Runners-up Bengaluru FC Fair play award Bengaluru FC Top scorer Hammadi Ahmad Best player Hammadi Ahmad Goals scored 361 | Matches played 127 Champion Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Dates 9 Feb 2016 – 5 Nov 2016 Attendance 394,183 | |
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Teams Competition proper: 36
Total: 40 (from 23 associations) Similar 2015 AFC Cup, 2016 AFC Champions League, 2016 Malaysia Super Le, 2015 Malaysia Super Le, 2014 AFC Cup | ||
The 2016 AFC Cup was the 13th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Contents
- Association team allocation
- Teams
- Schedule
- Qualifying round
- Qualifying play off
- Group stage
- Knockout stage
- Round of 16
- Quarter finals
- Semi finals
- Final
- Top scorers
- References
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya defeated Bengaluru FC in the final to win their first AFC Cup title, becoming the first Iraqi team to win an Asian club competition. Johor Darul Ta'zim were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by Bengaluru FC.
Association team allocation
The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014, which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014. 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 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2014 rankings:
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.
The following table shows the slot allocation for the 2016 AFC Cup, which are adjusted accordingly since some of the slots are unused.
Teams
The following 40 teams from 23 associations entered the competition.
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws are held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).
Qualifying round
The draw for the qualifying round was held on 29 June 2015 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The six teams were drawn into two groups of three.
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 either the qualifying play-off or the group stage (depending on number of teams in each zone and geographical location).
Qualifying play-off
In the qualifying play-off, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 10.2). The four winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 28 direct entrants.
The bracket of the qualifying play-off was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting each match.
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2015, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16.
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split between the two zones until the final. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, while in the round of 16 and final, each tie was 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 were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 12.4).
Starting from this season, the knockout stage was split between the two zones until the final, similar to the AFC Champions League (Regulations Article 12.3).
Round of 16
In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group from the same zone, with the group winners hosting the match.
Quarter-finals
In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Zone were drawn into two ties, and the four teams from the East Zone were drawn into the other two ties, with the order of legs also decided by the draw.
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 9 June 2016, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.
Semi-finals
In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Zone played each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Zone played each other, with the order of legs determined by the quarter-final draw.
Final
In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the host team decided by a draw, held after the quarter-final draw.
Top scorers
Note: Goals scored in the qualifying play-off are not counted when determining top scorer (see regulations, Article 77.4).
Source: the-AFC.com