[Official] ACLE Round of 16 match confirmed, Seoul and Gangwon side by side 'Korea-Japan match' Korea-Japan match

*This content was translated by AI.

The round of 16 matches of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACLE), which will determine the strongest team in Asia in the 2025-2026 season, has been confirmed. FC Seoul and Gangwon FC, which advanced to the round of 16, will play a "Korea-Japan match" with Japanese professional football J-League teams, respectively.

Seoul and Gangwon ranked seventh and eighth respectively in the 2025-2026 ACLE East Asian League Stage, which ended on the 18th, to qualify for the round of 16. ACLE is divided into East and West Asia and 12 teams will participate in the league stage, and the first to eighth places in each region will reach the round of 16 tournaments. Seoul managed to qualify for the round of 16 with 10 points (2 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses) and Gangwon with 9 points (2 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses). Ulsan HD was tied with Gangwon for points and differences, but was eliminated in ninth place after three goals in multiple points.

According to the tournament tournament match table, where the first and eighth places in the league stage, and the second and seventh places will face off against the second-place Vissel Kobe of Japan. Vissel Kobe is the second-ranked team with 16 points (5 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses). Seoul was defeated 0-2 in the Vissel Kobe away game held on the 10th. At that time, Seoul fell to 40.8%-59.2% in ball possession, and was inferior to 6-10 in the number of shots.

Gangwon will face Japan's Machida Zelvia, who passed the league stage first. Machida accumulated 17 points (5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss) in the league stage, and Gangwon lost 1-3 to Machida at home in November last year. At that time, Gangwon lost three goals in the first half alone and chased with Park Ho-young's comeback goal in the second half, but it failed to reverse the game despite its 67.8% ball possession.

In addition, the other round of 16 matches in East Asia consisted of a showdown between Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan, 3rd place), Johor Darlle Takjim (Malaysia, 6th place), Buriram United (Thailand, 4th place) and Melbourne City (Australia, 5th place). The first leg of the East Asian region will be held from the 3rd to the 4th of next month, and the second leg will be held in a home-and-away manner from the 10th to the 11th. The first round will be held first at the home of teams with lower league stage rankings such as Seoul and Gangwon.

The quarterfinals in West Asia will be played against Al-Hilal-Al-Sad (Qatar, 8th), Al-Ahli (Saudi, 2nd) and Al-Duhail (Qatar, 7th), Traktor (Iran, 3rd), Shabab Al-Ahli (United Arab Emirates, 6th), Al-Itihad (Saudi, 4th) and Al-Wahda (Arab Elimit, 5th). The first and second rounds will be held a day before the East Asian region.

From the quarterfinals, the match will be confirmed through a lottery on the 25th of next month, regardless of East and West Asia, and the tournament will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, not in a home-and-away manner, and will be held in a single match from the quarterfinals to the finals. The quarterfinals and finals will be held from April 16 to 25.

Last season, Gwangju FC, led by current Suwon Samsung coach Lee Jung-hyo, reached the quarterfinals and headed to Saudi Arabia, but was eliminated after losing to Al-Hilal (Saudi). Gwangju's quarterfinals are the K-League's best performance since last season, when the AFC Champions League was first reorganized into ACLE and ACL2.

* East Asia region

- Gangwon FC vs. Machida Zelvia (Japan)

- FC Seoul vs. Vissel Kobe (Japan)

- Johor Darlle Takjim (Malaysia) vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan)

- Melbourne City (Australia) vs Buriram United (Thailand)

* West Asia region

- Al-Sad (Qatar) vs Al-Hilal (Saudi)

- Alduhail (Qatar) vs Al-Ahli (Saudi)

- Al-Shabab Al-Ahli (UAE) vs Traktor (Iran)

- Al-Wahda (UAE) vs RITHAD (Saudi)

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*This content was translated by AI.