3Q September 2025 AFC Ranking

the KA Leagues Ranking

3Q 2025 Performance ranking of Asian leagues, based on international club competitions – derived ELO method

September 30, 2025

Club Ranking ↓

Notes
Importance of continental rankings relative to global rankings
The Asian continental rankings (ELO Ranking Asia), solely depict the position of a league or club based on international cups, like the Champions League. These rankings are highly technical in nature. For a more precise evaluation of football strength and quality, you should refer to the KA Football Leagues Global Rating or the KA Football Club Global Rating. Global rankings differ from continental rankings by considering more factors. A global league rating takes into account the level of attractiveness and reputation of a league, as measured by the number of players from that league who feature in top national teams (AIF), regardless of the performance of clubs in international competitions. Furthermore, we consider a nation’s general football reputation, evaluated through national team historical results and the most esteemed individual football awards (NFRI). The global club ranking exhibits a greater disparity from the continental ranking. It considers additionally a club’s standing in domestic league competitions in tandem with the global rating of league. As a result, clubs playing in highly ranked leagues but rarely participating in continental competitions may also feature in the global club rankings, occasionally achieving respectable positions.
ELO AFC – International Matches Leagues & Clubs Performance Rankings
Clubs earn points for match results under the ELO method scheme. Points are determined based on the relative strength of each opponent, with the expected score factor calculated first. A point value is then determined using factors specific to the match, including the match importance, score, and goal difference, which either increase or decrease the base value. Each of the continental rankings covers international matches arranged or recognized by FIFA or the continental federation. For Asia, this includes the Champions League, Champions League Elite, Champions League Two, AFC Cup, AFC Challenge League as well as the FIFA Club World Cup, FIFA Intercontinental Cup, and possibly also other sub-continental or inter-continental competitions, like: AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League, ASEAN Club Championship, the Arab Club Champions Cup, SAFF Club Championship, J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship or Lusail Super Cup, if they appear on the calendar during the season. The full list of games taken into account can be found under this link (tab: Competitions covered by Rankings in the Season).

Depreciation

The classic ELO method assigns points to a base value, either adding or subtracting them. However, this distorts the evaluation of a club when they do not play matches, as its ranking value remains constant. Therefore, in the KA system, we utilise an additional depreciation algorithm in ELO rankings. This algorithm gradually reduces the point value of a club that does not play matches. As a result, such a club after some time acquires a zero or negative value and drops out of the ranking. This can impact the national league’s total score, leading to some countries not being displayed in the ranking table.

Multinational Leagues

Some countries have more than one flag displayed (on desktop screens: the small one in the corner of the bigger). This means that clubs from other countries can participate in the league systems of these countries, although only those countries where foreign clubs are usually present in the first or second division are marked in this way.

Australia / New Zealand

New Zealand club Wellington Phoenix competes in the Australian A-League. New Zealand’s newly formed club Auckland FC starts playing  in the A-League from the 2024/25 season.

Singapore / Japan / Brunei / Malaysia

There have been two non-Singaporean clubs that compete in the Singapore Premier League – Albirex Niigata is a satellite team of the Japanese club of the same name and DPMM of the Brunei. On 26 March 2025, DPMM announced their intention to return to Malaysia Super League after 17 years of absence.

India

Previously I-League was the highest tier league in the Indian football system. The new Indian Super League (ISL), franchise-based league was officially launched on 21 October 2013. Initially AFC was recognising the ISL as a tournament, not a league. The ISL has been granted official recognition by the AFC in 2017, that was meaning there were two collateral top divisions in India from 2017/18. India clubs agreed to work together on league roadmap, according to it, among others, since season 2019-20, the ISL will attain the status of premiere league competition in Indian football and not later then season 2024-25, it will be implemented of a fully promotion and relegation system into the top league, and there will be an abolition of two parallel leagues. Indian Super League become the sole top-tier league in the country from 2022–23 season. I-League has lost the top-tier status, although the champion of the I-League will stand a chance to be promoted to the ISL with no participation fee. The first season of ISL with the new status started to be played from 7 October 2022.

Palestine

Palestine is a member of FIFA & AFC. Due to political reason the football division system is parted into two: the West Bank league system, with the West Bank Premier League, as the top division, and the Gaza Strip system, with the Gaza Strip Premier League as of the highest level division on this territory (presently doesn’t work because of war).

the Ranking Points, RPS and IC3

Ranking points (ELO points) are calculated according to the ELO method. In terms of leagues, these points are derived from the values obtained by clubs. The tables also show values labeled RPS_PIF and IC3. RPS (Relative Point Score) is a value obtained by converting ELO points acquired in a ranking according to the same formula used throughout the KA system. This practice enables the comparison of values from different continental rankings. Each RPS assigned to a certain league is multiplied by PIF (Power Index Federation), which allows for the determination of the KA Football Leagues Global Rating. The Inter-Continental Club Coefficient (IC3) is solely dedicated to clubs and is determined by their continental ranking points, taking into consideration the PIF (Power Index Federation) of the continent, as well as the AIF value. It is a crucial indicator for determining the KA Football Club Global Rating.

Leagues Ranking ↑

the KA Club Ranking

3Q 2025 Performance ranking of Asian clubs, based on international club competitions – ELO method

September 30, 2025

*Australia & Oceania Region (according to rules of the KA System) includes clubs from both AFC and OFC (and it works in the Global Ranking). When you select the Australia & Oceania Region from the drop-down list of regions in the table above, you will potentially see only clubs from AFC countries and territories: Australia, West Papua (Indonesia), Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

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