The 2016 AFC Champions League knockout stage was played from 17 May to 26 November 2016.[1] A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2016 AFC Champions League.[2]
The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage qualified for the knockout stage. Both West Zone and East Zone had eight qualified teams.
| Zone | Group | width=210 | Winners | width=210 | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Zone (Groups A–D) | A |  Lokomotiv Tashkent | Al-Nasr | ||
| B |  Zob Ahan |  Lekhwiya | |||
| C | Tractor Sazi | Al-Hilal | |||
| D | El Jaish | Al-Ain | |||
| East Zone (Groups E–H) | E |  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |  FC Tokyo | ||
| F | FC Seoul |  Shandong Luneng | |||
| G | Shanghai SIPG |  Melbourne Victory | |||
| H | Sydney FC | Urawa Red Diamonds |
In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split between the two zones until the final. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 12.3).[2]
The schedule of each round was as follows.[1]
| Round | First leg | Second leg | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round of 16 | 17–18 May 2016 | 24–25 May 2016 | |
| Quarter-finals | 23–24 August 2016 | 13–14 September 2016 | |
| Semi-finals | 27–28 September 2016 | 18–19 October 2016 | |
| Final | 19 November 2016 | 26 November 2016 |
The bracket of the knockout stage was determined as follows:
In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group from the same zone, with the group winners hosting the second leg.[3]
|-|+West Zone|}|+East Zone|}
Lokomotiv Tashkent won 2–1 on aggregate.----Al-Nasr won 5–4 on aggregate.----Al-Ain won 3–1 on aggregate.----El Jaish won 6–4 on aggregate.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 3–2 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate. Shanghai SIPG won on away goals.----3–3 on aggregate. FC Seoul won 7–6 on penalties.----3–3 on aggregate. Shandong Luneng won on away goals.
In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Zone were drawn into two ties, and the four teams from the East Zone were drawn into the other two ties, with the order of legs also decided by the draw.
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 9 June 2016, 16:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[4] There was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.[5]
|-|+West Region|}|+East Region|}
Al-Ain won 1–0 on aggregate.----The El Jaish v Al-Nasr first leg, originally won 3–0 by Al-Nasr, was forfeited and awarded 3–0 to El Jaish by the AFC Disciplinary Committee on 12 September 2016, as Al-Nasr fielded the player Wanderley, who was found to be registered using a fake Indonesian passport.[6] El Jaish won 4–0 on aggregate.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 5–0 on aggregate.----FC Seoul won 4–2 on aggregate.
In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Zone play each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Zone play each other, with the order of legs determined by the quarter-final draw.[5]
|-|+West Region|}|+East Region|}
Al-Ain won 5–3 on aggregate.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 5–3 on aggregate.
See main article: 2016 AFC Champions League Final. In the final, the two semi-final winners play each other, with the order of legs reversed from the previous season's final, with the team from the East Zone hosting the first leg, and the team from the West Zone hosting the second leg.[5]
|}Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 3–2 on aggregate.