The group stage of the 2014 AFC Cup was played from 25 February to 23 April 2014. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage.[1]
The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2013, 15:00 UTC+8, at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[2] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
The following 32 teams (16 from West Asia Zone, 16 from East Asia Zone) were entered into the group-stage draw, which included the 30 automatic qualifiers and the two qualifying play-off winners, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw:
| Zone | Teams | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| West Asia Zone (Groups A–D) | valign=top | ||
| East Asia Zone (Groups E–H) | valign=top |
Note: Teams in italics played in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off, but failed to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage (had they advanced to the AFC Champions League group stage, they would have been replaced by another team from the same association).
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.
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[1]
The matchdays were 25–26 February, 11–12 March, 18–19 March, 1–2 April, 8–9 April, and 22–23 April 2014.[3]
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