2002–03 AFC Champions League
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 13 August – 27 November 2002 (qualifying rounds) 9 March – 11 October 2003 (group & final stages) |
| Teams | 16 (group stage) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | |
| Runners-up | |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 30 |
| Goals scored | 104 (3.47 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | (9 goals) |
| Best player(s) | |
← 2001–02 (Asian Club Championship) 2004 → | |
The 2002–03 AFC Champions League was the twenty-second edition of Asia's premier football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and the first edition under the AFC Champions League title.
Sixteen teams competed in this edition as they went through qualifying before going into four groups of four with only the winner of the group qualifying to the knockout-stage which went to two-legs instead of the single leg that the previous year competition had.
Teams
Qualification Round
First qualifying round
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Region | ||||
| Al-Wehdat | 3–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | |
| Al Ansar | w/o1 | — | — | |
| Al Aqsa | w/o2 | — | — | |
| Busaiteen | Bye | N/A | — | — |
| Al Kuwait | Bye | N/A | — | — |
| Köpetdag Aşgabat | Bye | N/A | — | — |
| Riffa | Bye | N/A | — | — |
| Al Ittihad | Bye | N/A | — | — |
1. Al Nasr withdrew
2. Al Aqsa withdrew
Second qualifying round
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Region | ||||
| Al-Ansar | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | |
| Pakhtakor | 4–3 | 3–0 | 1–3 | |
| Al Ahli | 3–3 (a) | 2–0 | 1–3 | |
| Zhashtyk | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–2 | |
| Köpetdag Aşgabat | w/o1 | — | — | |
| Busaiteen | w/o2 | — | — | |
| Al-Quds | w/o2 | — | — | |
| Al-Ittihad | w/o3 | — | — | |
| East Region | ||||
| Saunders SC | 1–7 | 0–2 | 1–5 | |
| Air Force | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | |
| Monte Carlo | Bye | N/A | — | — |
| DPMM | Bye | N/A | — | — |
| Persita Tangerang | Bye | N/A | — | — |
| Petrokimia Putra | Bye | N/A | — | — |
| Churchill Brothers | Bye | N/A | — | — |
| Home United | Bye | N/A | — | — |
1. Köpetdag Aşgabat withdrew citing financial difficulties.
2. AFC did not accept the participation of Busaiteen and Riffa as neither team met sportive qualification criteria.
3. Khujand disqualified following suspension of Tajik FA by FIFA and AFC.
Third qualifying round
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Region | ||||
| Al Ittihad | 1–5 | 1–1 | 0–4 | |
| Al Sadd | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | |
| Esteghlal | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
| Al Ahli | 5–4 | 3–2 | 2–2 | |
| Al-Ahli (San'a') | 1–8 | 1–2 | 0–6 | |
| Al-Ittihad | 4–6 | 4–3 | 0–3 | |
| Al-Jaish | w/o1 | — | — | |
| Al-Quds | w/o2 | — | — | |
| East Region | ||||
| Geylang United FC | 7–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | |
| Petrokimia Putra | 4–6 | 3–1 | 1–5 | |
| South China | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | |
| Persita Tangerang | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | |
| Monte Carlo | 1–8 | 1–5 | 0–3 | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 7–0 | 7–0 | 0–0 | |
| Mohun Bagan | 5–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | |
| Churchill Brothers | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | |
1. Regar-TadAZ disqualified following suspension of Tajik FA by FIFA and AFC.
2. Al-Quds withdrew due to insecure situation in Palestine.
Fourth qualifying round
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Region | ||||
| Al-Jaish | 2–2 (1–4 p) | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Nisa Asgabat | w/o1 | — | — | |
| Pakhtakor | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | |
| Esteghlal | 2–2 (a) | 1–0 | 1–2 | |
| East Region | ||||
| Churchill Brothers | 4–7 | 1–1 | 3–6 | |
| South China | 1–8 | 0–5 | 1–3 | |
| Shanghai Shenhua | 5–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | |
| Daejeon Citizen | 8–1 | 6–0 | 2–1 | |
Group stage

Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 7 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 3 | |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 1 |
(H) Hosts
| Shanghai Shenhua | 1–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Luo Xiao |
(Report) | Han Jung-kook Kim Eun-jung |
| Kashima Antlers | 2–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hirase Fernando |
(Report) | Yongant |
| Kashima Antlers | 3–4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Aoki Fernando Nozawa |
(Report) | Yang Guang Zhang Yuning Martínez |
| Daejeon Citizen | 0–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Kongpraphan Chaiman |
| BEC Tero Sasana | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Thongsukh Chaiman |
(Report) | Martínez |
| Daejeon Citizen | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Papa Oumar |
(Report) |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 7 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 6 | |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 4 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 20 | −19 | 0 |
(H) Hosts
| Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 6–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Park Nam-yeol Kim Dae-eui Kim Do-hoon Drakulić |
(Report) |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Ahn Jung-hwan |
(Report) | Drakulić Kim Dae-eui |
| Osotsapa FC | 1–7 | |
|---|---|---|
| Jankam |
(Report) | Hao Haidong Yan Song Zou Jie Dong Fangzhuo |
| Dalian Shide | 3–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hao Haidong Yan Song |
(Report) | Kim Dae-eui |
| Osotsapa FC | 0–7 | |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Takagi Sawanobori Alex Ahn Jung-hwan Kitajima |
Group C
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 9 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 3 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 |
(H) Hosts
| Esteghlal | 2–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Khatibi Samereh |
(Report) | Abedzadeh Ricardo Abdullah |
| Al-Hilal | 1–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Jumaan |
(Report) | Keita Sergio Ricardo Kamil |
Group D
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 9 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 | −9 | 0 |
(H) Hosts
| Nisa Asgabat | 0–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Hamidullaev Soliev Koshelev |
| Al-Talaba | 3–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Abdulsada Mahmoud |
(Report) |
| Pirozi | 4–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Khanmohammadi YaYa Aslanian |
(Report) | Meredov |
| Pakhtakor | 3–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Krokhmal Goçgulyýew |
(Report) |
Knock-out stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | ||||||||||
| 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
Semi-finals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEC Tero Sasana |
3–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | |
| Al-Ain |
7–6 | 4–2 | 3–4 |
Matches
| BEC Tero Sasana | 3–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Srimaka Fuangprakob Chaiman |
(Report) | Soliev |
| Pakhtakor | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Djeperov |
(Report) |
BEC Tero Sasana won 3–2 on aggregate.
| Al-Ain | 4–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sanogo Omar Yaslam |
(Report) | Hao Haidong Li Yao |
| Dalian Shide | 4–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Wang Peng Janković Hao Haidong |
(Report) | Rodrigo Fabiano Omar Majidi |
Al-Ain won 7–6 on aggregate.
Final
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Ain |
2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
Matches
| Al-Ain | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Jowhar Omar |
| BEC Tero Sasana | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Chaiman |
Al-Ain won 2–1 on aggregate.
Top scorers
Notes
- ^ Matches was postponed from 22 April 2003 to 30 August 2003 due to SARS outbreak in China.