2018 AFC Cup explained

Tourney Name:AFC Cup
Year:2018
Num Teams:44
Associations:26
Champion Other: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Count:3
Second Other: Altyn Asyr
Matches:143
Goals:452
Player: Hammadi Ahmad
Prevseason:2017
Nextseason:2019

The 2018 AFC Cup was the 15th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[1]

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya from Iraq won the title for the third consecutive year, defeating Altyn Asyr from Turkmenistan in the final.

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.[2] The 46 AFC member associations (excluding the associate member Northern Mariana Islands) 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 (Entry Manual Article 2.2):[3]

For the 2018 AFC Cup, the associations were allocated slots according to their association ranking published on 30 November 2016,[4] 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.[3] [5]

bgcolor=#f7f8ff colspan=2Participation for 2018 AFC Cup
bgcolor=#90ee77 width=20Participated
bgcolor=#ffcccc width=20Not participated
+West Asia Zone
RankMember
Association		PointsSlots
Group
stage		Play-off
110 Iraq37.240200
—11 Kuwait36.457000
213 Syria34.257200
315 Jordan31.213200
419 Bahrain27.353200
520 Lebanon22.077200
622 Oman19.313110
728 Palestine12.342010
—33 Yemen6.926000
Total1120
2
13
+Central Asia Zone
RankMember
Association		PointsSlots
Group
stage		Play-off
123 Tajikistan18.328110
229 Turkmenistan11.514101
331 Kyrgyzstan10.307101
—32 Afghanistan7.114000
Total312
3
6
+South Asia Zone
RankMember
Association		PointsSlots
Group
stage		Play-off
118 India27.930101
226 Maldives15.345101
337 Bangladesh4.158101
438 Bhutan3.877001
—39 Nepal3.388000
—44 Sri Lanka1.656000
—45 Pakistan1.506000
Total304
4
7
+ASEAN Zone
RankMember
Association		PointsSlots
Group
stage		Play-off
116 Vietnam29.273200
217 Malaysia28.865100
321 Indonesia20.372200
424 Myanmar17.220200
525 Philippines17.188200
627 Singapore13.664200
734 Laos6.886010
836 Cambodia4.856010
—42 Brunei2.785000
—43 East Timor2.409000
Total1120
0
13
+East Asia Zone
RankMember
Association		PointsSlots
Group
stage		Play-off
130 North Korea10.314110
235 Chinese Taipei5.609100
340 Macau3.087100
—41 Guam3.049000
446 Mongolia1.430010
Total320
2
5
Notes

Teams

The following 44 teams from 26 associations entered the competition.

+Group stage direct entrants (Groups A–C)
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya2016–17 Iraqi Premier League champions3rd
Al-Zawraa2016–17 Iraq FA Cup winners4th
Al-Jaish2016–17 Syrian Premier League champions8th
Al-Wahda2017 Syrian Cup winners7th
Al-Faisaly2016–17 Jordan League champions
2016–17 Jordan FA Cup winners		9th
Al-Jazeera2016–17 Jordan League runners-up2nd
Malkiya2016–17 Bahrain First Division League champions1st
Manama2016–17 Bahraini King's Cup winners1st
Al-Ahed2016–17 Lebanese Premier League champions8th
Al-Ansar2016–17 Lebanese FA Cup winners5th
Dhofar2016–17 Oman Professional League champions4th
Qualifying play-off participants: Entering in play-off round
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
Al-Suwaiq2016–17 Sultan Qaboos Cup winners6th
Hilal Al-Quds2016–17 West Bank Premier League champions2nd

+Group stage direct entrants (Group D)
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
Istiklol2017 Tajik League champions4th
Altyn Asyr2017 Ýokary Liga champions4th
Alay Osh2017 Kyrgyzstan League champions4th
Qualifying play-off participants: Entering in play-off round
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
Khujand2017 Tajik Cup winners2nd
Qualifying play-off participants: Entering in preliminary round
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
Ahal2017 Turkmenistan Cup winners2nd
Dordoi2017 Kyrgyzstan Cup winners3rd

+Group stage direct entrants (Group E)
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
Aizawl2016–17 I-League champions1st
New Radiant2017 Dhivehi Premier League champions
2017 Maldives FA Cup winners		9th
Abahani Limited Dhaka2017–18 Bangladesh Premier League champions
2017 Bangladesh Federation Cup winners		2nd
Qualifying play-off participants: Entering in preliminary round
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
Bengaluru2016–17 Indian Federation Cup winners4th
TC Sports2017 Dhivehi Premier League runners-up1st
Saif2017–18 Bangladesh Premier League 4th place1st
Transport United2017 Bhutan National League champions1st
+Group stage direct entrants (Groups F–H)
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
FLC Thanh Hóa2017 V.League 1 runners-up1st
Sông Lam Nghệ An2017 Vietnamese Cup winners3rd
Johor Darul Ta'zim2017 Malaysia Super League champions5th
Bali United2017 Liga 1 runners-up1st
Persija Jakarta2017 Liga 1 4th place1st
Shan United2017 Myanmar National League champions
2017 General Aung San Shield winners		1st
Yangon United2017 Myanmar National League runners-up5th
Ceres–Negros2017 Philippines Football League champions4th
Global Cebu2017 Philippines Football League runners-up3rd
Tampines Rovers2017 S.League runners-up10th
Home United2017 S.League 3rd place9th
Qualifying play-off participants: Entering in play-off round
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
Lao Toyota2017 Lao Premier League champions4th
Boeung Ket Angkor2017 Cambodian League champions2nd

+Group stage direct entrants (Group I)
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
April 252017 DPR Korea League champions2nd
Hang Yuen2017 Taiwan Premier League 3rd place1st
Benfica de Macau2017 Liga de Elite champions3rd
Qualifying play-off participants: Entering in play-off round
width=25%Teamwidth=60%Qualifying methodwidth=15%App
Hwaebul2017 DPR Korea League runners-up 1st
Erchim2017 Mongolian Premier League champions2nd
Notes

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows (W: West Asia Zone; C: Central Asia Zone; S: South Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone; E: East Asia Zone).

StageRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond leg
Preliminary stagePreliminary roundNo draw23 January 2018 (C, S)30 January 2018 (C, S)
Play-off stagePlay-off round22 January 2018 (W),
29 January 2018 (A),
13 February 2018 (C, S, E)		29 January 2018 (W),
2 February 2018 (A),
20 February 2018 (C, S, E)
Group stageMatchday 16 December 201710 & 12–14 February 2018 (W, A), 7 March & 5 April 2018(C, S, E)
Matchday 226–28 February 2018 (W, A), 13–14 March 2018 (C, S, E)
Matchday 35–7 March & 16 April 2018 (W, A), 10–11 April 2018 (C, S, E)
Matchday 412–14 March & 17 April 2018 (W, A), 25 April 2018 (C, S, E)
Matchday 59–11 April 2018 (W, A), 1–2 May 2018 (C, S, E)
Matchday 623–25 April 2018 (W, A), 16 May 2018 (C, S, E)
Knockout stageZonal semi-finals7–9 May 2018 (W, A)14–16 May 2018 (W, A)
Zonal finals23 May 20181 August 2018 (A),
18 September 2018 (W)		8 August 2018 (A),
2 October 2018 (W)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals21–22 August 201828–29 August 2018
Inter-zone play-off final19 September 20183 October 2018
Final27 October 2018

Qualifying play-offs

See main article: 2018 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs.

Play-off round

Group stage

See main article: 2018 AFC Cup group stage.

Ranking of second-placed teams

ASEAN Zone

Knockout stage

See main article: 2018 AFC Cup knockout stage.

Final

Awards

AwardPlayerTeam
Most Valuable Player[6] Hammadi Ahmad Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Top Goalscorer[7] An Il-bom April 25

Top scorers

RankPlayerTeam    Total
1 An Il-bom April 251222112112
2 Bienvenido Marañón Ceres–Negros21132110
Sekou Sylla Yangon United221221
4 Marko Šimić Persija Jakarta34119
Song Ui-young Home United111111111
6 Altymyrat Annadurdyýew Altyn Asyr312118
Hammadi Ahmad Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya1111121
8 Ahmad Zreik Al-Ahed1121117
Carlos Leonel Benfica de Macau223
10 Ali Ashfaq New Radiant3126
Amjad Radhi Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya2121
Kim Yu-song April 25411
Musa Al-Taamari Al-Jazeera111111

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2018 AFC Cup Competition Regulations. AFC. PDF.
  2. Web site: AFC Competitions Committee recommends new AFC Cup format. AFC. 25 November 2016.
  3. Web site: Entry Manual: AFC Club Competitions 2017–2020. AFC. PDF.
  4. Web site: AFC MA Ranking (as of 30 November 2016). AFC. PDF.
  5. Web site: AFC Club Competitions Ranking Mechanics (2016 version). AFC.
  6. Web site: Ahmed wants more. AFC. 27 October 2018.
  7. Web site: 4.25 SC's An Il-bom takes Top Scorer Award. AFC. 27 October 2018.

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