2018 AFC Cup


The 2018 AFC Cup was the 15th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation.
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya from Iraq won the title for the third consecutive year, defeating Altyn Asyr from Turkmenistan in the AFC Cup Final|final].
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Association team allocation

The AFC Competitions Committee recommended a new format for the AFC Cup starting from 2017 which was 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 were 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 were split into five zones:
  • *West Asia Zone consists of the associations from the West Asian Football Federation.
  • *Central Asia Zone consists of the associations from Central Asian Football Association.
  • *South Asia Zone consists of the associations from the South Asian Football Federation.
  • *ASEAN Zone consists of the associations from the ASEAN Football Federation.
  • *East Asia Zone consists of the associations from the East Asian Football Federation.
  • 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 was 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 got at least one direct slot in the group stage, 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 got two direct slots.
  • **The associations ranked 4th to 6th each got one direct slot and one play-off slot.
  • **The associations ranked 7th or below each got 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 got one direct slot and one play-off slot.
  • **The associations ranked 4th or below each got one play-off slot.
  • The maximum number of slots for each association was one-third of the total number of eligible teams in the top division.
  • If any association gives up its direct slots, they were 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 were annulled and not redistributed to any other association.
  • If the number of teams in the play-offs in any zone was fewer than twice the number of group stage slots filled through play-offs, the play-off teams of the highest eligible associations were given byes to the group stage.
For the 2018 AFC Cup, the associations were allocated slots according to their association ranking published on 30 November 2016, which took into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, as well as their national team's FIFA World Rankings between 2013 and 2016.
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Teams

The following 44 teams from 26 associations entered the competition.
TeamQualifying methodApp

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.

Group stage

Tiebreakers