2018 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs

The 2018 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs were played from 22 January to 20 February 2018.[1] A total of 13 teams competed in the qualifying play-offs to decide five of the 36 places in the group stage of the 2018 AFC Cup.[2]

Teams

The following 13 teams, split into five zones (West Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, South Asia Zone, ASEAN Zone, East Asia Zone), entered the qualifying play-offs, consisting of two rounds:

  • 6 teams entered in the preliminary round.
  • 7 teams entered in the play-off round.
Zone Teams entering in play-off round Teams entering in preliminary round
West Asia Zone
Central Asia Zone
South Asia Zone
ASEAN Zone
East Asia Zone

Format

In the qualifying play-offs, 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 9.3). The five winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 31 direct entrants.[2]

Schedule

The schedule of each round was as follows (W: West Asia Zone; C: Central Asia Zone; S: South Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone; E: East Asia Zone).[1]

Round W A C, S, E
First leg Second leg First leg Second leg First leg Second leg
Preliminary round Not played 23 January 2018 30 January 2018
Play-off round 22 January 2018 29 January 2018 29 January 2018 2 February 2018 13 February 2018 20 February 2018

Bracket

The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each zone was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the second leg.[5]

Play-off West Asia
Play-off round
    
Hilal Al-Quds 0 1 1
Al-Suwaiq 1 1 2

Play-off Central Asia
Preliminary round Play-off round
        
Dordoi 1 2 3
Ahal 3 2 5
Ahal 1 2 3
Khujand 0 0 0
— — — —
Khujand — — Bye

Play-off South Asia
Preliminary round Play-off round
        
Saif 0 1 1
TC Sports 1 3 4
TC Sports 2 0 2
Bengaluru 3 5 8
Transport United 0 0 0
Bengaluru 0 3 3

Play-off ASEAN
Play-off round
    
Boeung Ket Angkor 3 1 4
Lao Toyota 3 0 3

Play-off East Asia
Play-off round
    
Erchim 0 0 0
Hwaebul 4 3 7

Preliminary round

Summary

A total of six teams played in the preliminary round.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Central Asia Zone
Dordoi 3–5 Ahal 1–3 2–2
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
South Asia Zone
Transport United 0–3 Bengaluru 0–0 0–3
Saif 1–4 TC Sports 0–1 1–3

Central Asia Zone
Dordoi 1–3 Ahal
  • Zhyrgalbek Uulu 19'
 Stats Report
Dordoi Stadium, Bishkek
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)
Ahal 2–2 Dordoi
 Stats Report
Attendance: 6,670
Referee: Khamis Al-Kuwari (Qatar)

Ahal won 5–3 on aggregate.

South Asia Zone
Transport United 0–0 Bengaluru
Stats Report
Attendance: 3,100
Bengaluru 3–0 Transport United
 Stats Report
Attendance: 1,167
Referee: Mooud Bonyadifard (Iran)

Bengaluru won 3–0 on aggregate.

Saif 0–1 TC Sports
Stats Report
Attendance: 7,000
TC Sports 3–1 Saif
 Stats Report
  • Chigozie 33'
Attendance: 4,000

TC Sports won 4–1 on aggregate.

Play-off round

Summary

A total of 10 teams played in the play-off round: seven teams which entered in this round, and three winners of the preliminary round.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Asia Zone
Hilal Al-Quds 1–2 Al-Suwaiq 0–1 1–1
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Central Asia Zone
Ahal 3–0 Khujand 1–0 2–0
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
South Asia Zone
TC Sports 2–8 Bengaluru 2–3 0–5
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
ASEAN Zone
Boeung Ket Angkor 4–3 Lao Toyota 3–3 1–0
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
East Asia Zone
Erchim 0–7 Hwaebul 0–4 0–3

West Asia Zone
Hilal Al-Quds 0–1 Al-Suwaiq
Stats Report
Arab American University Stadium, Jenin
Attendance: 1,450
Referee: Dmitry Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)
Al-Suwaiq 1–1 Hilal Al-Quds
 Stats Report
Attendance: 4,300
Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)

Al-Suwaiq won 2–1 on aggregate.

Central Asia Zone
Ahal 1–0 Khujand
 Stats Report
Attendance: 9,300
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)
Khujand 0–2 Ahal
Stats Report
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

Ahal won 3–0 on aggregate.

South Asia Zone
TC Sports 2–3 Bengaluru
 Stats Report
Attendance: 890
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
Bengaluru 5–0 TC Sports
 Stats Report
Attendance: 1,473

Bengaluru won 8–2 on aggregate.

ASEAN Zone
Boeung Ket Angkor 3–3 Lao Toyota
 Stats Report
Attendance: 1,778
Referee: Yu Ming-hsun (Chinese Taipei)
Lao Toyota 0–1 Boeung Ket Angkor
Stats Report
Attendance: 450

Boeung Ket Angkor won 4–3 on aggregate.

East Asia Zone
Erchim 0–4 Hwaebul
Stats Report
Attendance: 335
Hwaebul 3–0 Erchim
 Stats Report
Attendance: 31,010
Referee: Jansen Foo (Singapore)

Hwaebul won 7–0 on aggregate.

Notes
  1. The identity of the play-off teams from Turkmenistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia was not known at the time of the group stage draw.
  2. On 14 December 2017, the AFC announced that Lao Toyota, the play-off team from Laos, were ruled ineligible to play in the 2018 AFC Cup due to match manipulation during the 2015 and 2016 AFC Cup.[3] Lao Toyota appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and on 17 January 2018, CAS ruled Lao Toyota would be eligible to participate.[4]

References
  1. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2018". AFC. 11 January 2018.
  2. "2018 AFC Cup Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC.
  3. "Lao Toyota FC ineligible for AFC Cup 2018 because of match manipulation". AFC. 14 December 2017.
  4. "The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) declares Lao Tractor Football Club eligible to participate in the 2018 AFC Cup" (PDF). CAS. 17 January 2018.
  5. "AFC Cup 2018 draw confirmed". AFC. 6 December 2017.
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