October 4 – Neymar scored his first goal since his high-profile €90 million move to Al-Hilal on Tuesday as the Saudi Arabian club beat Nassaji Mazandaran 3-0 in Tehran in the Asian Champions League.
October 3 – The newly found football friendship between Iran and Saudi Arabia suffered its first set back Monday after the AFC called off the Champions League fixture between Sepahan and Al-Ittihad at the Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium in Isfahan at the last minutes and with 60,000 fans in the stadium.
October 2 – Rarely courting publicity in the international arena, North Korea’s footballers have been thrust into the spotlight for manhandling the referee after crashing out of the Asian Games with a 2-1 quarterfinal defeat to Japan.
September 19 – Hundreds of fans stormed a hotel in Tehran on Monday hoping for a glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo after he arrived with his Al Nassr teammates ahead of the first visit of a Saudi team to Iran since 2016 for the group stage of the Asian Champions League.
September 7 – Japan and Jordan stamped early claims for places at the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 finals with big opening group wins. Japan beat Pakistan 6-0 while Jordan put 9 past Brunei Darussalem.
September 7 – The draw for the AFC Women’s Club Championship 2023 has pitched top-seeded Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies of Japan against Chinese Taipei’s Hualien Women, Bangkok FC of Thailand and India’s Sree Gokulam Kerala in Group A.
September 8 – Japan and Jordan stamped early claims for places at the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 finals with big opening group wins. Japan beat Pakistan 6-0 while Jordan put 9 past Brunei Darussalem.
September 5 – Saudi Arabian and Iranian clubs, drawn together in the Champions League, will for the first time play matches on a home-and-away since 2015. Since 2016 clubs from the two nations drawn against each other in AFC competition were mandated to play ties at neutral venues.
September 5 – The draw for the AFC Women’s Club Championship 2023 will be held Thursday, the last time the competition will be staged before the launch of the AFC Women’s Champions League for the 2024/25 season.
August 25 – Ronaldo and Sadio Mane, captain and vice-captain of Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, will make their debut in the Asian Champions League group stages against Iranian giants Persepolis FC, Qatar’s Al Duhail SC, and newcomers FC Istiklol from Tajikistan.
August 21 – The AFC has unveiled the format for the first edition of the AFC Women’s Champions League that will kick off with a preliminary qualification stage in August 2024 before progressing to a group stage in October 2024.
August 15 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has radically revamped its men’s club competition structure into three new tiers, as well as launching a Women’s Champions League and boosting prize money across the competitions to record levels.
July 27 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has held the draw for the first and second round World Cup 2026 qualifiers for the AFC’s potential nine slots at the expanded 48-team finals.
July 3 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has adjusted its qualification structure for the 2026 World Cup.
July 2 – Japan won the men’s U17 Asian Cup with a 3-0 dismantling of South Korea at the Pathum Thani Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday.
