Matches played 38 | Goals scored 88 (2.32 per match) | |
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Dates Qualifying round:19–25 August 2016Competition proper:30 January – 4 November 2017 Teams Competition proper: 47Total: 52 (from 29 associations) Attendance 112,766 (2,968 per match) Top scorer(s) 18 players(1 goal each) |
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).
Contents
- Association team allocation
- Teams
- Schedule
- Qualifying round
- Qualifying play off
- Group stage
- ASEAN Zone
- Knockout stage
- Bracket
- Zonal semi finals
- Zonal finals
- Inter zone play off semi finals
- Inter zone play off final
- Final
- Top scorers
- References
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. 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:
The final association ranking used to determine the slot allocation was published on 30 November 2016. The slot allocation was announced on 7 December 2016. The final slot allocation, after unused slots were redistributed, was announced on 12 December 2016.
Teams
The following 47 teams from 27 associations entered the competition proper. Only 43 teams would compete after the withdrawal of four teams.
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). Starting from 2017, matches in the West Asia Zone will be played on Mondays and Tuesdays instead of Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Qualifying round
The following nine teams from nine associations entered the qualifying round. 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).
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. The nine teams were drawn into three 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 the qualifying play-off.
Qualifying play-off
In the qualifying play-off, 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.
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 the second leg. Teams from the same association in the ASEAN Zone could not be placed into the same play-off.
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. 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.
Due to the withdrawal of teams in the ASEAN Zone and the East Asia Zone after the draw, only 34 teams would compete in the group stage, with Groups H and I having only three teams.
In the group stage, each group is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis.
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.
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).
Bracket
The bracket of the knockout stage will be determined after the draw for the zonal finals and inter-zone play-offs.
Zonal semi-finals
In the Zonal semi-finals, the four qualified teams from the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) play in two ties, and the four qualified teams from the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H) play in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs determined by the identity of the best runner-up (first team listed to host the first leg, second team listed to host the second leg):
Zonal finals
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.
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals
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, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw.
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 decided by draw.
Final
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 to be confirmed by the AFC.
Top scorers
Note: Goals scored in the qualifying round and qualifying play-off are not counted when determining top scorer (Regulations Article 64.4).
Source: AFC