Australia currently sits 22nd in the AFC club competitions rankings with the likes of Bangladesh and Turkmenistan now above them.
After A-League clubs withdrew from the Asian Champions League (ACL) this year due to COVID-19, Australia's points tally calculated across the past four years has stagnated significantly.
That's allowed other Asian nations to leapfrog Australia and in the process has seen the country currently hold just one automatic spot in the ACL for 2023 with two places in the AFC Cup looming as consolation that year.
Current A-League champions Melbourne City have already qualified for the 2022 ACL competition, while Sydney FC and the winner of the 2021 FFA Cup have a spot in the play-offs.
Australian clubs have struggled in Asia for several years with Western Sydney Wanderers' 2014 triumph the country's only success to date.
In 2020, Sydney FC and Perth Glory won just one of their combined 12 games in the competition with both clubs finishing bottom of their groups.
Australia's drop in the AFC rankings means clubs will likely have to embrace the AFC Cup in 2023 - Asia's equivalent of the Europa League.
While not as lucrative as the ACL, the winner of the 2021 competition stands to pocket $1.5 million in prize money with $750,000 also handed out to the runner-up.
The AFC Cup has been running since 2004 with Kuwaiti clubs winning the title a record four times with Lebanese side Al-Ahed the current champions.
Australian striker Daniel McBreen finished joint top-scorer in the competition in 2015 while he was lining up for South China.
In June this year, Football Australia confirmed that Sydney FC, Melbourne City and Brisbane Roar had pulled out of the 2021 ACL with COVID-19 and fixturing conflicts forcing the decision.