The 46 AFC member associations (excluding the associate member Northern Mariana Islands) are ranked based on their national team's and clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions. The associations are split into West Zone and East Zone, with 23 associations in each zone.

The AFC Champions League comprises two qualifying rounds, a play-off round, a group stage and four knockout rounds.

In each zone, there are a total of 12 direct slots in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.

The top 12 associations in each zone as per the AFC rankings are eligible to enter the AFC Champions League, as long as they fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria.

The top six associations in each zone get at least one direct slot in the group stage, while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:

The associations ranked 1st and 2nd each get three direct slots and one play-off slot (in play-off round).

The associations ranked 3rd and 4th each get two direct slots and two play-off slots (one in play-off round, one in preliminary round 2).

The associations ranked 5th each get one direct slot and two play-off slots (both in preliminary round 2).

The associations ranked 6th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot (in preliminary round 2).

The associations ranked 7th to 12th each get one play-off slot (in preliminary round 1).

The maximum number of slots for each association is one-third of the total number of clubs in the top division (e.g., Australia can only get a maximum of three total slots as there are only nine Australia-based clubs in the A-League).

In the qualifying play-off, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary. The eight winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 24 direct entrants. All losers in each round which were from associations with only play-off slots entered the AFC Cup group stage.

In the group stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group. Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16.

In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split between the two zones until the final. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.

In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group from the same zone, with the group winners hosting the second leg.

In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Zone were drawn into two ties, and the four teams from the East Zone were drawn into the other two ties, with the order of legs also decided by the draw.

In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Zone play each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Zone play each other, with the order of legs determined by the quarter-final draw.

In the final, the two semi-final winners play each other, with the order of legs reversed from the previous season's final, with the team from the East Zone hosting the first leg, and the team from the West Zone hosting the second leg.