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.