Sydney FC will discover their first AFC Champions League 2 knockout stage opponents at the draw ceremony next Thursday, December 12 at 3pm (local) at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.
The Sky Blues were one of eight teams each from the West and East regions who successfully progressed from the Group Stage, which concluded on Thursday, to seal their Round of 16 berths in the 20th edition of the Continent’s second-tier men’s tournament and keep their hopes of glory alive.
Three sides have reached the Knockout Stage of an AFC club competition for the first time: Al Khaldiya SC of Bahrain, Al Wakrah SC of Qatar and Nam Dinh FC of Vietnam.
The draw, which will chart the pathway to the Final for the contenders, will see the eight teams of each region placed into two pots – Pot 1 for the group winners and Pot 2 for the runners-up – as below:
West
Pot 1: Tractor FC (IRN), Al Taawoun FC (KSA), Sharjah FC (UAE), Shabab Al Ahli (UAE)
Pot 2: Al Wakrah SC (QAT), Al Khaldiya SC (BHR), Al Wehdat (JOR), Al Hussein (JOR)
East
Pot 1: Sanfrecce Hiroshima (JPN), Lion City Sailors FC (SGP), Bangkok United (THA), Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (KOR)
Pot 2: Sydney FC (AUS), Port FC (THA), Nam Dinh SC (VIE), Muangthong United (THA)
Teams from the same group will not be drawn against each other and this group protection principle will be ensured by the draw software, which will also prevent deadlock situations from occurring.
The Round of 16 is scheduled to be played in February 2025, followed by the Quarter-finals in March and Semi-finals in April, before the tournament culminates in a single-leg Final on May 17, 2025.
Follow the latest ACL Two 2024/25 news here and watch the draw ceremony for the Knockout Stage on Thursday, December 12, 2024 at 3pm (GMT+8) here!
