Hanoi Police avoids Japanese club in AFC Champions League Two

Hanoi Police (CAHN) avoids strong Japanese club Gamba Osaka, to face Tampines Rovers from Singapore in the AFC Champions League Two 2025-2026 round of 16.

In the East region, CAHN advanced to the round of 16 as runners-up of Group E, alongside Ratchaburi FC (Group F, Thailand), Bangkok United (Group G, Thailand), and Pohang Steelers (Group H, South Korea). Excluding Macarthur of Australia from their own group, the Vietnamese representative was set to meet one of three group winners: Gamba Osaka (Group F, Japan), Persib Bandung (Group G, Indonesia), or Tampines Rovers (Group H, Singapore).

Japanese clubs are consistently considered formidable opponents. In the group stage, Gamba Osaka defeated Nam Dinh, a team predominantly using foreign players, with scores of 3-1 and 1-0. While the AFC Champions League Two allows unlimited foreign players, Japanese clubs often limit their use due to the high quality of their domestic players, fostering cohesive team play.

Hanoi Police forward Nguyen Dinh Bac (center) celebrates a goal in the 90th minute during their 2-1 victory over Beijing Guoan (China) on the fifth matchday of Group E in the AFC Champions League Two 2025-2026, at Hang Day Stadium, Hanoi on 27/11. Photo: Hoang Huynh

According to the draw results held this afternoon, 30/12, Gamba Osaka will face Pohang Steelers. Meanwhile, CAHN will play Tampines Rovers, and Ratchaburi and Bangkok United will respectively meet Persib Bandung and Macarthur.

However, the opponent from Singapore is also not an easy challenge for CAHN. Tampines Rovers topped Group H with an undefeated record, including five wins. They secured three wins and one draw against two representatives from stronger footballing nations: South Korean club Pohang and Thai club BG Pathum United.

Tampines Rovers was established in 1945. Currently, like many other Singaporean clubs, the team is closely linked with Japanese football. Assistant coach Kosei Nakamura provides significant support to head coach Noh Rahman. Most of Tampines' foreign players, six in total, also hail from Japan, alongside one player each from Malta, Northern Ireland, and Thailand. Additionally, the squad features several Singaporean national team players such as Jacob Mahler, Faris Ramli, Glenn Kweh, and Shah Shahiran.

Japanese forward Seiga Sumi (number 7) celebrates a goal during a 1-3 loss to Albirex Niigata in the second leg, but won 5-3 on aggregate in the Singapore Cup semi-final, at Tampines Stadium in Singapore on 20/12. Photo: Tampines Rovers

The first leg of the AFC Champions League Two 2025-2026 round of 16 will take place from 10 to 12/2/2026, with the second leg scheduled for 17 to 19/2/2026. These dates coincide with the Lunar New Year (Binh Ngo year).

Furthermore, on 4/2, CAHN will also face Tampines Rovers in matchday 4 of the ASEAN Club Cup 2025-2026 at Hang Day Stadium. After three rounds, Tampines is currently leading Group A with 6 points, two points ahead of CAHN.

The AFC Champions League Two 2025-2026 features 32 teams divided into 8 groups, with 4 groups in the West Asia region and 4 in the East Asia region. Teams play in a home-and-away round-robin format to determine the top two teams from each group for the round of 16. Teams continue to compete regionally until the semi-finals. The final will be contested between representatives from the two regions.

The West Asia region currently includes Al Nassr, featuring superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. In the round of 16, Al Nassr will meet FC Arkadag of Turkmenistan, a team that has won all 82 matches since its establishment in 4/2023. The remaining three fixtures are: Al Zawraa (Iraq) - Al Wasl (UAE), Sepahan (Iran) - Al Ahli (Qatar), Esteghlal (Iran) - Al Hussein (Jordan).