2015 AFC Cup

2015 AFC Cup

Tournament details
Dates	9 February – 31 October 2015
Teams	41 (from 23 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	88
Goals scored	235 (2.67 per match)
Attendance	327,273 (3,719 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Riste Naumov Dickson Nwakaeme (6 goals each)

The 2015 AFC Cup is the 12th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).^[1] Al-Qadsia are the defending champions.

Association team allocation

The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014,^[2] which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014.^[3] The member associations are ranked based on their national team's and clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions, with the allocation of slots for the 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2014 rankings:^[4]

• The top 24 member associations (MAs) as per the AFC rankings which do not receive direct slots in the AFC Champions League are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup group stage (including losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off).
• The MAs ranked 25 to 32 are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup group stage, and the associations ranked 33 to 47 are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup qualifying play-off (including those of "emerging countries" which participated in the AFC President's Cup, whose last edition was in 2014).

The AFC Competitions Committee decided on the participation of member associations in the 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC Cup on 28 November 2014.^[5][6][7]

Participation for 2015 AFC Cup[6]
	Participating
	Not participating

West Asia Zone Rank Member Association Points[4] Slots ACL Play-off Group stage Play-off Zone All Play-off round Prelim. round 6 10 Iraq[A] 47.106 0 2 0 0 7 11 Kuwait 45.225 1 1 0 0 8 12 Jordan 44.309 1 1 0 0 9 14 Oman 30.586 1 0 1 0 10 16 Bahrain 25.547 1 0 1 0 11 17 Lebanon[B] 25.488 0 1 1 0 12 19 Syria[B] 22.883 0 1 1 0 13 25 Palestine 15.911 0 1 0 1 14 28 Tajikistan 11.761 0 1 0 1 15 29 Afghanistan[C] 11.464 0 0 0 0 16 30 Turkmenistan[D] 10.554 0 0 0 2 17 32 Kyrgyzstan[E] 8.761 0 0 0 1 18 35 Yemen[E] 5.249 0 0 0 1 19 36 Sri Lanka 4.071 0 0 0 0 20 37 Bangladesh[F] 3.643 0 0 0 1 21 38 Nepal[F] 3.268 0 0 0 1 22 39 Pakistan 2.732 0 0 0 0 23 46 Bhutan 0.000 0 0 0 0 Total 4 8 4 8 12

East Asia Zone Rank Member Association Points[4] Slots ACL Play-off Group stage Play-off Zone All Play-off round 7 18 Indonesia 25.004 1 1 0 8 20 Hong Kong 20.077 1 1 0 9 21 Myanmar[G] 18.282 1 1 0 10 22 Malaysia[H] 18.153 1 1 0 11 23 India[H] 16.756 1 1 0 12 24 Singapore[H] 16.097 1 1 0 13 26 Maldives 15.884 0 1 1 14 27 Philippines 12.268 0 1 1 15 31 North Korea[I] 9.000 0 0 0 16 33 Laos[J] 7.554 0 1 0 17 34 Guam 5.946 0 0 0 18 39 East Timor 2.732 0 0 0 19 41 Macau 2.625 0 0 0 20 42 Cambodia 2.464 0 0 0 21 43 Chinese Taipei 2.089 0 0 0 22 44 Mongolia 1.554 0 0 0 23 45 Brunei 0.804 0 0 0 Total 6 9 2

Notes

Teams

The following 41 teams from 23 associations entered the competition.^[8]

Teams in italics played in the 2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off, but failed to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage (had they advanced to the AFC Champions League group stage, they would have been replaced by another team from the same association).

West Asia Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups A–D) Al-Shorta 2013–14 Iraqi Premier League champions 2nd 2014 Erbil 2013–14 Iraqi Premier League runners-up 6th 2014 Al-Qadsia 2013–14 Kuwaiti Premier League champions 6th 2014 Al-Kuwait 2013–14 Kuwait Emir Cup winners 7th 2014 Al-Wehdat 2013–14 Jordan League champions 2013–14 Jordan FA Cup winners 8th 2012 Al-Jazeera 2013–14 Jordan League 3rd place[Note JOR] 1st none Al-Nahda 2013–14 Oman Professional League champions 3rd 2010 Riffa 2013–14 Bahrain First Division League champions 3rd 2014 Al-Nejmeh 2013–14 Lebanese Premier League champions 7th 2014 Al-Wahda 2013–14 Syrian Premier League champions 4th 2014 Taraji Wadi Al-Nes 2013–14 West Bank Premier League champions 1st none Istiklol 2014 Tajik League champions 2014 Tajik Cup winners 1st none Qualifying play-off participants Entering in play-off round Fanja 2013–14 Sultan Qaboos Cup winners 3rd 2014 Al-Hidd 2013–14 Bahrain First Division League 3rd place[Note BHR] 2nd 2014 Salam Zgharta 2013–14 Lebanese FA Cup winners 1st none Al-Jaish 2014 Syrian Cup winners 5th 2014 Entering in preliminary round Hilal Al-Quds 2013–14 Palestine Cup winners 1st none Khayr Vahdat 2014 Tajik League runners-up 1st none Altyn Asyr 2014 Ýokary Liga champions 1st none Ahal 2014 Turkmenistan Cup winners 1st none Dordoi 2014 Kyrgyzstan League champions 1st none Al-Saqr 2013–14 Yemeni League champions 3rd 2011 Sheikh Russel 2014 AFC President's Cup group stage winners 1st none Manang Marshyangdi Club 2014 AFC President's Cup group stage winners 1st none

East Asia Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups E–H) Persib Bandung 2014 Indonesia Super League champions 1st none Persipura Jayapura 2014 Indonesia Super League runners-up[Note IDN] 3rd 2014 Kitchee 2013–14 Hong Kong First Division League champions 5th 2014 South China 2013–14 Hong Kong Season Play-off winners 6th 2014 Yadanarbon 2014 Myanmar National League champions 1st none Ayeyawady United 2014 MFF Cup winners 3rd 2013 Johor Darul Ta'zim 2014 Malaysia Super League champions 2nd 2009 Pahang 2014 Malaysia FA Cup winners 3rd 2007 Bengaluru FC 2013–14 I-League champions 1st none East Bengal 2013–14 I-League runners-up[Note IND] 8th 2013 Warriors 2014 S.League champions 4th 2013 Balestier Khalsa 2014 Singapore Cup winners 1st none New Radiant 2014 Dhivehi League champions 7th 2014 Global 2014 UFL Division 1 champions[Note PHI] 1st none Lao Toyota FC 2014 Lao League runners-up 1st none Qualifying play-off participants Entering in play-off round Maziya 2014 Maldives FA Cup winners 3rd 2014 Ceres 2014 UFL FA League Cup winners[Note PHI] 1st none

Notes

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws held at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).^[14]

Stage	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Preliminary stage	Preliminary round	No draw	9–10 February 2015
Play-off stage	Play-off round		17 February 2015
Group stage	Matchday 1	11 December 2014[15]	24–25 February 2015
	Matchday 2		10–11 March 2015
	Matchday 3		17–18 March 2015
	Matchday 4		14–15 April 2015
	Matchday 5		28–29 April 2015
	Matchday 6		12–13 May 2015
Knock-out stage	Round of 16		26–27 May 2015
	Quarter-finals	TBC	25–26 August 2015	15–16 September 2015
	Semi-finals		29–30 September 2015	20–21 October 2015
	Final		31 October 2015

Qualifying play-off

The bracket for the qualifying play-off, which consisted of two rounds (preliminary round and play-off round), was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team.^[16] Each tie was played as a single match, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary. The winners of each tie in the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 27 automatic qualifiers.^[1]

Preliminary round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Asia Zone
Ahal	1–0	Dordoi
Altyn Asyr	0–1	Al-Saqr
Khayr Vahdat	1–0	Sheikh Russel
Hilal Al-Quds	w/o[K]	Manang Marshyangdi Club

Notes

Play-off round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Asia Zone
Fanja	2–3	Ahal
Al-Hidd	2–1	Al-Saqr
Salam Zgharta	3–0	Khayr Vahdat
Al-Jaish	0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Hilal Al-Quds
East Asia Zone
Maziya	1–0	Ceres

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 11 December 2014.^[16] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group. Each group is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advance to the round of 16.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:^[1]

1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
4. Greater number of away goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
5. If, after applying criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 apply;
6. Goal difference in all the group matches;
7. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
8. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
9. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
10. Team who belongs to the member association with the higher AFC ranking.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		WEH	WAH	NAH	SAZ
1	Al-Wehdat	5	3	1	1	12	3	+9	10	Advance to knock-out stage		—	0–1	12 May	5–1
2	Al-Wahda	5	2	2	1	5	3	+2	8			1–1	—	1–2	12 May
3	Al-Nahda	5	2	1	2	7	7	0	7			0–3	0–0	—	4–1
4	Salam Zgharta (E)	5	1	0	4	4	15	−11	3			0–3	0–2	2–1	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JAZ	SHO	TWN	HID
1	Al-Jazeera (Q)	5	2	3	0	6	3	+3	9	Advance to knock-out stage		—	1–1	2–0	1–0
2	Al-Shorta	5	1	3	1	10	7	+3	6			12 May	—	6–2	2–2
3	Taraji Wadi Al-Nes	5	1	2	2	5	10	−5	5			1–1	1–0	—	12 May
4	Al-Hidd	5	0	4	1	5	6	−1	4			1–1	1–1	1–1	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		QAD	IST	AHA	ERB
1	Al-Qadsia (Q)	5	3	1	1	6	4	+2	10	Advance to knock-out stage		—	2–2	2–0	13 May
2	Istiklol	5	2	2	1	7	6	+1	8			2–0	—	13 May	1–3
3	Ahal	5	2	0	3	6	8	−2	6			0–1	1–2	—	2–1
4	Erbil (E)	5	1	1	3	6	7	−1	4			0–1	0–0	2–3	—

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JAI	KUW	RIF	NEJ
1	Al-Jaish (Q)	5	3	2	0	4	1	+3	11	Advance to knock-out stage		—	0–0	1–1	1–0
2	Al-Kuwait (Q)	5	3	1	1	8	4	+4	10			0–1	—	2–1	4–1
3	Riffa (E)	5	1	2	2	5	6	−1	5			0–1	13 May	—	2–1
4	Al-Nejmeh (E)	5	0	1	4	4	10	−6	1			13 May	1–2	1–1	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PSJ	BEN	MAZ	WAR
1	Persipura Jayapura (Q)	5	4	1	0	14	3	+11	13	Advance to knock-out stage		—	3–1	0–0	6–0
2	Bengaluru FC (Q)	5	4	0	1	7	5	+2	12			12 May	—	2–1	1–0
3	Maziya (E)	5	1	1	3	5	6	−1	4			1–2	1–2	—	2–0
4	Warriors (E)	5	0	0	5	1	13	−12	0			1–3	0–1	12 May	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JDT	KIT	EBE	BAL
1	Johor Darul Ta'zim (Q)	5	4	0	1	8	3	+5	12	Advance to knock-out stage		—	2–0	4–1	12 May
2	Kitchee (Q)	5	3	1	1	8	4	+4	10			2–0	—	12 May	3–0
3	East Bengal (E)	5	1	1	3	6	8	−2	4			0–1	1–1	—	3–0
4	Balestier Khalsa (E)	5	1	0	4	3	10	−7	3			0–1	1–2	2–1	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SCA	PAH	GLO	YAD
1	South China (Q)	5	5	0	0	16	3	+13	15	Advance to knock-out stage		—	3–1	3–0	3–1
2	Pahang	5	2	1	2	11	10	+1	7			0–1	—	0–0	7–4
3	Global	5	1	1	3	5	12	−7	4			1–6	13 May	—	4–1
4	Yadanarbon (E)	5	1	0	4	10	17	−7	3			13 May	2–3	2–0	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PSB	AYE	NRA	LAO
1	Persib Bandung (Q)	5	3	2	0	7	2	+5	11	Advance to knock-out stage		—	13 May	4–1	1–0
2	Ayeyawady United (Q)	5	2	3	0	10	6	+4	9			1–1	—	0–0	4–3
3	New Radiant (E)	5	1	1	3	3	9	−6	4			0–1	0–3	—	2–1
4	Lao Toyota FC (E)	5	0	2	3	6	9	−3	2			0–0	2–2	13 May	—

Knock-out stage

In the knock-out stage, the 16 teams play a single-elimination tournament. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, while in the round of 16 and final, each tie is played as a single match. The away goals rule (for two-legged ties), extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.^[1]

Qualified teams

Zone	Group	Winners	Runners-up	Qualified (Position TBD)
West Asia Zone (Groups A–D)	A
	B			Al-Jazeera
	C			Al-Qadsia
	D			Al-Jaish Al-Kuwait
East Asia Zone (Groups E–H)	E			Persipura Jayapura Bengaluru FC
	F			Johor Darul Ta'zim Kitchee
	G	South China
	H			Persib Bandung Ayeyawady United

Round of 16

In the round of 16, the winners of one group play the runners-up of another group in the same zone, with the group winners hosting the match.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Asia Zone
Winner Group A	26 May	Runner-up Group C
Winner Group C	26 May	Runner-up Group A
Winner Group B	27 May	Runner-up Group D
Winner Group D	27 May	Runner-up Group B
East Asia Zone
Winner Group E	26 May	Runner-up Group G
South China	26 May	Runner-up Group E
Winner Group F	27 May	Runner-up Group H
Winner Group H	27 May	Runner-up Group F

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals will be held after the round of 16 is completed. Teams from different zones can be drawn into the same tie, and the "country protection" rule is applied, so teams from the same association cannot be drawn into the same tie.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
TBD	QF1	TBD	25 Aug	15 Sep
TBD	QF2	TBD	25 Aug	15 Sep
TBD	QF3	TBD	26 Aug	16 Sep
TBD	QF4	TBD	26 Aug	16 Sep

Semi-finals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Winner QF1	SF1	Winner QF2	29 Sep	20 Oct
Winner QF3	SF2	Winner QF4	30 Sep	21 Oct

Final

The draw to decide the host team of the final will be held after the quarter-final draw.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Winner SF1/SF2	31 Oct	Winner SF1/SF2

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	2R	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F	Total
1	Riste Naumov	Ayeyawady United	2		2		2								6
	Dickson Nwakaeme	Pahang	1			2	3								6
3	Juan Belencoso	Kitchee		1	1		2								4
	Edison Fonseca	Ayeyawady United		1	1		2								4
	Daniel McBreen	South China	2	1			1								4
	Boaz Solossa	Persipura Jayapura	1		1		2								4
7	Bader Al-Mutawa	Al-Qadsia			2		1								3
	Mahama Awal	South China	2	1											3
	Sunil Chhetri	Bengaluru FC	1				2								3
	Djedje Maximin Djawa	Yadanarbon	1		1		1								3
	Ian Kabes	Persipura Jayapura		1			2								3
	Lo Kong Wai	South China	1	1		1									3
	Ranti Martins	East Bengal	1	1		1									3
	Atep Rizal	Persib Bandung	1	1	1										3
	Ely Cheikh Voullany	Al-Nahda	1			2									3
	Mahmoud Za'tara	Al-Wehdat	2	1											3

Note: Goals scored in qualifying play-off not counted when determining top scorer (see regulations, Article 77.4).^[1]

Source: the-AFC.com^[18]

See also

• 2015 AFC Champions League

References

External links

• AFC Cup, the-AFC.com

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