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2016 AFC Cup group stage

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The 2016 AFC Cup group stage was played from 23 February to 11 May 2016. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout stage of the 2016 AFC Cup.

Contents

Draw

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.

The seeding of each team in the draw was determined by their association and their qualifying position within their association. The mechanism of the draw was as follows:

  • For the West Zone, a draw was held for the three associations with two direct entrants (Iraq, Jordan, Oman) to determine the seeds 1 placed in order for Groups A, B and C. The remaining teams were then allocated to the groups according to the rules set by AFC.
  • For the East Zone, a draw was held for the seven associations with two direct entrants (Hong Kong, Myanmar, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Maldives, Philippines) to determine the four associations occupying seeds 1 and 2, with seeds 1 placed in order for Groups E, F, G and H, and the three associations occupying seeds 3 and 4, with seeds 3 placed in order for Groups E, F and G. The remaining teams were then allocated to the groups according to the rules set by AFC.

    • The following 32 teams (16 from West Zone, 16 from East Zone) entered into the group stage draw, which included the 28 direct entrants and the four winners of the qualifying play-off, whose identity were not known at the time of the draw.

    Notes

    Format

    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.

    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 would be applied in the following order (Regulations Article 11.5):

    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.

    Schedule

    The schedule of each matchday was as follows.

    References

    2016 AFC Cup group stage Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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