The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. It is one of the six continental confederations under FIFA and is responsible for organising international competitions for national teams and clubs within its jurisdiction, including the AFC Asian Cup and AFC Champions League Elite. Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the AFC comprises 47 member associations.
Contents
History
The idea of an Asian Football Confederation was first brought up during the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. On 8 May 1954, the AFC was officially formed at the 1954 Asian Games in Manila, Philippines. The first president was Lo Man-kam of Hong Kong, and the first office was based in Hong Kong. The 13 founding members included Afghanistan, Burma, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, South Vietnam, and Taiwan.
Of the AFC's original 13 member associations, only seven entered the qualifying tournament for the inaugural AFC Asian Cup in 1956. Four teams ultimately qualified for the final tournament, which was held in then-British Hong Kong. The 1956 tournament was the first edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the world's second-oldest continental national-team football competition.
Arab countries entered the Asian Cup qualifiers for the first time in the 1972 AFC Asian Cup qualification, following Israel's withdrawal. Israel was eventually expelled from the AFC in 1974, due to political pressure from Arab and Muslim members that refused to play against Israel.
In 1958, the office relocated from Hong Kong to Malaysia. In 2000, the AFC House was inaugurated as the AFC's headquarters; based in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, the construction cost RM 18 million (US$ 8.18 million).
Women's football
The Asian Ladies Football Confederation (ALFC) was the section of AFC that managed women's association football in Asia. The group was independently founded in April 1968 in a meeting involving Taiwan, British Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. In 1986, ALFC merged with AFC.
Executive committee
On 1 February 2023, the AFC's member associations elected the AFC Executive Committee for the term 2023 to 2027. Including the AFC president, the AFC has seven members on the FIFA Council.
Members
Due to the geographical size of Asia, the AFC is subdivided into five sub-confederations:
ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) – represents countries in Southeast Asia, plus Australia.
Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) – represents countries in Central Asia, comprising Afghanistan, Iran and most of Central Asia, except Kazakhstan.
East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) – represents nations in East Asia, plus Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) – represents countries in South Asia.
West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) – represents countries in West Asia, except Israel.
Competitions
AFC competitions
The AFC organises the AFC Asian Cup and the AFC Women's Asian Cup, both held every four years. It also runs the AFC Futsal Asian Cup, AFC Women's Futsal Asian Cup, and the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup, along with various youth and age-group international football and futsal tournaments. In addition, the AFC oversees the Asian qualifying tournaments for the FIFA World Cup and for football at the Summer Olympics.
The premier men's club competition is the AFC Champions League Elite, which is an amalgamation of the Asian Club Championship, the Asian Cup Winners' Cup, and the Asian Super Cup. It features leading clubs from AFC member associations, with the number of participating teams determined by the ranking of each association, allowing for promotion or relegation of slots based on performance. The top-tier women's club competition is the AFC Women's Champions League, introduced in the 2024–25 season.
The second-tier men's club competition is the AFC Champions League Two, while the third tier is the AFC Challenge League, both of which were restructured and rebranded in 2024.
The AFC also organises the annual AFC Futsal Club Championship, the continent’s premier club futsal competition.
FIFA World Rankings
Major tournament records
Legend
1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
SF – Semi-finals
QF – Quarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present)
R3 — Round 3 (2026–present: knockout round of 16)
R2 — Round 2 (1974–1978: second group stage, top 8; 1982: second group stage, top 12; 1986–2022: knockout round of 16; 2026–present: knockout round of 32)
R1 — Round 1 (1930, 1950–1970 and 1986–present: group stage; 1934–1938: knockout round of 16; 1974–1982: first group stage)
Q — Qualified for upcoming tournament
•• — Qualified but withdrew
• — Did not qualify
× — Did not enter / withdrawn / banned / disqualified
— Hosts
For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.