[3] Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.

The 47 AFC member associations were ranked based on their clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions (their national team's FIFA World Rankings no longer considered).

The draw for the group stage was held on 24 August 2023 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

For each region, teams were seeded into four pots and drawn into the relevant positions within each group, based on their association ranking and their seeding within their association, in consideration of the technical balance between groups.

The East Region team hosted the first leg as pre-determined on a rotation basis.