The associations are allocated slots according to their club competitions ranking which was published after the 2023–24 competitions were completed.[4]
Participation for 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite
In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count since the 2002–03 season, when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League.
South Korea (KOR):Gimcheon Sangmu, the 2024 K League 1 third place, are a military team and cannot qualify for AFC competitions. Therefore, FC Seoul as the 2024 K League 1 fourth place, qualified for the Qualifying play-off.