# 2021 AFC Champions League final

The 2021 AFC Champions League final was the final of the 2021 AFC Champions League, the 40th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 19th under the AFC Champions League title.
The final was contested as a single match between Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia and Pohang Steelers from South Korea. Prior to the match, both teams were joint most successful teams in the AFC Champions League, with three titles each. Al-Hilal won the match 2–0 and clinched their fourth title, becoming the outright most successful team in the history of the competition. As Asian champions, they also qualified for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

## Teams

In the following table, the finals until 2002 were in the Asian Club Championship era, and since 2003 in the AFC Champions League era.
| Team | Region | Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners) |
| Al-Hilal | West Region (Zone: WAFF) | 7 (1986, 1987, 1991, 2000, 2014, 2017, 2019) |
| Pohang Steelers | East Region (Zone: EAFF) | 3 (1997, 1998, 2009) |

### Notes

* ^ The 1986 final was played in a four-team round-robin format, with Al-Hilal finishing as runners-up.
* ^ Al-Hilal were unable to participate in the 1987 final and were declared runners-up.

## Venue

On 20 October 2021, the AFC announced that Mrsool Park would host the final. It was later changed to King Fahd International Stadium, also in Riyadh.

## Road to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away; *: played in centralized group locations).
| Al-Hilal | Al-Hilal | Round | Pohang Steelers | Pohang Steelers |
| Opponent | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result |
| AGMK | 2–2* | Matchday 1 | Ratchaburi Mitr Phol | 2–0* |
| Shabab Al-Ahli | 2–0* | Matchday 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 0–3* |
| Istiklol | 3–1* | Matchday 3 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 4–1* |
| Istiklol | 1–4* | Matchday 4 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2–0* |
| AGMK | 3–0* | Matchday 5 | Ratchaburi Mitr Phol | 0–0* |
| Shabab Al-Ahli | 0–2* | Matchday 6 | Nagoya Grampus | 1–1* |
| Group A runners-up Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Istiklol 6 10 2 Al-Hilal (H) 6 10 3 Shabab Al-Ahli 6 7 4 AGMK 6 7 Source: AFC (H) Hosts | Group A runners-up Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Istiklol 6 10 2 Al-Hilal (H) 6 10 3 Shabab Al-Ahli 6 7 4 AGMK 6 7 Source: AFC (H) Hosts | Final standings | Group G runners-up Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Nagoya Grampus 6 16 2 Pohang Steelers 6 11 3 Johor Darul Ta'zim 6 4 4 Ratchaburi Mitr Phol (H) 6 2 Source: AFC (H) Hosts | Group G runners-up Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Nagoya Grampus 6 16 2 Pohang Steelers 6 11 3 Johor Darul Ta'zim 6 4 4 Ratchaburi Mitr Phol (H) 6 2 Source: AFC (H) Hosts |
| Opponent | Result | Knockout stage | Opponent | Result |
| Esteghlal | 2–0 (A) | Round of 16 | Cerezo Osaka | 1–0 (A) |
| Persepolis | 3–0 (H) | Quarter-finals | Nagoya Grampus | 3–0 (H) |
| Al-Nassr | 2–1 (A) | Semi-finals | Ulsan Hyundai | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) (A) |

## Format

The final was played as a single match. If tied after regulation time, extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out would have been used to decide the winning team.

## Match

| Al-Hilal | Pohang Steelers |
| GK | 1 | Abdullah Al-Mayouf |
| RB | 2 | Mohammed Al-Breik |
| CB | 20 | Jang Hyun-soo |
| CB | 32 | Muteb Al-Mufarrij |
| LB | 16 | Nasser Al-Dawsari |
| CM | 7 | Salman Al-Faraj (c) |
| CM | 28 | Mohamed Kanno | 83' | 90+4' |
| RW | 17 | Moussa Marega | 26' |
| AM | 15 | Matheus Pereira | 84' |
| LW | 29 | Salem Al-Dawsari |
| CF | 18 | Bafétimbi Gomis | | 85' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 31 | Habib Al-Wotayan |
| GK | 33 | Abdullah Al-Jadaani |
| DF | 12 | Yasser Al-Shahrani | | 85' |
| DF | 23 | Madallah Al-Olayan |
| DF | 70 | Mohammed Jahfali | | 90+4' |
| MF | 43 | Musab Al-Juwayr |
| MF | 56 | Mohammed Al-Qahtani |
| MF | 88 | Hamad Al-Yami |
| FW | 11 | Saleh Al-Shehri |
| FW | 14 | Abdullah Al-Hamdan |
| Manager: ||
| Leonardo Jardim ||
| GK | 21 | Lee Jun |
| RB | 32 | Park Seung-wook |
| CB | 13 | Gwon Wan-gyu | 42' |
| CB | 2 | Alex Grant | 20' |
| LB | 10 | Kang Sang-woo (c) |
| CM | 17 | Shin Kwang-hoon |
| CM | 57 | Lee Soo-bin | | 46' |
| RW | 8 | Mario Kvesić | | 46' |
| AM | 6 | Sin Jin-ho |
| LW | 77 | Lim Sang-hyub | 67' |
| CF | 82 | Manuel Palacios |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 41 | Cho Sung-hoon |
| DF | 3 | Lee Kwang-jun |
| DF | 4 | Jeon Min-gwang | 53' | 46' |
| DF | 30 | Kim Ryun-seong |
| MF | 14 | Oh Beom-seok |
| MF | 37 | Kim Ho-nam |
| MF | 38 | Kim Jin-hyun |
| MF | 79 | Go Young-joon | | 46' | 81' |
| FW | 20 | Lee Ho-jae | | 81' |
| FW | 25 | Kim Seong-ju |
| Manager: ||
| Kim Gi-dong ||
| Man of the Match: Moussa Marega (Al-Hilal) Assistant referees: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Hasan Al-Mahri (United Arab Emirates) Fourth official: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates) Video assistant referee: Ammar Al-Jeneibi (United Arab Emirates) Assistant video assistant referees: Omar Mohamed Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates) Hanna Hattab (Syria) | Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if tied. Penalty shoot-out if still tied after extra time. Ten named substitutes, of which up to five may be used, with a sixth allowed in extra time. |