Who are East Bengal's opponents in the preliminary stage of AFC Women's Champions League?
The Red and Gold Brigade will face Hong Kong-based Kitchee SC and Cambodian Women's League side Phnom Penh Crown FC in the preliminary stage.
The Anthony Andrews-coached team qualified for the continental tournament's preliminaries by winning the 2024–25 Indian Women's League (IWL).
East Bengal was placed in Pot 1 for the draw, alongside Kaohsiung Attackers FC (Chinese Taipei), Stallion Laguna FC (Philippines), and the College of Asian Scholars (Thailand).
The Kolkata side will travel to Cambodia to play the Preliminary Stage, which will be held in a centralised round-robin format from August 25 to 31, 2025.
Nineteen clubs from across the continent will play the Preliminary Stage, which features five groups – four groups of four teams each, and one group consisting of three clubs.
The five group winners will advance to the Group Stage, where they will join clubs from the top seven AFC Member Associations in the AFC Women's Club Competition Rankings 2024-25 – Melbourne City FC (Australia), Suwon FC Women (Korea Republic), Tokyo Verdy Beleza (Japan), defending champions Wuhan Jiangda Women's FC (China), Ho Chi Minh City Women's FC (Vietnam), Bam Khatoon FC (IR Iran), and a to-be-determined club from the United Arab Emirates.
After the conclusion of the Preliminary Stage, a draw will be conducted in September to determine how the Group Stage will pan out.
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