2021 AFC Champions League final

2021 AFC Champions League final
	The King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh hosted the final
Event	2021 AFC Champions League
Date	23 November 2021
Venue	King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh
Man of the Match	Moussa Marega (Al-Hilal)
Referee	Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)
Attendance	50,171
Weather	Clear; 25 °C (77 °F); 47% humidity
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The 2021 AFC Champions League final was the final of the 2021 AFC Champions League, the 40th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 19th under the AFC Champions League title.

The final was contested as a single match between Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia and Pohang Steelers from South Korea. Prior to the match, both teams were joint most successful teams in the AFC Champions League, with three titles each. Al-Hilal won the match 2–0 and clinched their fourth title, becoming the outright most successful team in the history of the competition.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] As Asian champions, they also qualified for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Teams

In the following table, the finals until 2002 were in the Asian Club Championship era, and since 2003 in the AFC Champions League era.

Team	Region	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Al-Hilal	West Region (Zone: WAFF)	7 (1986,^[A] 1987,^[B] 1991, 2000, 2014, 2017, 2019)
Pohang Steelers	East Region (Zone: EAFF)	3 (1997, 1998, 2009)

Notes

^
The 1986 final was played in a four-team round-robin format, with Al-Hilal finishing as runners-up.
^
Al-Hilal were unable to participate in the 1987 final and were declared runners-up.

Venue

On 20 October 2021, the AFC announced that Mrsool Park would host the final. It was later changed to King Fahd International Stadium, also in Riyadh.^[6]^[7]

Road to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away; *: played in centralized group locations).

Al-Hilal

Round

Pohang Steelers

Opponent

Result

Group stage

Opponent

Result

AGMK

2–2*

Matchday 1

Ratchaburi Mitr Phol

2–0*

Shabab Al-Ahli

2–0*

Matchday 2

Nagoya Grampus

0–3*

Istiklol

3–1*

Matchday 3

Johor Darul Ta'zim

4–1*

Istiklol

1–4*

Matchday 4

Johor Darul Ta'zim

2–0*

AGMK

3–0*

Matchday 5

Ratchaburi Mitr Phol

0–0*

Shabab Al-Ahli

0–2*

Matchday 6

Nagoya Grampus

1–1*

Group A runners-up

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Istiklol	6	10
2	Al-Hilal (H)	6	10
3	Shabab Al-Ahli	6	7
4	AGMK	6	7

Source: AFC
(H) Hosts

Final standings

Group G runners-up

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Nagoya Grampus	6	16
2	Pohang Steelers	6	11
3	Johor Darul Ta'zim	6	4
4	Ratchaburi Mitr Phol (H)	6	2

Source: AFC
(H) Hosts

Opponent

Result

Knockout stage

Opponent

Result

Esteghlal

2–0 (A)

Round of 16

Cerezo Osaka

1–0 (A)

Persepolis

3–0 (H)

Quarter-finals

Nagoya Grampus

3–0 (H)

Al-Nassr

2–1 (A)

Semi-finals

Ulsan Hyundai

1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) (A)

Format

The final was played as a single match. If tied after regulation time, extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out would have been used to decide the winning team.^[8]

Match

23 November 2021

19:00 UTC+3

Al-Hilal	2–0	Pohang Steelers
N. Al-Dawsari 1' Marega 63'	Live Report Stats Report

King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh

Attendance: 50,171

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

Al-Hilal

Pohang Steelers


GK	1	Abdullah Al-Mayouf
RB	2	Mohammed Al-Breik
CB	20	Jang Hyun-soo
CB	32	Muteb Al-Mufarrij
LB	16	Nasser Al-Dawsari
CM	7	Salman Al-Faraj (c)
CM	28	Mohamed Kanno	83'	90+4'
RW	17	Moussa Marega	26'
AM	15	Matheus Pereira	84'
LW	29	Salem Al-Dawsari
CF	18	Bafétimbi Gomis		85'
Substitutes:
GK	31	Habib Al-Wotayan
GK	33	Abdullah Al-Jadaani
DF	12	Yasser Al-Shahrani		85'
DF	23	Madallah Al-Olayan
DF	70	Mohammed Jahfali		90+4'
MF	43	Musab Al-Juwayr
MF	56	Mohammed Al-Qahtani
MF	88	Hamad Al-Yami
FW	11	Saleh Al-Shehri
FW	14	Abdullah Al-Hamdan
Manager:
Leonardo Jardim


GK	21	Lee Jun
RB	32	Park Seung-wook
CB	13	Gwon Wan-gyu	42'
CB	2	Alex Grant	20'
LB	10	Kang Sang-woo (c)
CM	17	Shin Kwang-hoon
CM	57	Lee Soo-bin		46'
RW	8	Mario Kvesić		46'
AM	6	Sin Jin-ho
LW	77	Lim Sang-hyub	67'
CF	82	Manuel Palacios
Substitutes:
GK	41	Cho Sung-hoon
DF	3	Lee Kwang-jun
DF	4	Jeon Min-gwang	53'	46'
DF	30	Kim Ryun-seong
MF	14	Oh Beom-seok
MF	37	Kim Ho-nam
MF	38	Kim Jin-hyun
MF	79	Go Young-joon		46'	81'
FW	20	Lee Ho-jae		81'
FW	25	Kim Seong-ju
Manager:
Kim Gi-dong

Man of the Match:
Moussa Marega (Al-Hilal)

Assistant referees:^[1]
Mohamed Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)
Hasan Al-Mahri (United Arab Emirates)
Fourth official:^[1]
Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)
Video assistant referee:^[1]
Ammar Al-Jeneibi (United Arab Emirates)
Assistant video assistant referees:^[1]
Omar Mohamed Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)
Hanna Hattab (Syria)

Match rules^[8]

90 minutes.
30 minutes of extra time if tied.
Penalty shoot-out if still tied after extra time.
Ten named substitutes, of which up to five may be used, with a sixth allowed in extra time.^{[note 1]}

Notes

^ Each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "طاقم دولي إماراتي يُدير نهائي دوري أبطال آسيا 2021" (in Arabic). UAE Football Confederation. 29 October 2021.
^ Tan, Gabriel (22 November 2021). "Al Hilal, Pohang Steelers face off in ACL final gunning for record fourth crown". ESPN. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
^ Church, Michael (21 November 2021). "Al Hilal and Pohang to face off with Asian record on the line". Reuters. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
^ "Al Hilal, Pohang set up Riyadh decider". FIFA. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
^ Duerden, John (23 November 2021). "Al-Hilal win AFC Champions League with 2–0 victory over Pohang Steelers". Arab News PK. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
^ "Saudi Arabia to host 2021 AFC Champions League final". ESPN. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
^ Jabir, Wael (15 November 2021). "Historic King Fahd International Stadium set for major upgrade as Saudi Arabia bids for 2027 AFC Asian Cup". Arab News. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
^ ^a ^b "AFC Champions League 2021 Competition Regulations" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation.

External links

AFC Champions League, the-AFC.com

[cnote_A] 
The 1986 final was played in a four-team round-robin format, with Al-Hilal finishing as runners-up.

[cnote_B] 
Al-Hilal were unable to participate in the 1987 final and were declared runners-up.

[9] Each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.

[referee-1] "طاقم دولي إماراتي يُدير نهائي دوري أبطال آسيا 2021" (in Arabic). UAE Football Confederation. 29 October 2021.

[2] Tan, Gabriel (22 November 2021). "Al Hilal, Pohang Steelers face off in ACL final gunning for record fourth crown". ESPN. Retrieved 31 December 2024.

[3] Church, Michael (21 November 2021). "Al Hilal and Pohang to face off with Asian record on the line". Reuters. Retrieved 31 December 2024.

[4] "Al Hilal, Pohang set up Riyadh decider". FIFA. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2024.

[5] Duerden, John (23 November 2021). "Al-Hilal win AFC Champions League with 2–0 victory over Pohang Steelers". Arab News PK. Retrieved 1 January 2025.

[6] "Saudi Arabia to host 2021 AFC Champions League final". ESPN. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2025.

[7] Jabir, Wael (15 November 2021). "Historic King Fahd International Stadium set for major upgrade as Saudi Arabia bids for 2027 AFC Asian Cup". Arab News. Retrieved 1 January 2025.

[regulations-8] "AFC Champions League 2021 Competition Regulations" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[A]

[B]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[note 1]

2021 AFC Champions League final

Teams

Venue

Road to the final

Format

Match

Notes

References

External links

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