18th secondary coil club football tournament organized by the

2021 AFC Cup
Tournament details
Dates Qualifying:
7 April – 15 August
Competition proper:
14 May – 5 November
Teams Group stage: 38 (originally)
Total: 43 (from 27 associations)
Final positions
Champions BahrainAl-Muharraq ( 2nd title )

Runners-up UzbekistanNasaf
Tournament statistics
Matches played 43
Goals scored 138 (3.21 per match)
Attendance 65,676 (1,527 per match)
Top scorer(s) Uzbekistan
(7 goals)[1]
Best player(s) BahrainAbdulwahab Al-Malood[2]
2020 2022 → ( note : All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs )

International football competition
The 2021 AFC Cup was the eighteenth version of the AFC Cup, Asia ‘s secondary cabaret football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation ( AFC ). [ 3 ] The winners of the tournament automatically qualified for the 2022 AFC Champions League, entering the qualifying play-offs, if they had not qualified through their domestic operation. [ 4 ] lebanese club Al-Ahed, having won their first base AFC Cup title in 2019, were the style holders, since the 2020 version was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia after respective group stagecoach matches and the style was not awarded. however, they were eliminated by eventual winners Al-Muharraq in the West Asia Zonal semi-finals .

Association team allotment [edit ]

The 46 AFC member associations ( excluding the Northern Mariana Islands, which became a full penis in December 2020 and are not eligible for this season ) are ranked based on their clubs ‘ performance over the last four years in AFC competitions ( their home team ‘s FIFA World Rankings no long considered ). [ 5 ] The slots are allocated by the postdate criteria according to the Entry Manual : [ 6 ]

  • The associations are split into five zones (Article 5.1):
    • West Asia Zone consists of the 12 associations from the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF).
    • South Asia Zone consists of the 7 associations from the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).
    • Central Asia Zone consists of the 6 associations from Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).
    • ASEAN Zone consists of the 12 associations from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).
    • East Asia Zone consists of the 9 associations from the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF).
    • The AFC may reallocate one or more associations to another zone if necessary for sporting reasons.
  • Excluding the top five associations in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation, all other associations are eligible to enter the AFC Cup.
  • The teams from associations ranked 6th, 11th and 12th which are eliminated in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs enter the AFC Cup group stage (Article 3.2). The following rules are applied:
    • The associations ranked 6th in both the West Region and the East Region, while allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage without taking away any direct slot from other associations, are not ranked in each zone for AFC Cup slot allocation (Article 5.3).[7]
    • If they advance to the AFC Champions League group stage, the AFC Cup group stage slot is filled by the standby team from their association if such team are available (Article 5.12).
    • The rules above do not apply to the AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders which are allocated AFC Champions League play-off slots should they not qualify for the tournament through domestic performance.
  • In the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone, there are three groups in the group stage, including 9 direct slots, with the 3 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.2). The slots in each zone are distributed as follows:
    • The associations ranked 1st to 3rd are each allocated two direct slots.
    • The associations ranked 4th to 6th are each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 7th or below are each allocated get one play-off slot.
    • If any zone has an association ranked 6th for AFC Champions League slot allocation, which is allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage, there are 10 direct slots, with the 2 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs.
  • In the South Asia Zone, the Central Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone, there is one group in the group stage, including 3 direct slots, with the 1 remaining slot filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.2). The slots in each zone are distributed as follows:[8]
    • The associations ranked 1st to 3rd are each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 4th or below are each allocated one play-off slot.
    • If any zone has an association ranked 6th for AFC Champions League slot allocation, which is allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage, there are 4 direct slots, and to ensure equal opportunity in each zone, another group is added to this zone in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.4.1).
    • If any zone has at least 7 play-off slots, to ensure equal opportunity in each zone, another group is added to this zone in the group stage, with the 5 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.4.2).
  • If any association with direct slots do not fulfill any one of the AFC Cup criteria, they have all their direct slots converted into play-off slots. The direct slots given up are redistributed to the highest eligible association by the following criteria (Articles 5.7 and 5.8):
    • For each association, the maximum number of total slots is two (Articles 3.4 and 3.5).
    • If any association is allocated one additional direct slot, one play-off slot is annulled and not redistributed.
  • If any association with only play-off slot(s), including those mentioned above, do not fulfill the minimum AFC Cup criteria, the play-off slot(s) are annulled and not redistributed (Articles 5.10 and 5.11).
  • For each association, the maximum number of total slots is one-third of the total number of eligible teams (excluding foreign teams) in the top division (Article 5.6). If this rule is applied, any direct slots given up are redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots are annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.10).
  • All participating teams must be granted an AFC Champions League or AFC Cup license, and apart from cup winners, finish in the top half of their top division (Articles 7.1 and 9.5). If any association do not have enough teams which satisfy this criteria, any direct slots given up are redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots are annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.9).
  • If any team granted a license refuses to participate, their slot, either direct or play-off, is annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.11).

Association rank [edit ]

For the 2021 AFC Cup, the associations are allocated slots according to their association ranking which was published on 29 November 2019, [ 9 ] [ 10 ] which takes into account their operation in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup during the period between 2016 and 2019 .

Participation for 2021 AFC Cup[11][12]
Participating
Not participating
(N) Number of teams/associations originally entered, before withdrawal of teams from the competition after the draw
West Asia Zone (3 groups)
Rank Member
Association 		Points[9] Slots
Group
stage 		Play-off
zone AFC

Play-off

cycle

Prelim.
round 2 		Prelim.
round 1
1 12  Jordan 33.852 2 0 0 0
2 21  Lebanon 24.746 2 0 0 0
3 22  Syria[SYR] 22.505 2 0 0 0
4 24  Bahrain 17.749 2 0 0 0
5 29  Oman[OMA] 8.531 0 (2) 0 0 0
6 30  Palestine 7.297 2 (1) 0 (1) 0 0
7 34  Kuwait 4.711 1 (0) 0 (1) 0 0
8 42  Yemen[YEM] 0.000 0 0 0 0
Total Participating associations: 6 (7) 11 0 (2) 0 0
0 (2)
11 (13)
South Asia Zone (1 group)
Rank Member
Association 		Points[9] Slots
Group
stage 		Play-off
partition AFC

Play-off

round

Prelim.
round 2 		Prelim.
round 1
1 15  India 29.576 1 0 1 0
2 25  Bangladesh[BAN] 14.683 1 0 0 (1) 0
3 26  Maldives 13.632 1 0 0 1
4 36    Nepal 0.915 0 0 0 1
5 37  Sri Lanka 0.618 0 0 0 1
6 38  Bhutan 0.549 0 0 0 1
7 42  Pakistan[PAK] 0.000 0 0 0 0
Total Participating associations: 6 3 0 1 (2) 4
5 (6)
8 (9)
Central Asia Zone (2 groups)
Rank Member
Association 		Points[9] Slots
Group
stage 		Play-off
zone AFC

Play-off

round

Prelim.
turn 2 		Prelim.
cycle 1
1 10  Uzbekistan[UZB] 45.562 1 0 0 0
2 17  Tajikistan 28.361 2 0 0 0
3 20  Turkmenistan 26.532 2 0 0 0
4 33  Kyrgyzstan 5.466 2 0 0 0
5 41  Afghanistan[AFG] 0.206 0 0 0 0
Total Participating associations: 4 7 0 0 0
0
7
ASEAN Zone (3 groups):
Final allocated slots before Zone was cancelled
Rank Member
Association 		Points[9] Slots
Group
stage 		Play-off
zone AFC

Play-off

round

Prelim.
round 2 		Prelim.
round 1
1 13  Philippines[PHI] 32.130 0 (1) 0 0 0
2 16  Vietnam 28.571 2 0 0 0
3 18  Malaysia 26.960 2 0 0 0
4 19  Singapore 26.607 2 0 0 0
5 27  Myanmar[MYA] 12.756 0 (1) 0 (1) 0 0
6 28  Indonesia 12.550 2 (1) 0 (1) 0 0
7 31  Cambodia 6.770 2 (1) 0 0 (1) 0
8 35  Laos 2.241 0 0 1 0
9 42  Brunei 0.000 0 0 1 0
10 42  Timor-Leste 0.000 1 (0) 0 0 (1) 0
Total Participating associations: 9 (10) 11 (10) 0 (2) 2 (4) 0
2 (6)
13 (16)
East Asia Zone (1 group)
Rank Member
Association 		Points[9] Slots
Group
stage 		Play-off
zone AFC

Play-off

round of golf

Prelim.
round of golf 2 		Prelim.
round 1
1 14  North Korea[PRK] 30.100 0 0 0 0
2 23  Hong Kong 19.945 2 0 0 0
3 32  Macau[MAC] 5.489 0 0 0 0
4 39  Chinese Taipei 0.457 1 0 0 0
5 40  Mongolia 0.274 1 0 0 0
6 42  Guam[GUM] 0.000 0 0 0 0
Total Participating associations: 3 4 0 0 0
0
4
Notes

Teams [edit ]

Teams in italics will play in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs, and will play in the AFC Cup group phase if they fail to advance to the AFC Champions League group degree. Should they advance to the AFC Champions League group stagecoach, they will not play in the AFC Cup, and will be replaced by the understudy team from their association if such team are available .

Notes

schedule [edit ]

The agenda of the rival is as follows. [ 48 ] On 11 November 2020, the AFC approved a new calendar for the competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the group phase is played as centralized single round-robin tournament, and the preliminary round off, play-off round, and ASEAN Zonal semi-finals and final are played as a one match. [ 49 ] On 25 January 2021, the AFC published the schedule of the competition. [ 50 ] On 1 March 2021, the AFC announced the hosts for the group stagecoach, except for Group G whose hosts will be decided at a late date. [ 51 ] On 27 March 2021, the AFC announced that the West Asia Zone group matches were rescheduled from 23–29 May to 21–27 May. [ 52 ] On 26 April 2021, the AFC announced that the ASEAN Zone group matches were rescheduled from 22–28 June to 29 June – 6 July. [ 53 ] On 3 May 2021, the AFC announced that the East Asia Zone group matches were rescheduled from 14–20 May to 23–29 June. [ 54 ] On 9 May 2021, the AFC announced that the South Asia Zone group matches which were primitively scheduled between 14–20 May would be postponed indefinitely. [ 55 ] On 27 May 2021, the AFC announced that the ASEAN Zone group matches which were originally scheduled between 29 June – 6 July would be postponed indefinitely. [ 56 ] On 7 July 2021, AFC decided to cancel the matches in ASEAN Zone. [ 57 ] Notes :

  • W: West Asia Zone
  • S: South Asia Zone
  • C: Central Asia Zone
  • A: ASEAN Zone
  • E: East Asia Zone
Stage Round Draw date Match date
Preliminary stage Preliminary round 1 No draw 7 April 2021 (S)
Preliminary round 2 14 April 2021 (S)
Play-off stage Play-off round 15 August 2021 (S)
Group stage Matchday 1 27 January 2021[58] 14 May 2021 (C), 21 May 2021 (W), 23 June 2021 (E), 18 August 2021 (S)
Matchday 2 17 May 2021 (C), 24 May 2021 (W), 26 June 2021 (E) 21 August 2021 (S)
Matchday 3 20 May 2021 (C), 27 May 2021 (W), 29 June 2021 (E) 24 August 2021 (S)
Knockout stage Zonal semi-finals 20–21 September 2021 (W)
Zonal finals 4 August 2021[57] 25 August 2021 (C), 20 October 2021 (W)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals 21–22 September 2021
Inter-zone play-off final 20 October 2021
Final 5 November 2021

The original agenda of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows .

original schedule for 2021 AFC Cup
Stage Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Preliminary stage Preliminary round No draw 5–6 January 2021 (W, A)
26–27 January 2021 (S, C, E) 		12–13 January 2021 (W, A)
2–3 February 2021 (S, C, E)
Play-off stage Play-off round 19–20 January 2021 (W, A)
9–10 February 2021 (S, C, E) 		26–27 January 2021 (W, A)
16–17 February 2021 (S, C, E)
Group stage Matchday 1 TBD 15–17 February 2021 (W, A), 2–3 March 2021 (S, C, E)
Matchday 2 1–3 March 2021 (W, A), 16–17 March 2021 (S, C, E)
Matchday 3 15–17 March 2021 (W, A), 6–7 April 2021 (S, C, E)
Matchday 4 5–7 April 2021 (W, A), 13–14 April 2021 (S, C, E)
Matchday 5 12–14 April 2021 (W, A), 18–19 May 2021 (S, C, E)
Matchday 6 26–28 April 2021 (W, A), 25–26 May 2021 (S, C, E)
Knockout stage Zonal semi-finals 17–19 May 2021 (W, A) 24–26 May 2021 (W, A)
Zonal finals TBD 3–4 August 2021 (C*, S*, E*, A)
28 September 2021 (W) 		10–11 August 2021 (C*, S*, E*, A)
19 October 2021 (W)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals 24–25 August 2021 14–15 September 2021
Inter-zone play-off final 29 September 2021 20 October 2021
Final 6 November 2021

Qualifying play-offs [edit ]

In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played as a single meet. supernumerary time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary. [ 3 ] The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each partition was determined based on each team ‘s association rate, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the peer. The one winner of preliminary round 2 ( from ASEAN Zone ) and one winner of the play-off round ( from South Zone ) will advance to the group stage to join the 35 direct entrants. [ 59 ]

preliminary beat 1 [edit ]

preliminary attack 2 [edit ]

Play-off round [edit ]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
South Asia Zone
Bengaluru India 1–0 MaldivesEagles

Group stage [edit ]

The draw for the group stage was held on 27 January 2021, 14:30 MYT ( UTC+8 ), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [ 62 ] The 38 teams were drawn into nine groups of four and one group of three ( in the Central Asia Zone ) : three groups each in the West Asia Zone ( Groups A–C ) and the ASEAN Zone ( Groups G–I ), two groups in the Central Asia Zone ( Groups E–F ), and one group each in the South Asia Zone ( Group D ) and the East Asia Zone ( Group J ). For each partition, teams were seeded into four pots and draw into the relevant positions within each group, based on their association ranking and their seed within their association, in consideration of technical balance between groups. Teams from the lapp association in zones with more than one group ( West Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, and ASEAN Zone ) could not be drawn into the same group. [ 63 ] In the group stage, each group was played on a unmarried round-robin basis in centralized venues. The follow teams advanced to the knockout degree :

  • 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 advanced to the Zonal finals.
  • The winners of each group in the South Asia Zone and the East Asia Zone advanced to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals.

Group A [edit ]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AHE

Read more: Wikipedia

WAH

HID
1 LebanonAl-Ahed 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4 Zonal semi-finals — — 2–1
2 SyriaAl-Wahda 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 0–0 — —
3 BahrainAl-Hidd ( H ) 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1 — 1–1 —

( H ) Host reference : AFC Host

Group B [edit ]

  1. a b tete-a-tete points : Al-Muharraq 3, Al-Salt 0 .
  2. a b neck and neck points : Al-Ansar 3, Markaz Balata 0 .

Group C [edit ]

( H ) Host informant : AFC Host

Group D [edit ]

( H ) Host reference : AFC Host

Group E [edit ]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AHA DOR RAV
1 TurkmenistanAhal 2 2 0 0 5 1 +4 6 Zonal finals — — 3–1
2 KyrgyzstanDordoi ( H ) 2 1 0 1 3 2 +1 3 0–2 — —
3 TajikistanRavshan Kulob 2 0 0 2 1 6 −5 0 — 0–3 —

( H ) Host reference : AFC Host

Group F [edit ]

( H ) Host source : AFC Host

Group G ( cancelled ) [edit ]

Group H ( cancelled ) [edit ]

Group I ( cancelled ) [edit ]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts VIS LAL TER GEY
1 CambodiaVisakha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — Cancelled — Cancelled
2 East TimorLalenok United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — Cancelled —
3 MalaysiaTerengganu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cancelled — — Cancelled
4 SingaporeGeylang International 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — Cancelled — —

Group J [edit ]

( H ) Host source : AFC Host

  1. ^ After matches in ASEAN Zone was cancelled, there are only three teams which qualified to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals, i, the winners of the South Asia Zone ( Group D ), the winners of the East Asia Zone ( Group J ), and the winners of the Central Zonal final. The three Zonal champions will be drawn into two pairings where one club will get a bye to the Inter-zone play-off final examination, which happened for Lee Man

Ranking of runner-up teams [edit ]

West Asia Zone [edit ]

due to Group A having only three teams, the results against the fourth-placed teams in Groups B and C are not considered for this rank.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 B JordanAl-Salt 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3 Zonal semi-finals
2 C JordanAl-Faisaly 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3
3 A SyriaAl-Wahda 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2

Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Disciplinary points; 5) Drawing of lots. source : AFC Rules for categorization : 1 ) Points ; 2 ) Goal dispute ; 3 ) Goals scored ; 4 ) Disciplinary points ; 5 ) disembowel of lots .

ASEAN Zone ( cancelled ) [edit ]

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 G G2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 H H2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 I I2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Disciplinary points; 5) Drawing of lots. source : AFC Rules for classification : 1 ) Points ; 2 ) Goal difference ; 3 ) Goals scored ; 4 ) Disciplinary points ; 5 ) guide of lots .

Knockout stage [edit ]

In the hard degree, the 8 teams play a single-elimination tournament. Each affiliation is played on a individual equal. extra time and penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the winners if necessary ( Regulations Article 9.3 and 10.1 ) .

bracket [edit ]

zonal semi-finals [edit ]

The West Asia Zonal semi-finals were played over one peg, with the home team determined by the pull mechanism based on which group runner-up qualify. If a group winner played a group runner-up, the group winner hosted the catch. If two group winners played each early, one of the group winner ( whose group runner-up qualify ) hosted the match. [ 3 ]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
ASEAN Zone
10–11 Aug
10–11 Aug

zonal finals [edit ]

The West Asia and Central Asia Zonal final were played over one stage, with the home plate team decided by draw. The winners of the West Asia Zonal final examination advanced to the final examination, while the winners of the Central Asia Zonal final advanced to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals .

Team 1  Score  Team 2
West Asia Zone
Al-Muharraq Bahrain 2–0 KuwaitAl-Kuwait
Team 1  Score  Team 2
Central Asia Zone
Nasaf Uzbekistan 3–2 TurkmenistanAhal
Team 1  Score  Team 2
ASEAN Zone
25 Aug

After matches in ASEAN Zone was cancelled, there were only three teams which qualified to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals, i, the winners of the South Asia Zone ( Group D ), the winners of the East Asia Zone ( Group J ), and the winners of the Central Zonal final examination. The three zonal champions were drawn into two pairings where one baseball club got a bye to the Inter-zone play-off final, which happened for Lee Man. The matchups and order of legs decided by draw, without any seeding with the achiever of Central Zonal Final hosting the match and the achiever of South Asia Zone being the away team. [ 64 ]

Inter-zone play-off final [edit ]

In the Inter-zone play-off final examination, the two teams which advanced from the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals played each other, with the decree of legs determined by the Inter-zone play-off semi-final draw. The winners of the Inter-zone play-off final advanced to the final .

final [edit ]

The concluding was played over one peg, between the winners of the West Asia Zonal final and the winners of the Inter-zone play-off final. The home team was determined on a rotation basis, with the match hosted by the winners of the West Asia Zonal final, as in the case of odd-numbered years ( Regulations 9.1.2 ). [ 3 ]

top scorers [edit ]

 

Team eliminated / dormant for this round.

 

Player is not in the team but team still active for this round .
note : Goals scored in the modification play-offs are not counted when determining top scorer ( Regulations Article 57.4 ). [ 3 ]

See besides [edit ]

Notes [edit ]

References [edit ]