Draw
The draw for the group stage was held on 22 November 2018, 16:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [4] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four: four groups each in the West Region (Groups A–D) and the East Region (Groups E–H). Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
The mechanism of the draw was as follows: [5]
- For the West Region, there was no associations draw due to country protection. A draw was held for each of the four associations with more than one direct entrant (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran) to determine for each team their group positions:
- The three direct entrants of the United Arab Emirates were drawn to positions A1, B2, or C3, while the play-off winners West 1 (which their play-off team may advance from) were allocated to position D4.
- The three direct entrants of Saudi Arabia were drawn to positions B1, C2, or D3, while the play-off winners West 2 (which their play-off team may advance from) were allocated to position A4.
- The two direct entrants of Qatar were drawn to positions C1 or D2, while the play-off winners West 3 and 4 (which their play-off teams may advance from) were drawn to positions A3 or B4.
- The two direct entrants of Iran were drawn to positions D1 or C4.
- The direct entrants of Uzbekistan and Iraq were allocated to positions B3 and A2 respectively.
- For the East Region, a draw was held for the two associations with three direct entrants (South Korea, China) to determine the order of associations. After the associations draw, a draw was held for each of the four associations with more than one direct entrant (South Korea, China, Japan, Australia) to determine for each team their group positions:
- The three direct entrants of the first association drawn (South Korea or China) were drawn to positions E1, F2, or G3, while the play-off winners East 1 or 2 (which their play-off team may advance from) were allocated to position H4.
- The three direct entrants of the second association drawn (South Korea or China) were drawn to positions F1, G2, or H3, while the play-off winners East 1 or 2 (which their play-off team may advance from) were allocated to position E4.
- The two direct entrants of Japan were drawn to positions G1 or H2, while the play-off winners East 3 and 4 (which their play-off teams may advance from) were either allocated to F4 and E3 respectively (if South Korea were the first association drawn), or drawn to positions E3 or F4 (if China were the first association drawn).
- The two direct entrants of Australia were either drawn to positions H1 or F3 (if South Korea were the first association drawn, or if China were the first association drawn and the play-off winners East 4 were drawn to position E3), or positions H1 or E2 (if China were the first association drawn and the play-off winners East 3 were drawn to position E3).
- The direct entrants of Thailand and Malaysia were allocated to either positions G4 and E2 (if South Korea were the first association drawn), positions F3 and G4 (if China were the first association drawn and the play-off winners East 4 were drawn to position E3), or positions E2 and G4 (if China were the first association drawn and the play-off winners East 3 were drawn to position E3) respectively.
The following 32 teams entered into the group stage draw, which included the 24 direct entrants and the eight winners of the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw.
| Region | Groups | Teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Region | A–D |  Al-Ain | Al-Wahda | Al-Wasl |  Pakhtakor (Winners of Play-off West 1) |
 Al-Hilal | Al-Ittihad | Al-Ahli | Al-Nassr (Winners of Play-off West 2) | ||
 Al-Duhail | Al-Sadd | Al-Rayyan (Winners of Play-off West 3) |  Zob Ahan (Winners of Play-off West 4) | ||
| Persepolis | Esteghlal | Lokomotiv Tashkent [note 1] |  Al-Zawraa | ||
| East Region | E–H |  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Daegu FC [note 1] | Gyeongnam FC [note 1] | Ulsan Hyundai (Winners of Play-off East 1) |
 Shanghai SIPG | Beijing FC [note 1] | Guangzhou Evergrande | Shandong Luneng (Winners of Play-off East 2) | ||
 Kawasaki Frontale | Urawa Red Diamonds [note 1] | Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Winners of Play-off East 3) | Kashima Antlers (Winners of Play-off East 4) | ||
 Sydney FC | Melbourne Victory |  Buriram United |  Johor Darul Ta'zim | ||
