ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ holders Buriram United FC booked their place in the last 16 of the 2025/26 AFC Champions League Elite with a 2-0 win over Chinese outfit Shanghai Shenhua FC, as Johor Darul Ta’zim FC also advanced to the knockout rounds.
The win, which came through goals from Curtis Good and Suphanat Mueanta in the 11th and 22nd minutes respectively, ensured Buriram United finished fourth in the 12-team eastern league phase to set up a two-legged meeting with Melbourne City FC.
“It’s a fantastic achievement from the group,” said Buriram United coach Mark Jackson. “Very proud to achieve that. What enabled that was the togetherness of the team and the understanding to play how we played.
“We wanted to qualify by playing our style of football and game by game, the players are doing that. That really is the key factor in the victory today.”
JDT secured their spot with a 1-0 win against already-qualified Vissel Kobe from Japan and Xisco Muñoz’s side will meet Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the next round as Marcos Guilherme’s 73rd minute goal delivered the three points required for the Malaysian club to qualify.
“It was an amazing performance. This victory is very important for us because it represents another step forward in our journey,” said Muñoz.
“I’m especially happy with how the supporters were tonight – the connection between the fans and the team was something special. They helped us in every moment."
Buriram United will travel to face Melbourne City in the first leg on either March 3 or 4 with JDT hosting Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
The return legs will be played one week later with the winners advancing to the quarter-finals, which will be played as part of the centralised finals series in Jeddah in late April.
Buriram United reached the quarter-finals of last season’s competition, defeating JDT on the way to the last eight before being eliminated by eventual champions Al Ahli FC from Saudi Arabia.
Share now
