AFC Champions League Two 2026-27 draw set for Aug 18 in Kuala Lumpur after East Bengal qualify

East Bengal FC beat Kuwaiti side Al-Arabi SC 4-1 in Kolkata to secure a place in the AFC Champions League Two 2026-27, and the competition’s participants will learn their Group Stage opponents at a draw in Kuala Lumpur on August 18 at 2 pm (11:30 am IST). East Bengal will represent India in the second division of Asian club football.

East Bengal, the ISL champions, recovered from going one goal down against Al-Arabi SC, the Kuwait League’s runners-up; Jay Gupta’s 90th-minute equaliser made it 1-1 and the Preliminary Stage tie was settled in extra time by strikes from Mohammed Rashid, David Lalhlansanga and Rohit Danu.

The clubs have been seeded into four pots per region (West and East), with East Bengal placed in Pot 4 of the west zone alongside FK Arkadag (Turkmenistan), Al-Nahda Club (Oman) and Al-Khaldiya SC (Bahrain). FK Arkadag secured its slot in the AFC Champions League Two after defeating FC Goa.

The 22nd edition of Asia’s second-tier men’s competition will feature 32 clubs and will be played in a home-and-away round-robin format, with each team meeting its Group Stage opponents twice. Group Stage matches are scheduled to conclude on December 9, 2026.

Knockout rounds follow the Group Stage: the round of 16 is set for February 9-18, 2027, quarter-finals for March 2-18, semi-finals for April 6-14 and the final on May 15, 2027. The draw will observe the country protection principle and use specialised draw software to prevent deadlock situations.

Fans can watch the draw live on The AFC Hub YouTube Channel from 11:30 am IST on August 18. The AFC Champions League Two Group Stage will kick off on September 15.