The draw for the group stage of the 2026/27 AFC Champions League Two was held at the Asian Football Confederation House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during which the Turkmen club “Arkadag” learned the identity of its opponents.
According to the draw, the reigning three-time champions of Turkmenistan, “Arkadag,” were placed in Group B together with “Al Jazira” (United Arab Emirates), “Gol Gohar Sirjan” (Iran) and “Al-Muharraq” (Bahrain).
According to the tournament regulations, the allocation of participants into the pots was based on the AFC club ranking, which resulted in the Turkmen club being placed in the fourth pot. At the same time, clubs from the same country could not be drawn into the same group.
As a result, “Arkadag” received one club from each of the first three pots as group opponents: “Al Jazira” from the first, “Gol Gohar Sirjan” from the second, and “Al-Muharraq” from the third.
“Arkadag’s” upcoming opponents are fairly well-known clubs.
The Emirati club “Al Jazira” from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, was founded on March 19, 1974, through the merger of the “Al-Khalidiya” and “Al-Batin” clubs.
The club plays its home matches at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, which has a capacity of 42,000 spectators. It has become the national champion three times and has won the UAE Super Cup once. At the end of last season, it finished fourth among 14 teams in the UAE Pro League.
The Iranian “Gol Gohar Sirjan” FC from the city of Sirjan in Kerman Province was founded in 1997. The team plays in the top division of the Iranian championship and represents a major mining company. It plays its home matches at Imam Ali Stadium, which has a capacity of about 8,000 spectators. The club is sponsored by the Golgohar industrial group.
In addition to football, the sports club also develops other disciplines, including volleyball, wrestling and basketball.
After two rounds of the Iranian Pro League season 2026/2027, which began on August 14, “Gol Gohar Sirjan” have 4 points and occupy fourth place.
“Arkadag’s” third opponent, “Al-Muharraq,” is one of Bahrain’s oldest and most successful football clubs. It was founded 98 years ago, in 1928. Over this period, the team has won numerous domestic and regional titles, including 36 in the Bahrain Premier League and one in the Gulf Champions League.
In addition, “Al-Muharraq” won the AFC Cup, Asia’s second-most prestigious club trophy, twice, in 2008 and 2021.
The upcoming group stage of the second-most prestigious competition will be the tournament’s 22nd edition under the auspices of the AFC. Thirty-two clubs from 23 countries will play in the group stage. Among them are five former winners (Jordan’s “Al-Faisaly,” Bahrain’s “Al-Muharraq,” Oman’s “Al-Seeb,” Kuwait’s “Al Kuwait” and Uzbekistan’s “Nasaf”), as well as newcomers to the Asian cups (Iran’s “Gol Gohar Sirjan” and Malaysia’s “Kuching City”).
The participants in the AFC Champions League Two group stage are divided geographically into two zones – West and East.
West Zone
Group A: “Al Wahda” (UAE), “Nasaf” (Uzbekistan), “Al Kuwait” (Kuwait), “Al Khaldiya” (Bahrain).
Group B: “Al Jazira” (UAE), “Gol Gohar Sirjan” (Iran), “Al-Muharraq” (Bahrain), “Arkadag” (Turkmenistan).
Group C: “Al-Taawoun” (Saudi Arabia), “Al-Rayyan” (Qatar), “Al-Faisaly” (Jordan), “Al-Nahda” (Oman).
Group D: “Al-Hussein” (Jordan), “Al-Shorta” (Iraq), “Al-Seeb” (Oman), “East Bengal” (India).
East Zone
Group E: FC “Seoul” (Republic of Korea), “Melbourne Victory” (Australia), “The Cong-Viettel” (Vietnam), “Persib Bandung” (Indonesia) or “Manila Digger” (Philippines).
Group F: “Adelaide United” (Australia), “BG Pathum United” (Thailand), “Lion City Sailors” (Singapore), “Tai Po” (Hong Kong).
Group G: “Machida Zelvia” (Japan), “Shanghai Shenhua” (China), “Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng” (Cambodia), “Tampines Rovers” (Singapore).
Group H: “Gangwon” (Republic of Korea), “Kuching City” (Malaysia), “Kitchee” (Hong Kong), “Phnom Penh Crown” (Cambodia).
The AFC Champions League Two group-stage matches will be played from September 15 to December 9. At this stage of the tournament, participants will play three matches at home and three away, facing each group opponent twice. The top two teams from each group will advance to the round of 16.
The round-of-16 matches will be played from February 9 to 18, 2027. The quarter-finals will take place from March 2 to 18, the semi-finals from April 6 to 14, and the final on May 15, 2026.
The winner will receive a direct ticket to the preliminary stage of the AFC Champions League Elite for the following season.
It should be recalled that football club “Arkadag” reached the group stage of the 2026/27 AFC Champions League Two by confidently defeating India’s “Goa” 3:0 in the preliminary-round match.
Last season, Vladimir Bayramov’s charges successfully overcame the group stage of the AFC Champions League Two and reached the play-off stage, where they lost twice to Saudi Arabia’s “Al-Nassr” by the same score of 0:1 in the round of 16.
