fourth in their fifth ACGL involvement.
East
October 26
Marking their third consecutive appearance, Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC—winners of back-to-back Cambodian league titles and a fourth overall in 2024/25—start their quest at home at 4pm in Group D as they aim to better last season’s runners-up finish. Their opponents at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, are Mongolia’s SP Falcons, who claimed a second league title last season and also featured in the ACGL Group Stage, where they were defeated 2-1 by Svay Rieng.
The second kick-off at 7pm features a duo of Continental debutants in 2024/25 Philippines league runners-up Manila Digger FC and Laos’ Ezra FC, who swept to a first-ever league success in unbeaten style by winning 12 of their 14 matches.
Myanmar powerhouses Shan United FC, who reached the last eight in 2024/25, begin their fourth campaign at 3pm at the Sport Centre Kelapa Dua Tangerang Stadium in Tangerang Regency, Indonesia. Unbeaten in their last 81 league matches, winning 70 of those, the reigning six-time league champions take on Tainan City FC in their Group E opener, whom they drew 2-2 with in the Group Stage last season; the Chinese Taipei side—also Quarter-finalists in 2024/25—are dominant domestically as well, having won a fifth consecutive league crown last season.
Promoted to the top flight in 2022, home side Dewa United FC will reach another milestone with their Continental bow at 7pm as the Indonesian league runners-up in 2024/25 face Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Crown FC, whose last appearance came in 2012. The visitors, who were the 2011 runners-up, won the domestic cup in 2024/25 and also placed second in the league, which they have won a record eight times.
