# 1996–97 Asian Club Championship

The 1996–97 Asian Club Championship was the 16th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the AFC region (Asia). It determined that year's club champion of association football in Asia.
Pohang Steelers of South Korea won the final and became Asian champions for the first time after beating Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma in the first ever Asian top club tournament that ended in a one-country final.

## First round
### West Asia

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| FK Neftchy Farg'ona | 8–2 | Pamir Dushanbe | 4–1 | 4–1 |
| AiK Bishkek | 3–6 | Yelimay Semipalatinsk | 2–4 | 1–2 |
| Köpetdag Aşgabat | 0–1 | Persepolis | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Kazma | 10–1 | Dhofar | 9–0 | 1–1 |
| West Riffa | 2-4 | Nejmeh | 2–1 | 0–3 |
| Al-Nassr | w/o$^1$ | Al-Sharjah | | |
| Al-Rayyan | bye | | | |
| Al-Zawraa | bye | | | |
$^1$ Al-Sharjah withdrew.

### East Asia

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Shanghai Shenhua | 9–2 | Instant-Dict FC | 7–1 | 2–1 |
| Công an Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh | 1–2 | Johor F.C. | 0–1 | 1–1(a.e.t.) |
| JCT FC | 2–2 (4–2p) | New Road Team | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| PSM Makassar | 1–4 | Pohang Steelers | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| New Radiant | 1–0 | Pettah United SC | 1–0 | n/p$^1$ |
| Yokohama Marinos | w/o$^2$ | GD Artilheiros | | |
| Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | bye | | | |
| Thai Farmers Bank FC | bye | | | |
$^1$ The 2nd leg was cancelled due to political violence in Sri Lanka.
$^2$ GD Artilheiros withdrew.

## Second round
### West Asia

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Al-Zawraa | 3–1 | FK Neftchy Farg'ona | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Yelimay Semipalatinsk | 3–5 | Persepolis | 3–0 | 0–5 |
| Nejmeh | 1–4 | Al-Nassr | 1–0 | 0–4 |
| Al-Kazma | 1–2 | Al-Rayyan | 0–1 | 1–1 |

### East Asia

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 1–0 | Shanghai Shenhua | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Yokohama Marinos | 3–1 | Johor F.C. | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| JCT FC | 1–2 | New Radiant | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Thai Farmers Bank FC | 1–5 | Pohang Steelers | 1–3 | 0–2 |

## Quarterfinals
### West Asia

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Persepolis | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 6 |
| Al-Zawraa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
| Al-Nassr | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Al-Rayyan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 |

### East Asia

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 7 |
| Pohang Steelers | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 5 |
| Yokohama Marinos | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 4 |
| New Radiant | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25 | −25 | 0 |

## Knockout Stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 7 March – Shah Alam | 7 March – Shah Alam |
| Persepolis | 1 |
| Persepolis | 1 | 9 March – Shah Alam | 9 March – Shah Alam |
| Pohang Steelers | 3 | 9 March – Shah Alam | 9 March – Shah Alam |
| Pohang Steelers | 3 | Pohang Steelers (a.s.d.e.t.) | 2 |
| 7 March – Shah Alam | 7 March – Shah Alam | | Pohang Steelers (a.s.d.e.t.) | 2 |
| 7 March – Shah Alam | 7 March – Shah Alam | Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 1 |
| Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 1 | Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma | 1 |
| Al-Zawraa | 0 | | |
| Al-Zawraa | 0 | Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| | | 9 March – Shah Alam | 9 March – Shah Alam |
| | | Persepolis | 4 |
| | | Al-Zawraa | 1 |

### Final

Source:

## Awards

| Award | Player | Team |
| Sanyo Most Valuable Player | An Ik-Soo | Pohang Steelers |
| Coca-Cola Best Defender | An Ik-Soo | Pohang Steelers |
| Diadora Top Goalscorer | Park Tae-Ha | Pohang Steelers |
| Snickers Fair Play Award | — | Al-Zawraa |