East Bengal AFC Champions League Two draw: Date, time, live streaming, where to watch

East Bengal staged a remarkable late comeback to defeat Kuwait’s Al Arabi SC 4-1 in extra time at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on August 12, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI

The group-stage draw for the AFC Champions League Two (ACL 2) 2026-27 takes place on Tuesday, August 18, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, beginning at 2:00 PM local time (11:30 AM IST). The ceremony will be streamed live on the AFC Hub YouTube channel.

What’s at stake

Thirty-two clubs from across Asia’s West and East regions will learn their group-stage opponents in the continent’s second-tier club competition.

The draw follows the preliminary stage, with the West and East regions each producing two additional group-stage qualifiers. In the West, East Bengal FC and FK Arkadag secured their places after beating Al-Arabi SC and FC Goa respectively.

Format

The 32 group-stage teams are divided into the West and East regions, with 16 teams in each. Each region is split into four pots of four teams.

The teams will be drawn into four groups of four within each region and play each other home and away in a round-robin format. Clubs from the same association cannot be drawn into the same group.

Eight groups will be formed in total, with Groups A to D in the West and Groups E to H in the East.

Key dates

Group stage: September 15 to December 9, 2026

Round of 16: February 9 to 18, 2027

Quarterfinals: March 2 to 18, 2027

Semifinals: April 6 to 14, 2027

Final: May 15, 2027

The title winner will seal a spot in the Preliminary Stage of the AFC Champions League Elite 2027/28.

India’s stake

East Bengal FC is India’s sole group-stage representative this season. The Kolkata club, which qualified after winning the 2025-26 Indian Super League, beat Al-Arabi SC of Kuwait 4-1 after extra time in its preliminary-stage tie to book its place in the group stage.

Al-Arabi took the lead through a 75th-minute penalty, but East Bengal equalised through Jay Gupta in the 90th minute before taking control in extra time. Mohammed Rashid, David Lalhlansanga, and Rohit Danu completed the comeback.

East Bengal goes into the draw in Pot 4 of the West region, alongside FK Arkadag of Turkmenistan, Al-Nahda of Oman and Al-Khaldiya of Bahrain.

FC Goa, which lost 3-0 to FK Arkadag in its preliminary-stage tie, drops into the AFC Challenge League group stage.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant will not feature in AFC club competition this season after the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee disqualified the club from the next AFC competition for which it would otherwise qualify, following its withdrawal from the 2025-26 AFC Champions League Two. The exclusion applies through the 2027-28 season.