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Asian Football Confederation
AFC
Initials(s) AFC
Formation May 8th, 1954
No. of members 47
President Flag of Bahrain Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football in Asia and Australia. It has 47 member countries, mostly located on the Asian and Australian continent but excluding all the transcontinental countries with territory in both Europe and Asia, which are members of UEFA (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey). Israel is also a UEFA member even though it lies entirely in Asia, as is arguably also the case for Cyprus. On the other hand, Australia, formerly in the OFC, has joined the Asian Football Confederation since 2006, and the Oceanian island of Guam, a territory of the United States, is also a member of AFC.

One of FIFA's six continental confederations, the AFC was formed officially on 8 May 1954 in Manila, Philippines, on the sidelines of the second Asian Games. The main headquarters is located in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The current president is Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain.

History[]

The Asian Football Confederation was founded on 8 May 1954. Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Republic of China (Chinese Taipei), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore and South Vietnam were founding members.

The Asian Ladies Football Confederation (ALFC) is the section of the AFC who manage women's football in Asia. The group was independently founded in April 1968 in a meeting involving Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. In 1986 the ALFC merged with the AFC. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation helped organise the AFC Women's Asian Cup, first held in 1975, as well as the AFC's AFC U-19 Women's Championship and the AFC U-17 Women's Championship.

Members[]

Asean Football Federation countries

AFC regional federations

The AFC has 47 member associations split into five regions.

  • 12 from West Asia
  • 6 from Central Asia
  • 7 from South Asia
  • 10 from East Asia
  • 12 from South East Asia
Code Association National teams
West Asian Football Federation (WAFF)
BHR Flag of Bahrain Bahrain (M, W)
IRQ Flag of Iraq Iraq (M, W)
JOR Flag of Jordan Jordan (M, W)
KUW Flag of Kuwait Kuwait (M, W)
LIB Flag of Lebanon Lebanon (M, W)
OMA Flag of Oman Oman (M, W)
PLE Flag of Palestine Palestine (M, W)
QAT Flag of Qatar Qatar (M, W)
KSA Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia (M, W)
SYR Flag of Syria Syria (M, W)
UAE Flag of United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates (M, W)
YEM Flag of Yemen Yemen (M, W)
Central Asian Football Association (CAFA)
AFG Flag of Afghanistan Afghanistan (M, W)
IRN Flag of Iran Iran (M, W)
KGZ Flag of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan (M, W)
TJK Flag of Tajikistan Tajikistan (M, W)
TKM Flag of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan (M, W)
UZB Flag of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (M, W)
South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)
BAN Flag of Bangladesh Bangladesh (M, W)
BHU Flag of Bhutan Bhutan (M, W)
IND Flag of India India (M, W)
MDV Flag of Maldives Maldives (M, W)
NEP Flag of Nepal Nepal (M, W)
PAK Flag of Pakistan Pakistan (M, W)
SRI Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (M, W)
East Asian Football Federation (EAFF)
CHN Flag of China China PR (M, W)
GUM Flag of Guam Guam (M, W)
HKG Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong (M, W)
JPN Flag of Japan Japan (M, W)
PRK Flag of North Korea Korea DPR (M, W)
KOR Flag of South Korea South Korea (M, W)
MAC Flag of Macau Macau (M, W)
MNG Flag of Mongolia Mongolia (M, W)
NMI Northern Mariana Islands1 (M, W)
TPE Flag of Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei (M, W)
ASEAN Football Federation (AFF)
AUS Flag of Australia Australia (M, W)
BRU Flag of Brunei Brunei (M, W)
CAM Flag of Cambodia Cambodia (M, W)
IDN Flag of Indonesia Indonesia (M, W)
LAO Flag of Laos Laos (M, W)
MAS Flag of Malaysia Malaysia (M, W)
MYA Flag of Myanmar Myanmar (M, W)
PHI Flag of Philippines Philippines (M, W)
SIN Flag of Singapore Singapore (M, W)
THA Flag of Thailand Thailand (M, W)
TLS Flag of Timor-Leste Timor-Leste (M, W)
VIE Flag of Vietnam Vietnam (M, W)

1: Associate AFC member

Former members[]

  • Flag of Israel Israel Football Association 1954–1974; joined UEFA in 1994 because they were excluded from AFC competitions, as a result of a proposal by Kuwait which was adopted by a vote of 17 to 13 with 6 abstentions.
  • Flag of New Zealand New Zealand Football 1964; founding member of OFC in 1966
  • Flag of Kazakhstan Football Federation of Kazakhstan 1992–2002; joined UEFA in 2002

Competitions[]

International[]

The AFC runs the AFC Asian Cup and AFC Women's Asian Cup - both competitions are held every four years and determine the national Champions of Asia. The AFC also organises the AFC Challenge Cup, AFC Futsal Championship, AFC Beach Soccer Championship, various age-level international youth football tournaments and the Asian qualifying tournament for the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup and for football at the Summer Olympics.

In addition to the AFC run international tournaments, each AFC regional federation organises its own tournament for national teams: EAFF East Asian Cup, SAFF Championship, AFF Championship and WAFF Championship.

Club[]

The top-ranked AFC competition is the AFC Champions League, which started in the 2002–03 season (an amalgamation of the Asian Champions Cup and the Asian Cup Winners Cup) and gathers the top 1–4 teams of each country (the number of teams depend on that country's ranking and can be upgraded or downgraded); this competition only gathered teams from top country.

A second, lower-ranked competition is the AFC Cup. This competition was launched by AFC in 2004. A third competition, the AFC President's Cup, which had started in 2005, was absorbed into the AFC Cup in 2015.

The AFC also runs an annual Asian futsal club competition, the AFC Futsal Club Championship.

Current champions[]

Competitions Champion Title Next Edition
AFC Asian Cup Flag of Qatar Qatar 1st 2023
AFC U-23 Championship Flag of Iraq Iraq 1st 2016
AFC U-19 Championship Uzbekistan 1st 2018
AFC U-16 Championship Flag of North Korea North Korea 2nd 2016
AFC U-14 Championship Flag of Iraq Iraq 1st 2016
AFC Futsal Championship Flag of Japan Japan 3rd 2016
AFC Beach Soccer Championship {Iran 1st 2015
AFC Champions League Flag of Australia Western Sydney Wanderers 1st 2015
AFC Cup Flag of Kuwait Qadsia SC 1st 2015
AFC Futsal Club Championship Flag of JapanNagoya Oceans 2nd 2015
AFC Women's Asian Cup Flag of Japan Japan 1st 2018
AFC U-19 Women's Championship South Korea South Korea 2nd 2015
AFC U-16 Women's Championship Flag of Japan Japan 3rd 2015

Defunct competitions[]

Competitions Last Edition Last Champion Title
AFC Challenge Cup 2014 Flag of Palestine Palestine 1st
AFC President's Cup 2014 Flag of Turkmenistan HTTU Asgabat 1st
Asian Cup Winners' Cup 2001–02 Flag of Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 2nd
Asian Super Cup 2002 Flag of South Korea Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2nd

Sponsors[]

The following are the sponsors of AFC (named "AFC Partners"):

  • Fly Emirates
  • Nike
  • Nikon Corporation
  • ING
  • Panasonic
  • Tsingtao
  • Yanmar
  • Qatar Petroleum
  • QNB Group
  • Seiko
  • Qantas

Rankings[]

Men's national teams[]

Rankings are calculated by FIFA.

AFC FIFA Country Points +/- Region
1 41 Iran Iran 700 Increase+10 CAFA
2 54 South Korea South Korea 608 Increase+15 EAFF
3 55 Flag of Japan Japan 605 Decrease-1 EAFF
4 63 Flag of Australia Australia 548 Increase+37 AFF
5 66 Flag of the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 529 Increase+14 WAFF
6 71 Flag of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 347 Steady CAFA
7 82 Template:Country data China PR 429 Increase+14 EAFF
8 91 Flag of Oman Oman 368 Increase+2 WAFF
9 94 Flag of Iraq Iraq 360 Increase+20 WAFF
10 97 Jordan Jordan 353 Decrease-4 WAFF
11 98 Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 351 Increase+4 WAFF
12 103 Flag of Bahrain Bahrain 322 Increase+7 WAFF
13 109 Flag of Qatar Qatar 305 Decrease-17 WAFF
14 121 Lebanon Lebanon 254 Increase+1 WAFF
15 126 Flag of Palestine Palestine 234 Decrease-11 WAFF
16 128 Flag of Kuwait Kuwait 231 Decrease-3 WAFF
17 132 Flag of Vietnam Vietnam 221 Increase+1 AFF
17 132 Philippines Philippines 221 Decrease-3 AFF
19 135 Flag of Maldives Maldives 220 Decrease-4 SAFF
20 137 Flag of Tajikistan Tajikistan 215 Decrease-1 CAFA
21 141 Flag of Myanmar Myanmar 200 Steady AFF
22 143 Flag of Thailand Thailand 184 Increase+1 AFF
23 144 Flag of Afghanistan Afghanistan 181 Decrease-2 CAFA
24 147 Flag of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan 170 Steady CAFA
25 150 Flag of Syria Syria 156 Increase+1 WAFF
26 151 Flag of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan 146 Increase+1 CAFA
27 152 Flag of North Korea North Korea 144 Decrease-2 EAFF
28 154 Flag of Malaysia Malaysia 142 Steady AFF
29 156 Flag of Singapore Singapore 136 Increase+1 AFF
30 157 Flag of Bangladesh Bangladesh 129 Increase+8 SAFF
31 158 Flag of Indonesia Indonesia 128 Increase+1 AFF
32 156 Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong 127 Decrease-3 EAFF
33 161 Flag of Laos Laos 123 Decrease-1 AFF
34 162 Flag of Guam Guam 119 Decrease-1 EAFF
35 171 Template:Country data india 85 Steady SAFF
35 171 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan 85 Increase+17 SAFF
37 173 Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 78 Decrease-1 SAFF
38 179 Flag of Yemen Yemen 60 Decrease-3 WAFF
39 180 Flag of Nepal Nepal 55 Increase+6 SAFF
40 184 Flag of Cambodia Cambodia 53 Decrease-5 AFF
40 184 Chinese Taipei Football Flag on FIFA website.svg Chinese Taipei 53 Decrease-2 EAFF
42 187 Template:Country data Timor-Leste 51 Decrease-2 AFF
43 188 Flag of Macau Macau 50 Decrease-2 EAFF
44 194 Flag of Mongolia Mongolia 29 Steady EAFF
45 198 Flag of Brunei Brunei 15 Steady AFF
46 209 Flag of Bhutan Bhutan 0 Steady SAFF

Last updated 12 February 2015

Top ranked men's national teams[]

Iran national football teamJapan national football teamIran national football teamJapan national football teamKorea Republic national football teamIran national football teamKorea Republic national football teamJapan national football teamKorea Republic national football teamIran national football teamJapan national football teamSaudi Arabia national football teamIran national football teamSaudi Arabia national football teamJapan national football teamIran national football teamKorea Republic national football teamIran national football teamKorea Republic national football teamSaudi Arabia national football teamKorea Republic national football teamJapan national football teamKorea Republic national football teamJapan national football teamSaudi Arabia national football teamJapan national football teamSaudi Arabia national football teamKorea Republic national football team
Iran national football teamJapan national football teamIran national football teamJapan national football teamIran national football teamJapan national football teamAustralia national association football teamJapan national football teamAustralia national association football teamJapan national football teamAustralia national association football teamJapan national football teamIran national football teamAustralia national association football teamJapan national football team

Women's national teams[]

Rankings are calculated by FIFA.

AFC FIFA Country Points +/- Region
1 4 Flag of Japan Japan 2084 Decrease-1 EAFF
2 7 Flag of North Korea North Korea 1954 Increase+4 EAFF
3 10 Flag of Australia Australia 1957 Steady AFF
4 13 Template:Country data China PR 1869 Increase+1 EAFF
5 17 South Korea South Korea 1836 Steady EAFF
6 31 Flag of Thailand Thailand 1651 Decrease-1 AFF
6 34 Flag of Vietnam Vietnam 1626 Steady AFF
8 40 Chinese Taipei Football Flag on FIFA website.svg Chinese Taipei 1574 Decrease-1 EAFF
9 44 Flag of Myanmar Myanmar 1530 Increase+1 AFF
10 53 Flag of India India 1433 Steady SAFF
11 56 Jordan Jordan 1420 Increase+1 WAFF
12 67 Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong 1361 Increase+1 EAFF
13 75 Flag of Indonesia Indonesia 1330 Increase+1 AFF
14 80 Philippines Philippines 1309 Steady AFF
15 81 Flag of Bahrain Bahrain 1304 Increase+2 WAFF
16 85 Flag of Guam Guam 1287 Steady EAFF
17 86 Flag of Laos Laos 1283 Steady AFF
18 88 Flag of Malaysia Malaysia 1269 Steady AFF
19 96 Flag of Palestine Palestine 1191 Steady WAFF
20 100 Flag of Singapore Singapore 1177 Steady AFF
21 107 Flag of Nepal   Nepal 1115 Increase+2 SAFF
22 116 Flag of Bangladesh Bangladesh 987 Increase+1 SAFF
23 117 Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 970 Increase+16 SAFF
24 120 Flag of Maldives Maldives 938 Increase+1 SAFF
25 122 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan 926 Increase+11 SAFF
26 123 Flag of Afghanistan Afghanistan 899 Increase+10 CAFA
27 124 Flag of Qatar Qatar 864 Increase+1 WAFF
28 129 Flag of Bhutan Bhutan 778 Increase+4 SAFF
29 133 Flag of Syria Syria 927 Steady WAFF
30 133 Flag of Iraq Iraq 882 Steady WAFF
31 133 Flag of the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 1665 Steady WAFF
32 133 Flag of Macau Macau 922 Steady EAFF
33 133 Flag of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 1548 Decrease-90 CAFA
34 133 Iran Iran 1412 Decrease-75 CAFA
35 133 Flag of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan 1136 Decrease-27 CAFA
36 133 Lebanon Lebanon 955 Decrease-14 WAFF
37 133 Flag of Kuwait Kuwait 870 Decrease-9 WAFF

Last updated 19 December 2014

National leagues[]

Rankings are calculated by IFFHS .

AFC IFFHS Country Points +/-
1 24 Flag of South Korea Korea Republic 562,5 Steady
2 29 Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 490,0 Steady
3 30 Flag of Japan Japan 460,5 Steady
4 46 Flag of Kuwait Kuwait 377,0 2Increase
5 50 Flag of United Arab Emirates UAE 352,0 5Increase
6 56 Flag of China China 340,5 2Decrease
7 57 Flag of Qatar Qatar 338,0 1Increase
8 61 Flag of Iran Iran 333,5 3Decrease
9 62 Flag of Australia Australia 331,0 11Increase
10 63 Flag of Thailand Thailand 329,5 3Decrease
11 74 Flag of Indonesia Indonesia 285,0 8Increase
12 82 Flag of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 256,0 3Decrease
13 84 Flag of Lebanon Lebanon 252,5 2Increase
14 87 Flag of Jordan Jordan 241,5 1Decrease
15 88 Flag of Singapore Singapore 240,0 3Increase
16 89 Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong 235,0 5Increase
17 92 Flag of Iraq Iraq 230,5 6Decrease
18 94 Flag of Bahrain Bahrain 224,5 1Decrease
19 95 Flag of Oman Oman 221,0 7Decrease
20 99 Flag of Malaysia Malaysia 193,5 6Decrease
21 100 Flag of Vietnam Vietnam 182,75 1Increase
22 105 Flag of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan 146,5 2Increase
23 116 Flag of Myanmar Myanmar 108,5 2Increase
24 119 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan 104,0 Steady
25 125 Flag of Syria Syria 97,5 Steady
26 128 Flag of Bangladesh Bangladesh 96,0 Steady
27 137 Flag of India India 92,0 11Decrease
28 140 Flag of Philippines Philippines 81,0 Steady
29 149 Flag of Palestine Palestine 70,5 Steady
30 150 Flag of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan 70,0 Steady
31 151 Flag of Maldives Maldives 69,5 Steady
32 154 Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 68,0 Steady
33 155 Flag of Nepal Nepal 64,5 Steady
34 155 Flag of Tajikistan Tajikistan 63,0 Steady
35 163 Flag of Mongolia Mongolia 50,5 Steady
36 165 Flag of Bhutan Bhutan 48,5 Steady
37 166 Flag of Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei 43,0 Steady

Top 100 National League in 2014

Clubs[]

Rankings are calculated by the IFFHS.

AFC IFFHS Club Points
1 64 Flag of South Korea FC Seoul 147
2 65 Flag of Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal FC 146,5
3 85 Flag of South Korea Pohang Steelers 133
4 86 Flag of Kuwait Qadsia SC 132,5
5 86 Flag of South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 132,5
6 93 Flag of United Arab Emirates Al Ain FC 130,5
7 123 Flag of Kuwait Kuwait SC 116,5
8 125 Flag of Australia Western Sydney Wanderers FC 116
9 157 Flag of Japan Kawasaki Frontale 103,5
10 166 Flag of Qatar Al-Sadd SC 98,5

Last updated 13 January 2015

Clubs[]

Rankings are calculated by the AFC.

Rank Club Points
1 Flag of Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal FC 106
2 Flag of South Korea FC Seoul 96.66
3 Flag of Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad FC 95
4 Flag of China Guangzhou Evergrande 93.58
5 Flag of South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 84.66
6 Flag of Iran Esteghlal F.C. 82.16
7 Flag of Iran Sepahan F.C. 82.16
8 Flag of Saudi Arabia Al Shabab FC 80
9 Flag of Uzbekistan FC Bunyodkor 78.12
10 Flag of Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli SC 67
11 Flag of South Korea Pohang Steelers 65.66
12 Flag of South Korea Ulsan Hyundai FC 64.66
13 Flag of United Arab Emirates Al Ain FC 63.13
14 Flag of Qatar Al Sadd SC 58.77
15 Flag of United Arab Emirates Al Jazira Club 58.13

Hall of Fame[]

Main article: Asian Football Hall of Fame
  • Flag of Australia Harry Kewell
  • Flag of India Baichung Bhutia
  • Flag of Iran Homayoun Behzadi
  • Flag of Iran Ali Daei
  • Flag of Japan Yasuhiko Okudera
  • Flag of South Korea Hong Myung-bo
  • Flag of Malaysia Soh Chin Aun
  • Flag of Saudi Arabia Sami Al Jaber
  • Flag of China Sun Wen
  • Flag of Japan Homare Sawa

World Cup participation[]

Legend
  •  1st  – Champion
  •  2nd  – Runner-up
  •  3rd  – Third place
  •  4th  – Fourth place
  • QF – Quarterfinals
  • R16 – Round of 16 (since 1986: knockout round of 16)
  • GS – Group stage (in the 1950, 1974, 1978, and 1982 tournaments, which had two group stages, this refers to the first group stage)
  • 1S – First knockout stage (1934–1938 Single-elimination tournament)
  •    — Did not qualify
  •     — Did not enter / withdrew / banned
  •     — Hosts

FIFA World Cup[]

Team Flag of Uruguay
1930
Flag of Italy
1934
Flag of France
1938
Flag of Brazil
1950
Flag of Switzerland
1954
Flag of Sweden
1958
Flag of Chile
1962
Flag of England
1966
Flag of Mexico
1970
Flag of West Germany
1974
Flag of Argentina
1978
Flag of Spain
1982
Flag of Mexico
1986
Flag of Italy
1990
Flag of United States
1994
Flag of France
1998
Flag of South KoreaFlag of Japan
2002
Flag of Germany
2006
Flag of South Africa
2010
Flag of Brazil
2014
Flag of Russia
2018
Total inclusive
WC Qual.
South Korea South Korea GS GS GS GS GS 4th GS R16 GS 9 14
Flag of Japan Japan GS R16 GS R16 GS 5 14
Iran Iran GS GS GS GS 4 9
Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia R16 GS GS GS 4 10
Flag of Australia Australia GS R16 GS GS 2 2
Flag of North Korea North Korea QF GS 2 9
Flag of Iraq Iraq GS 1 10
Flag of the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates GS 1 9
Flag of the People's Republic of China China GS 1 10
Flag of Kuwait Kuwait GS 1 11
Flag of Indonesia Indonesia 1S 1 13
Flag of Israel Israel GS 1 3
Flag of India India × 1* 8
Total 0 0 1 1* 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 33

FIFA Women's World Cup[]

Team Flag of China
1991
Flag of Sweden
1995
Flag of United States
1999
Flag of United States
2003
Flag of China
2007
Flag of Germany
2011
Flag of Canada
2015
Total
Flag of Japan Japan GS QF GS GS GS 1st Q 7
Flag of the People's Republic of China China QF 4th 2nd QF QF Q 6
Flag of North Korea North Korea GS GS QF GS DSQ 4
Flag of Australia Australia GS GS GS QF QF Q 3
South Korea South Korea GS Q 2
Chinese Taipei Football Flag on FIFA website.svg Chinese Taipei QF 1
Flag of Thailand Thailand Q 1
Total 3 2 3 4 4 3 5 24

Notes[]

Other international tournaments[]

FIFA Confederations Cup[]

Team 1992
Flag of Saudi Arabia
1995
Flag of Saudi Arabia
1997
Flag of Saudi Arabia
1999
Flag of Mexico
2001
Flag of South Korea
Flag of Japan
2003
Flag of France
2005
Flag of Germany
2009
Flag of South Africa
2013
Flag of Brazil
2017
Flag of Russia
Total
Flag of Japan Japan GS 2nd GS GS GS 5
Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 2nd GS GS 4th 4
Flag of Iraq Iraq × × GS 1
South Korea South Korea × GS 1
Flag of the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates GS 1
Flag of Australia Australia × × 2nd 3rd GS Q 1*
Total 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 13

External links[]

Confederations
Cups of Asia AFC

Bahrain · Bangladesh · Brunei · Cambodia · China · Hong Kong · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Japan · Jordan · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Lebanon · Maldives · Malaysia · Oman · Pakistan · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · Singapore · Sri Lanka · Syria · South Korea · Tajikistan · Thailand · Turkmenistan · United Arab Emirates · Uzbekistan · Vietnam · Yemen

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