2021 AFC Champions League
The 2021 AFC Champions League was the 40th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 19th under the current AFC Champions League title. Al-Hilal won their fourth title by defeating Pohang Steelers 2–0 in the final, becoming the most successful team in the history of the competition. As winners, they automatically qualify for the 2022 AFC Champions League (although they had already qualified through their domestic performance). They also earned the right to play in the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab  Emirates. The tournament was the first to involve 40 teams during the group stage, with an increase from the previous 32 teams. Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by fellow South Korean club Pohang Steelers. Association team allocation. The 46 AFC member associations (excluding the Northern Mariana Islands, which became a full member in December 2020 and are not eligible for this season) are ranked based on their clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions (their national team's FIFA World Rankings no longer considered). The slots  are allocated by the following criteria according to the Entry Manual: Association ranking. For the 2021 AFC Champions League, the associations are allocated slots according to their association ranking which was published on 29 November 2019, which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup during the period between 2016 and 2019. Teams. "In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count only those since the 2002–03 season (including qualifying rounds), when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League." Schedule. The schedule of the competition is as follows. On  25 January 2021, the AFC published the schedule of the competition. The group stage is played as centralized double round-robin tournament, and the round of 16 and quarter-finals are played as a single match. Notes: The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows.