2017 AFC Cup

2017 AFC Cup

Tournament details
Dates	Qualifying round: 19–25 August 2016 Competition proper: 30 January – 4 November 2017
Teams	Competition proper: 47 Total: 52 (from 29 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	133
Goals scored	388 (2.92 per match)
Attendance	399,935 (3,007 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Kim Yu-song (9 goals)

The 2017 AFC Cup is the 14th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).^[1]

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya are the defending champions.

Association team allocation

The AFC Competitions Committee recommended a new format for the AFC Cup starting from 2017 which is played in the AFC's five zones: West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, ASEAN, and East Asia, with the winner of the West Asia Zone and the winner of an inter-zone play-off between the other four zones playing in the final, hosted on a rotational basis at venues in the East and West.^[2] The 46 AFC member associations (excluding the associate member Northern Mariana Islands) 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 2017 and 2018 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2016 AFC rankings (Entry Manual Article 2.2):^[3]

• The associations are split into five zones:
  • West Asia Zone consists of the associations from the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF).
  • Central Asia Zone consists of the associations from Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).
  • South Asia Zone consists of the associations from the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).
  • ASEAN Zone consists of the associations from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).
  • East Asia Zone consists of the associations from the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF).
• All associations which do not receive direct slots in the AFC Champions League group stage are eligible to enter the AFC Cup.
• In each zone, the number of groups in the group stage is determined based on the number of entries, with the number of slots filled through play-offs same as the number of groups:
  • In the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone, there are three groups in the group stage, including a total of 9 direct slots, with the 3 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
  • In the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone, there is one group in the group stage, including a total of 3 direct slots, with the 1 remaining slot filled through play-offs.
• The top associations participating in the AFC Cup in each zone as per the AFC rankings get at least one direct slot in the group stage (including losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs), while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:
  • For the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN zone:
    • The associations ranked 1st to 3rd each gets two direct slots.
    • The associations ranked 4th to 6th each gets one direct slot and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 7th or below each gets one play-off slot.
  • For the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia zone:
    • The associations ranked 1st to 3rd each gets one direct slot and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 4th or below each gets one play-off slot.
• The maximum number of slots for each association is one-third of the total number of clubs in the top division.
• If any association gives up its direct slots, they are redistributed to the highest eligible association, with each association limited to a maximum of two direct slots.
• If any association gives up its play-off slots, they are annulled and not redistributed to any other association.
• If the number of teams in the play-offs in any zone is fewer than twice the number of group stage slots filled through play-offs, the play-off teams of the highest eligible associations are given byes to the group stage.

For the 2017 AFC Cup, the associations were allocated slots according to their association ranking published on 30 November 2016,^[4] which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, as well as their national team's FIFA World Rankings, during the period between 2013 and 2016.^[3][5]

The slot allocation was announced on 7 December 2016.^[6] The final slot allocation, after unused slots were redistributed, was announced on 12 December 2016.^[7][8]

Participation for 2017 AFC Cup
	Participating in the competition proper only (qualifying play-offs and/or group stage)
	Participating in both the qualifying round and the competition proper
	Participating in the qualifying round, but not in the competition proper
	Not participating

Notes

Teams

The following 47 teams from 27 associations entered the competition proper.^[7] Only 43 teams competed after the withdrawal of four teams.

Notes

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows (W: West Asia Zone; C: Central Asia Zone; S: South Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone; E: East Asia Zone).^[13] Starting from 2017, matches in the West Asia Zone will be played on Mondays and Tuesdays instead of Tuesdays and Wednesdays.^[14]

Stage	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying stage	Qualifying round	17 June 2016[15]	19–25 August 2016[16]
Preliminary stage	Preliminary round	No draw	31 January 2017 (C, S)	7 February 2017 (C, S)
Play-off stage	Play-off round		30–31 January 2017 (W, A), 21 February 2017 (C, S)	6–7 February 2017 (W, A), 28 February 2017 (C, S)
Group stage	Matchday 1	13 December 2016 (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia)[6]	20–22 February 2017 (W, A), 14 March 2017 (C, S, E)
	Matchday 2		6–8 March 2017 (W, A), 4 April 2017 (C, S, E)
	Matchday 3		13–15 March 2017 (W, A), 18–19 April 2017 (C, S, E)
	Matchday 4		3–5 April 2017 (W, A), 3 May 2017 (C, S, E)
	Matchday 5		17–19 April 2017 (W, A), 17 May 2017 (C, S, E)
	Matchday 6		1–3 May 2017 (W, A), 31 May 2017 (C, S, E)
Knockout stage	Zonal semi-finals		16–17, 22 May 2017 (W, A)	29–31 May 2017 (W, A)
	Zonal finals	6 June 2017 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)[17]	2 August 2017 (A), 12 September 2017 (W)	9 August 2017 (A), 26 September 2017 (W)
	Inter-zone play-off semi-finals		22–23 August 2017	12–13 September 2017
	Inter-zone play-off final		27 September 2017	18 October 2017
	Final		4 November 2017

Qualifying round

The following nine teams from nine associations entered the qualifying round.^[18] Teams were not split into zones for the qualifying round.

In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count all those since the 2004 season (including both competition proper and qualifying rounds).

Association	Team	Qualifying method	App	Last App
Bangladesh	Sheikh Russel	2015 Bangladesh Football Premier League runners-up	2nd	2015
Bhutan	Tertons	2015 Bhutan National League champions	1st	none
Cambodia	Nagaworld	2015 Cambodian League runners-up	1st	none
Chinese Taipei	Tatung	2015–16 Intercity Football League runners-up	1st	none
Guam	Rovers	2015–16 Guam Soccer League champions	1st	none
Kyrgyzstan	Dordoi	2015 Kyrgyzstan League runners-up	2nd	2015
Macau	Benfica de Macau	2016 Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol champions	2nd	2016
Mongolia	Erchim	2015 Mongolian Premier League champions	1st	none
Nepal	Three Star Club	2015 Nepal National League champions	1st	none

The draw for the qualifying round was held on 17 June 2016, 11:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[15] The nine teams were drawn into three groups of three.^[19] In the qualifying round, each group was played on a single round-robin basis at the pre-selected hosts. The winners of each group advanced to the qualifying play-offs.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DOR	BEN	ROV
1	Dordoi (H)	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	6	Qualifying play-offs		—	2–1	—
2	Benfica de Macau	2	1	0	1	5	4	+1	3			—	—	4–2
3	Rovers	2	0	0	2	2	6	−4	0			0–2	—	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TSC	ERC	NAG
1	Three Star Club	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4	Qualifying play-offs[lower-alpha 1]		—	2–0	—
2	Erchim (H)	2	1	0	1	1	2	−1	3			—	—	1–0
3	Nagaworld	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1			1–1	—	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TER	TAT	SHR
1	Tertons (H)	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1	4	Qualifying play-offs[lower-alpha 1]		—	—	4–3
2	Tatung	2	0	2	0	1	1	0	2			0–0	—	—
3	Sheikh Russel	2	0	1	1	4	5	−1	1			—	1–1	—

Qualifying play-offs

In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals would not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 9.3). The five winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 29 direct entrants.^[1] The bracket of the qualifying play-offs was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association in the ASEAN Zone could not be placed into the same play-off.^[8]

Preliminary round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Central Asia Zone
Shaheen Asmayee	0–1	Khosilot	0–1	0–0
Dordoi	3–2	Balkan	1–1	2–1
South Asia Zone
Colombo	2–4	Mohun Bagan	1–2	1–2
Thimphu City	0–3	Club Valencia	0–0	0–3

Play-off round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Asia Zone
Shabab Al-Khalil	3–4	Al-Suwaiq	2–1	1–3
Central Asia Zone
Dordoi	2–1	Khosilot	1–0	1–1
South Asia Zone
Club Valencia	2–5	Mohun Bagan	1–1	1–4
ASEAN Zone
Phnom Penh Crown	3–7	Home United	3–4	0–3
Boeung Ket Angkor	2–1	Lao Toyota	1–1	1–0

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 13 December 2016, 14:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the Hilton Petaling Jaya in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.^[7][21][22] The 36 teams were drawn into nine groups of four: three groups each in the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) and the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H), and one group each in the Central Asia Zone (Group D), the South Asia Zone (Group E), and the East Asia Zone (Group I). Teams from the same association in the West Asia Zone and ASEAN Zone could not be drawn into the same group.^[8]

Due to the withdrawal of teams in the ASEAN Zone and the East Asia Zone after the draw, only 34 teams competed in the group stage, with Groups H and I having only three teams. In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The following teams advanced to the knockout stage:

• The winners of each group and the best runners-up in the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone advanced to the Zonal semi-finals.
• The winners of each group in the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone advanced to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 10.5):[1] Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group; Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points); Team from the higher-ranked association.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZAW	JAI	AHL	SUW
1	Al-Zawraa	6	3	3	0	9	3	+6	12	Zonal semi-finals		—	3–1	1–1	0–0
2	Al-Jaish	6	3	0	3	6	9	−3	9			0–3	—	1–0	1–2
3	Al-Ahli	6	1	3	2	5	5	0	6			1–1	1–2	—	2–1
4	Al-Suwaiq	6	1	2	3	3	5	−2	5			0–1	0–1	0–0	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		QUW	WAH	HID	SAF
1	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	6	3	3	0	6	2	+4	12	Zonal semi-finals		—	1–1	2–1	2–0
2	Al-Wahda	6	3	2	1	10	3	+7	11			0–0	—	0–2	2–0
3	Al-Hidd	6	3	0	3	8	5	+3	9			0–1	0–1	—	3–1
4	Safa	6	0	1	5	1	15	−14	1			0–0	0–6	0–2	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		WEH	MUH	SAH	NEJ
1	Al-Wehdat	6	3	3	0	9	6	+3	12	Zonal semi-finals		—	3–2	2–1	1–0
2	Al-Muharraq	6	3	1	2	9	8	+1	10			1–1	—	1–0	1–0
3	Saham	6	2	1	3	9	9	0	7			1–1	3–2	—	3–1
4	Nejmeh	6	1	1	4	5	9	−4	4			1–1	1–2	2–1	—

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		IST	ALT	DOR	ALA
1	Istiklol	6	5	1	0	15	4	+11	16	Inter-zone play-off semi-finals		—	1–0	2–0	3–1
2	Altyn Asyr	6	4	1	1	12	4	+8	13			1–1	—	3–0	4–1
3	Dordoi	6	1	0	5	6	16	−10	3			1–4	0–2	—	1–0
4	Alay Osh	6	1	0	5	9	18	−9	3			1–4	1–2	5–4	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BFC	MAZ	MOH	DAB
1	Bengaluru FC	6	4	0	2	7	6	+1	12	Inter-zone play-off semi-finals		—	1–0	2–1	2–0
2	Maziya	6	4	0	2	10	4	+6	12			0–1	—	5–2	2–0
3	Mohun Bagan	6	2	1	3	10	11	−1	7			3–1	0–1	—	3–1
4	Dhaka Abahani	6	1	1	4	4	10	−6	4			2–0	0–2	1–1	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GLO	JDT	BKA	MAG
1	Global Cebu	6	5	0	1	13	9	+4	15	Zonal semi-finals		—	3–2	3–1	1−0
2	Johor Darul Ta'zim	6	4	1	1	16	5	+11	13			4–0	—	3–0	3–1
3	Boeung Ket Angkor	6	1	1	4	3	12	−9	4			0–2	0–3	—	1–0
4	Magwe	6	0	2	4	5	11	−6	2			2–4	1–1	1–1	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CER	HAN	TAM	FEL
1	Ceres–Negros	6	3	2	1	16	8	+8	11	Zonal semi-finals		—	6–2	5–0	0–0
2	Hà Nội	6	3	2	1	14	10	+4	11			1–1	—	4–0	4–1
3	Tampines Rovers	6	2	0	4	8	17	−9	6			2–4	1–2	—	2–1
4	Felda United	6	1	2	3	7	10	−3	5			3–0	1–1	1–3	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HOM	TQN	YAD
1	Home United	4	3	0	1	12	8	+4	9	Zonal semi-finals		—	3–2	4–1
2	Than Quảng Ninh	4	1	1	2	10	9	+1	4			4–5	—	1–1
3	Yadanarbon	4	1	1	2	3	8	−5	4			1–0	0–3	—

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		APR	KIG	ERC
1	April 25	4	2	2	0	14	3	+11	8	Inter-zone play-off semi-finals		—	1–1	6–0
2	Kigwancha	4	2	2	0	13	3	+10	8			2–2	—	7–0
3	Erchim	4	0	0	4	0	21	−21	0			0–5	0–3	—

Ranking of second-placed teams

West Asia Zone

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B	Al-Wahda	6	3	2	1	10	3	+7	11	Zonal semi-finals
2	C	Al-Muharraq	6	3	1	2	9	8	+1	10
3	A	Al-Jaish	6	3	0	3	6	9	−3	9

ASEAN Zone

Due to Group H having only three teams, the results against the fourth-placed teams in Groups F and G are not considered for this ranking.

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	F	Johor Darul Ta'zim	4	3	0	1	12	3	+9	9	Zonal semi-finals
2	G	Hà Nội	4	2	1	1	9	8	+1	7
3	H	Than Quảng Ninh	4	1	1	2	10	9	+1	4

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, the 11 teams play a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split into the five zones until the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals. Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, except the final which is played as a single match. The away goals rule (for two-legged ties), extra time (away goals would not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 11.3).^[1]

Bracket

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage, which was held on 6 June 2017, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^{[8][17][23][24]}

	West Asia Zonal semi-finals							West Asia Zonal final (Winner advances to Final)
	Al-Wahda		4	0	4
	Al-Wehdat		1	1	2
								Al-Wahda
								Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya		1	1	2
	Al-Zawraa		1	0	1

	ASEAN Zonal semi-finals							ASEAN Zonal final (Winner advances to Inter-zone play-off semi-finals)
	Global Cebu		2	2	4
	Home United		2	3	5
								Home United		2	0	2
								Ceres–Negros		1	2	3
	Johor Darul Ta'zim		3	1	4
	Ceres–Negros (a)		2	2	4

	Inter-zone play-off semi-finals							Inter-zone play-off final (Winner advances to Final)
	Istiklol
	Ceres–Negros
								Winner IZSF1
								Winner IZSF2
	Bengaluru FC
	April 25

	Final
	Winner IZF
	Winner WF

Zonal semi-finals

In the Zonal semi-finals, the four qualified teams from the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) played in two ties, and the four qualified teams from the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H) played in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs determined by the identity of the best runner-up.^[8]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Asia Zone
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2–1	Al-Zawraa	1–1	1–0
Al-Wahda	4–2	Al-Wehdat	4–1	0–1
ASEAN Zone
Global Cebu	4–5	Home United	2–2	2–3
Johor Darul Ta'zim	4–4 (a)	Ceres–Negros	3–2	1–2

Zonal finals

The draw for the Zonal finals was held on 6 June 2017. In the Zonal finals, the two winners of West Asia Zonal semi-finals play each other, and the two winners of ASEAN Zonal semi-finals play each other, with the order of legs decided by draw.^[17][23][24]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Asia Zone
Al-Wahda	WF	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	12 Sep	26 Sep
ASEAN Zone
Home United	2–3	Ceres–Negros	2–1	0–2

Inter-zone play-off semi-finals

The draw for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals was held on 6 June 2017. In the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals, the four zonal winners other than the West Asia Zone play in two ties, i.e., the winner of the Central Asia Zone (Group D), the winner of the South Asia Zone (Group E), the winner of the East Asia Zone (Group I), and the winner of the ASEAN Zonal final (whose identity is not known at the time of the draw), with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw.^[17][23][24]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Istiklol	IZSF1	Ceres–Negros	22 Aug	12 Sep
Bengaluru FC	IZSF2	April 25	23 Aug	13 Sep

Inter-zone play-off final

In the Inter-zone play-off final, the two winners of the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals play each other, with the order of legs determined by the Inter-zone play-off semi-final draw.^[17]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Winner IZSF1	IZF	Winner IZSF2	27 Sep	18 Oct

Final

The draw for the final was held on 6 June 2017. In the final, the winner of the West Asia Zonal final and the winner of the Inter-zone play-off final play each other, with the host team decided by draw.^[17][23][24]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Winner IZF	4 Nov	Winner WF

Top scorers

As of 9 August 2017

  Team eliminated / inactive for this round.

Note: Players in bold still active in competition.

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	ZSF1	ZSF2	ZF1	ZF2	ISF1	ISF2	IF1	IF2	F	Total
1	Kim Yu-song	April 25	5			1	3											9
2	Gabriel Guerra	Johor Darul Ta'zim	1			2	1	3		1								8
	Bienvenido Marañón	Ceres–Negros	1	2			2	2	1
	Stipe Plazibat	Home United				4			1	2	1
5	Mohammed Al-Ghassani	Saham	1	1	1			3										6
6	Manuchekhr Dzhalilov	Istiklol				2	3											5
	Nguyễn Văn Quyết	Hà Nội	1		1	1		2
	Rim Kwang-hyok	Kigwancha				1		4
	Fernando Rodríguez	Ceres–Negros		1			1	1	1	1
	Myrat Ýagşyýew	Altyn Asyr			1		4

Note: Goals scored in the qualifying round and qualifying play-offs are not counted when determining top scorer (Regulations Article 64.4).^[1]

Source: AFC^[25]

See also

• 2017 AFC Champions League

References

External links

• AFC Cup, the-AFC.com