The 2021 Malaysia Cup group stage began on 25 September and ended on 10 November 2021. A total of 16 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 8 places in the knockout stage of the 2021 Malaysia Cup.[1]
The draw for the group stage was held on 15 September 2021, 14:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Bukit Jalil, in Kuala Lumpur.[2]
The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on the following principles.
The schedule of each matchday is as follows:
| Matchday | Dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26–27 September 2021 | ||
| 2 | 29 September– 1 October 2021 | ||
| 3 | 29–30 October 2021 | ||
| 4 | 1–3 November 2021 | ||
| 5 | 6–7 November 2021 | ||
| 6 | 9–10 November 2021 | ||
Below are the participating teams grouped by their seeding pot. They include:
| width=25% | Pot 1 (Super League) | width=25% | Pot 2 (Super League) | width=25% | Pot 3 (Super League and Premier League) | width=25% | Pot 4 (Premier League) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johor Darul Ta'zim Kedah Darul Aman Penang Terengganu | Selangor Kuala Lumpur City Petaling Jaya Melaka United | Sabah Sri Pahang Perak Negeri Sembilan | Sarawak United Kuching City Kelantan Kelantan United | ||||
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarter-finals.
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.
The matchdays were 26–27 September, 29 September– 1 October, 29–30 October, 1–3 November, 6–7 November, and 9–10 November 2021. All times are on Malaysia Standard Time (UTC+8).
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