Neha Patil (Editor)

2017 AFC Cup

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Matches played
  
38

Goals scored
  
88 (2.32 per match)

2017 AFC Cup

Dates
  
Qualifying round: 19–25 August 2016 Competition proper: 30 January – 4 November 2017

Teams
  
Competition proper: 47 Total: 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

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 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-off), 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.
  • 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.

    • 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.

    Notes

    Teams

    The following 47 teams from 27 associations entered the competition proper. Only 43 teams would compete 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). 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.

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

    • 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):

    West Asia Zone
  • If best runner-up from Group A: Winner Group A vs. Winner Group C; Runner-up Group A vs. Winner Group B
  • If best runner-up from Group B: Winner Group B vs. Winner Group A; Runner-up Group B vs. Winner Group C
  • If best runner-up from Group C: Winner Group C vs. Winner Group B; Runner-up Group C vs. Winner Group A
    • ASEAN Zone
  • If best runner-up from Group F: Winner Group F vs. Winner Group H; Runner-up Group F vs. Winner Group G
  • If best runner-up from Group G: Winner Group G vs. Winner Group F; Runner-up Group G vs. Winner Group H
  • If best runner-up from Group H: Winner Group H vs. Winner Group G; Runner-up Group H vs. Winner Group F

    • 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

    References

    2017 AFC Cup Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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