AFC Challenge League 2026-27: Draw set after East Bengal advances and FC Goa drop into third tier
As reported on August 14, 2026, East Bengal FC won their AFC Champions League Two Preliminary Stage match and secured a place in the AFC Champions League Two 2026-27, while FC Goa lost 3-0 to FK Arkadag at the Arkadag Stadium in Turkmenistan; FC Goa will now take part in the AFC Challenge League 2026-27 and has been placed in Pot 1 of the West region.
The AFC Challenge League is the Asian Football Confederation’s third-tier men’s club competition, organised behind the AFC Champions League Elite and AFC Champions League Two, and is designed to give clubs regular continental matches. The tournament is split into two geographic zones, West and East, and features a Group Stage followed by knockout rounds. Qualification to the Group Stage comes via direct entries, preliminary-stage winners and clubs dropping from the higher-tier preliminary rounds.
Seven clubs advanced from the Preliminary Stage to join eight sides granted direct entry to the Group Stage, together with the two teams eliminated from the AFC Champions League Two 2026-27 Preliminary Stage (West), a group that includes FC Goa. A further three clubs will be confirmed after the remaining Preliminary Stage fixtures in the East conclude. These qualified and confirmed teams will be allocated into the group pots ahead of the draw.
The Group Stage will comprise five groups of four teams — three groups in the West and two in the East — competing in a single round-robin centralised format. Those Group Stage matches are scheduled to take place from October 17 to 24, 2026. Match hosts will be centralised for each group during that window.
The knockout phase moves to two-legged ties for both quarterfinals and semifinals, set for March 3-18 and April 7-15, 2027, respectively, with the competition final scheduled for May 8, 2027. Progression from the Group Stage will determine the quarterfinal participants under that calendar.
The West region features 12 participants divided into four pots of three teams each, while the East region contains eight teams split into four pots of two. FC Goa are in Pot 1 of the West alongside Al-Arabi SC (the Kuwaiti side who lost to East Bengal FC) and Ahal FC (Turkmenistan). Five clubs will make their ACGL debuts this edition: Ahal FC, Al Ittihad Ahli of Aleppo SC, FC Goa, New Taipei City Hang Yuan FC and Qadsia SC, and Qadsia SC, FC Istiklol, Paro FC, Borneo FC Samarinda and Shan United FC will serve as centralised hosts for the Group Stage.
The Group Stage Draw will be held on Thursday, August 20, 2026, at 3pm (12:30 pm IST) at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; fans can watch the ceremony live on The AFC Hub YouTube Channel.