AFC Challenge Cup

Not to be confused with AFC Challenge League.
AFC Challenge Cup
Organising bodyAFC
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
Abolished2014; 10 years ago (2014)
RegionAsia
Number of teams8 (final stage)
Related competitionsAFC Solidarity Cup
Last champions Palestine (1st title)
Most successful team(s) North Korea (2 titles)

The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries that were categorised as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme.[1] It was created by former AFC president Mohammed Bin Hammam as the AFC's plan for a continent-wide programme to raise the standards of Asian football.[2] The AFC Challenge Cup was created for teams to experience playing in a continental competition, with the possibility to win an AFC trophy and potentially discover new talents.[3]

The inaugural tournament was hosted by Bangladesh in 2006 and was held biennially. An amendment to men's national team competitions in July 2006, meant that starting with the 2008 and 2010 editions of the AFC Challenge Cup, the winners automatically qualify for the AFC Asian Cup.[4]

In the 2011 and 2015 AFC Asian Cup tournaments, two qualification spots have been allocated to the two most recent AFC Challenge Cup winners. The 2014 tournament was the last edition of this competition, due to the expansion of the Asian Cup to the 24-nations format from the 16-nations one after the 2015 edition.[5][6] In April 2016, due to several associations requesting a new competition to replace the Challenge Cup as they were having problems arranging friendly matches, the AFC created the AFC Solidarity Cup.[7][8]

  1. ^ "Regulations — AFC Challenge Cup" (PDF) (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  2. ^ "Visiona Asian Philosophy". Asian Football Confederation. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  3. ^ "AFC Challenge Cup in 2006 competition information". Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  4. ^ "AFC Competitions Update following meeting of the AFC Executive Committee". Asian Football Confederation. 21 July 2006. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  5. ^ "Revamp of AFC competitions". Asian Football Confederation. 25 January 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014.
  6. ^ "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". Asian Football Confederation. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014.
  7. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". www.the-afc.com. 12 April 2016. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  8. ^ "A tournament remembered: The AFC Challenge Cup". Retrieved 3 September 2022.