Five-time Bangladesh Premier League champions, Bashundhara Kings, have been placed in Group B of the forthcoming AFC Challenge League, scheduled to take place in October.
Kings will start the third-tier club competition against Oman鈥檚 Al Seeb Club on October 25, then face Lebanon鈥檚 Al Ansar FC and hosts Kuwait Sports Club on October 28 and 31, respectively.
A total of 20 teams, split into five groups鈥攖wo in the East Zone and three in the West Zone鈥攚ill compete in a single round-robin league format during the group stage.
Kings beat Syria's Al-Karamah SC 1-0 in their preliminary round match in Qatar on August 12, to qualify into the group stage from the West Zone.
The three group winners from the group stage, along with the best runner-up overall, will proceed to the quarter-finals from the West Zone.
The two top-place finishers from each group of the East Zone will be other four teams joining the knockout stage.
The quarter-finals and semi-finals, both double-legged ties, are scheduled for March and April 2026 respectively, with the final set for May 9.
West Zone:
Group A: Altyn Asyr聽 of Turkmenistan, Al Shabab Club of Oman, hosts Paro FC of Bhutan and FC Abdysh-Ata of Kyrgyzstan.
Group B: Bashundhara Kings of Bangladesh, Oman鈥檚 Al Seeb Club , Lebanon鈥檚 Al Ansar FC and hosts Kuwait Sports Club.聽
Group C: FC Regar-TadAZ of Tajikistan, Safa FC聽 of Lebanon, Al Arabi SC of Kuwait, and hosts FC Muras United of Kyrgyzstan.
East Zone:
Group D: Manila Digger FC of Philippines hosts Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC of Cambodia, SP Falcons of Mongolia, and Ezra FC of Laos.
Group E: Dewa United FC of Indonesia, Shan United FC of Myanmar, Tainan City FC of Chinese Taipei and Phnom Penh Crown FC of Cambodia.
