Associations Trophy

The IFCF Associations Trophy is an international club football tournament for national champions and other clubs that are eliminated before the main phase of the Champions League or Challengers Cup. It is thus regarded as the third-tier senior international club competition. The first tournament was held in the 11th cycle.

Format
The Associations Trophy includes champion clubs who did not advance to the main phase of the Champions League or Challengers Cup. Its main phase begins with a group stage of 40 clubs. If necessary to reach this number, qualifying rounds are held to reduce the numbers, or by adding teams who advanced furthest in the Challengers Cup and with the highest club coefficients.

The group stage is a round robin with ten groups of four. The teams finishing in the top two of each group advance to the knockout stage, and are joined in the Round of 32 by twelve clubs who finished third in the group stage of the Challengers Cup.

Historical
For the first two Associations Trophy tournaments, the following teams entered: If qualifying rounds were needed, IFCF Council would decide on byes and a format aimed at including as many national champions in the group stage as possible. In the 1st Associations Trophy, there were less than 64 teams and "lucky losers" from the Challengers Cup fourth qualifying round were randomly drawn to enter the tournament. The group stage consisted of 16 groups of four teams, with group winners and runners-up advancing to the knockout phase.
 * Champions who did not qualify for the group phase of the Champions League or Challengers Cup
 * Losing teams in the Challengers Cup play-off round