AFC Champions League Elite:
Tractor avoids Saudi giants, to host Al Sadd in league stage opener
Persian Gulf Pro League champion will host Al Sadd on the first matchday of the upcoming AFC Champions League Elite season – starting with the league stage across the West and East regions on September 15.
The draw for the league phase of the Asian elite clubs’ competition took place at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, where Tractor avoided the Saudi Prwo League heavyweights in the West’s 12-team table.
A second successive home game will see Tractor welcome Iraqi champion Al Shorta on Matchday Two (Sept. 29-Oct.1), before Dragan Skocic’s men visit Dubai to play Shabab Al Ahli, which has three Iranians in Sardar Azmoun, Saeid Ezzatollahi, and Reza Ghandipour in its ranks, in the third round of fixtures on October 20-22.
Tractor will then play PFC Nasaf in Qarshi, Uzbekistan, before returning home to take on Qatar Stars League’s Al Duhail, which defeated Iran’s Sepahan 3-2 at home in the playoffs on Tuesday, for Matchday Five in late November.
A final home game for the northwest Iranian club will come against Emirati outfit Al Wahda, followed by back-to-back trips to the UAE’s Sharjah FC and Al Gharafa of Qatar.
The league stage will conclude in mid-February next year, with the top eight in each of the 12-team tables in the west and east zones progressing to the round of 16 – scheduled for March 2-11, 2026.
This will be followed by a centralized Finals that sees all matches from the quarterfinals onwards being staged in Saudi Arabia between April 17 and 25, 2026.
ACL Two draw
Earlier on Friday, 32 teams were divided into eight groups across the West and East regions in the AFC Champions League Two draw, as Iranian clubs Esteghlal and Sepahan learned their fate at the continent’s second-tier club competition.
Esteghlal, which finished ninth in the Iranian top-flight table last term but still managed to secure Asian club football thanks to a domestic cup title in May, was drawn in Group A alongside Al Wasl – fourth in the Emirati league last season – Jordanian Pro League runner-up Al Wehdat and Bahraini champion Al Muharraq SC.
Meanwhile, Sepahan – runner-up to Tractor in the Iranian league – was pitted against Mohun Bagan Super Giant of India, and Turkmenistan’s Ahal FC, as well as Al Hussein of Jordan – in a repeat of last year’s group encounters – in Group C.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s star-studded Al Nassr headlines Group D – also featuring Al Zawraa of Iraq, Istiklol of Tajikistan, and India’s FC Goa.
The top two in each group will advance to the last 16.
The group stage is scheduled to conclude on December 24 before moving into the round of 16 between February 10-19, 2026. The quarterfinals and semifinals are set for March 3-12 and April 7-15 respectively, with the final showpiece to be staged on May 16, 2026.