The 2019 AFC Cup knockout stage was played from 17 June to 4 November 2019.[1] A total of 11 teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2019 AFC Cup.[2]
The following teams advanced from the group stage:
| Key to colours | |
|---|---|
| Teams which enter the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals | |
| Teams which enter the Zonal semi-finals |
| width=120 | Zone | Group | width=200 | Winners | width=200 | Best runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Asia Zone | A |  Al-Wehdat | bgcolor=#BBF3FF rowspan=3 |  Al-Jaish | ||
| B | Al-Jazeera | |||||
| C | Al-Ahed | |||||
| Central Asia Zone | D |  Altyn Asyr | — | |||
| South Asia Zone | E | Abahani Limited Dhaka | — | |||
| ASEAN Zone | F | Hà Nội | bgcolor=#BBF3FF rowspan=3 | Becamex Bình Dương | ||
| G | Ceres–Negros | |||||
| H |  PSM Makassar | |||||
| East Asia Zone | I |  April 25 | — |
In the knockout stage, the 11 teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, except the final which was played as a single match. The away goals rule (for two-legged ties), extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winners if necessary (Regulations Article 11.3).
The schedule of each round is as follows (W: West Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone).[1] Matches in the West Asia Zone were played on Mondays and Tuesdays, while matches in the ASEAN Zone and the Inter-zone play-offs were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
| Round | First leg | Second leg | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zonal semi-finals | 17–19 June 2019 (W, A) | 24–26 June 2019 (W, A) | |
| Zonal finals | 31 July 2019 (A), 24 September 2019 (W) | 7 August 2019 (A), 1 October 2019 (W) | |
| Inter-zone play-off semi-finals | 20–21 August 2019 | 27–28 August 2019 | |
| Inter-zone play-off final | 25 September 2019 | 2 October 2019 | |
| Final | 4 November 2019 | ||
The bracket of the knockout stage was determined as follows:
| Round | Matchups | |
|---|---|---|
| Zonal semi-finals | (Matchups and order of legs determined by identity of best runners-up: first team listed host first leg, second team listed host second leg)
| |
| Zonal finals | (Order of legs decided by draw)
| |
| Inter-zone play-off semi-finals | (Matchups and order of legs decided by draw, involving winners of Group D, Group E, Group I, and AF)
| |
| Inter-zone play-off final | (Winners of IZSF1 host first leg, Winners of IZSF2 host second leg)
| |
| Final | (Winners of IZF host match, as alternated from previous season's final)
|
In the Zonal semi-finals, the four qualified teams from the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) played in two ties, and the four qualified teams from the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H) played in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs determined by the group stage draw and the identity of the best runners-up.
|+West Asia Zone|+ASEAN Zone
Al-Ahed won 1–0 on aggregate.----Al-Jazeera won 4–3 on aggregate.
Hà Nội won 3–2 on aggregate.----2–2 on aggregate. Becamex Bình Dương won on away goals.
The draw for the Zonal finals was held on 2 July 2019.[4] 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. The winners of the West Asia Zonal final advanced to the final, while the winners of the ASEAN Zonal final advanced to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals.
|+West Asia Zone|+ASEAN Zone
Al-Ahed won 1–0 on aggregate.
Hà Nội won 2–0 on aggregate.
The draw for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals was held on 2 July 2019.[4] 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 winners of the Central Asia Zone (Group D), the winners of the South Asia Zone (Group E), the winners of the East Asia Zone (Group I), and the winners of the ASEAN Zonal final (whose identity was not known at the time of the draw), with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw, without any seeding.
Hà Nội won 5–4 on aggregate.----April 25 won 5–4 on aggregate.
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 determined by the Inter-zone play-off semi-final draw. The winners of the Inter-zone play-off final advance to the final.
2–2 on aggregate. April 25 won on away goals.
See main article: article and 2019 AFC Cup Final. In the final, the winners of the West Asia Zonal final and the winners of the Inter-zone play-off final played each other, with the host team (winners of the Inter-zone play-off final) alternated from the previous season's final.[5]
The match was originally to be hosted by April 25 at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea on 2 November 2019. However, on 22 October 2019, due to North Korea's decision to ban television transmission of football games, the AFC announced that the final would be held in Shanghai, China in order for the match to be transmitted.[6] [7] On 25 October 2019, the match was rescheduled from 2 November to 4 November and the host city was shifted from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[8]