2020 AFC Cup

Last updated
2020 AFC Cup
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
21 January – 26 February 2020
Competition proper:
10 February – 11 March 2020
(Remaining matches cancelled)
TeamsCompetition proper: 36
Total: 48 (from 28 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsNot awarded
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored91 (2.84 per match)
Attendance52,237 (1,632 per match)
Top scorer(s) Bienvenido Marañón
(5 goals)
← 2019
2021 →
(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs)

The 2020 AFC Cup was an abandoned season of the AFC Cup which was the 17th edition of the competition, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). [1]

Contents

The competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic after group stage matches on 11 March 2020, [2] and was originally to resume on 23 September 2020. [3] However, the season was eventually cancelled by the AFC on 10 September 2020 on account of the continuing pandemic. [4] [5]

Al-Ahed of Lebanon were the defending champions.

Association team allocation

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 2019 and 2020 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2017 AFC rankings (Entry Manual Article 2.3): [6]

Association ranking

For the 2020 AFC Cup, the associations were allocated slots according to their association ranking as at 15 December 2017. [7] This took into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, as well as their national team's FIFA World Rankings, during the period between 2014 and 2017. [6] [8]

Participation for 2020 AFC Cup
Participating
Not participating
Notes
  1. ^
    Yemen (YEM): Yemen did not implement the AFC Cup club licensing system. [9]
  2. ^
    Afghanistan (AFG): Afghanistan did not implement the AFC Cup club licensing system. [9]
  3. ^
    Nepal (NEP): Nepal did not have any teams which had an AFC Cup license. [9]
  4. ^
    Pakistan (PAK): Pakistan did not implement the AFC Cup club licensing system. [9]
  5. ^
    North Korea (PRK): North Korea did not have any teams entering the competition.
  6. ^
    Guam (GUM): Guam did not submit any list of licensed teams. [9]

Teams

The following 48 teams from 28 associations entered the competition. Teams from Brunei and Timor-Leste entered the AFC Cup for the first time. [10]

Notes
  1. ^
    Title holders (TH): Al-Ahed are the title holders.
  2. ^
    AFC Champions League (ACL): Teams played in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs, but failed to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage. Had they advanced to the AFC Champions League group stage, they would not play in the AFC Cup, and would be replaced by the standby team from the same association if such team were available.
  3. ^
    Brunei (BRU): MS ABDB, the 2018–19 Brunei Super League champions, failed to obtain an AFC license. As a result, Indera, the league 4th place (only team with an AFC license), enter the qualifying play-offs. [11]
  4. ^
    Central Asia Zone (CAZ): Ahal were disqualified by the AFC for failing to appear for the first leg of preliminary round 2 matches. [12] [13]
  5. ^
    East Asia Zone (EAZ): Tai Po (Hong Kong) withdrew from the group stage after the draw (originally drawn in Group I). [14] As a result, Kitchee (Hong Kong) entered the group stage instead of the play-off round to replace Tai Po, and Taipower (Chinese Taipei) and Ulaanbaatar City (Mongolia) entered the play-off round instead of the preliminary round 2, which was cancelled. [15]
  6. ^
    Philippines (PHI): Ceres–Negros underwent a management change mid-competition in July 2020 while the AFC Cup was still suspended due to the pandemic, with MMC Sportz Asia taking over. The club renamed as United City. It is uncertain if the club would have been allowed by the AFC to continue their campaign in the AFC Cup under the new name and management had the tournament not been cancelled. [16]
  7. ^
    Singapore (SIN): DPMM, the 2019 Singapore Premier League champions, is a team from Brunei and thus ineligible to represent Singapore in AFC club competitions. As a result, Hougang United, the league 3rd place, enter the group stage.
  8. ^
    Vietnam (VIE): Hà Nội, the 2019 V.League 1 champions and 2019 Vietnamese Cup winners, failed to obtain an AFC license (as their U15 team did not participate in Vietnam National U15 Youth League). [17] As a result, Than Quảng Ninh, the league 3rd place, enter the group stage.
AFC location map.png
Brown pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Black pog.svg
Amman
Black pog.svg
Kuwait
Black pog.svg
Bahrain
Black pog.svg
Beirut
Orange pog.svg
White pog.svg
Sur
Brown pog.svg
Yellow pog.svg
Yellow pog.svg
Black pog.svg
Ashgabat-Ahal Region
Yellow pog.svg
White pog.svg
Green pog.svg
White pog.svg
Black pog.svg
Malé
Green pog.svg
White pog.svg
White pog.svg
White pog.svg
Blue pog.svg
Cyan pog.svg
Cyan pog.svg
Purple pog.svg
Black pog.svg
Singapore
Cyan pog.svg
Purple pog.svg
PSM
Purple pog.svg
Blue pog.svg
Black pog.svg
Vientiane
Cyan pog.svg
White pog.svg
White pog.svg
Black pog.svg
Hong Kong
Pink pog.svg
White pog.svg
Pink pog.svg
White pog.svg
TransparentPlaceholder.png
Beirut teams
Brown pog.svg Al-Ahed
Red pog.svg Al-Ansar

Amman teams
Red pog.svg Al-Faisaly
Orange pog.svg Al-Jazeera

Bahrain teams
Orange pog.svg Al-Riffa
Brown pog.svg Manama
TransparentPlaceholder.png
Ashgabat-Ahal Region teams
Yellow pog.svg Altyn Asyr
White pog.svg Ahal

Kuwait teams
Red pog.svg Al-Kuwait
Orange pog.svg Al-Qadsia

Malé teams
Green pog.svg TC Sports
Green pog.svg Maziya
TransparentPlaceholder.png
Hong Kong teams
Pink pog.svg Tai Po
Pink pog.svg Kitchee

Singapore teams
Purple pog.svg Tampines Rovers
Blue pog.svg Hougang United

Vientiane teams
Blue pog.svg Lao Toyota
White pog.svg Master 7
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams of the 2020 AFC Cup group stage.
Brown pog.svg Brown: Group A; Red pog.svg Red: Group B; Orange pog.svg Orange: Group C; Yellow pog.svg Yellow: Group D; Green pog.svg Green: Group E;
Blue pog.svg Blue: Group F; Cyan pog.svg Cyan: Group G; Purple pog.svg Purple: Group H; Pink pog.svg Pink: Group I; White pog.svg Qualifying play-offs
Withdrawn teams

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows. [18] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only some of the group stage matches on matchdays 1–3 in February and March were played as scheduled, and all matches in the East Asia Zone, on matchdays 2–6 in the Central Asia Zone and the South Asia Zone, and on matchdays 4–6 in the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone, were postponed until further notice. [2] The West Asia Zonal semi-finals were also initially moved to 24–25 August and 14–15 September. [19]

The AFC announced the calendar of the remaining matches on 9 July 2020, with all group stage matches played at centralised venues, and all knockout ties played as a single match. [3] The AFC announced the cancellation of the remainder of the competition on 10 September 2020, due to logistics in coordinating the five zones. [4]

Notes:

StageRoundDraw dateMatch dates
First legSecond leg
Preliminary stagePreliminary round 1No draw22 January 2020 (S)29 January 2020 (S)
Preliminary round 25 February 2020 (C, S)12 February 2020 (C, S)
Play-off stagePlay-off round21–22 January 2020 (W, A),
19 February 2020 (C, S)		28–29 January 2020 (W, A),
26 February 2020 (C, S)
16 October 2020 (E)
Group stageMatchday 110 December 201910–12 February 2020 (W, A), 11 March 2020 (C, S), 20 October 2020 (C, E)
Matchday 224–26 February 2020 (W, A), 23 October 2020 (W, C, S, E)
Matchday 39–11 March 2020 (A), 26 October 2020 (W, C, S, E)
Matchday 423 September 2020 (A), 29 October 2020 (W, C, S, E)
Matchday 526 September 2020 (A), 1 November 2020 (W, C, S, E)
Matchday 629 September 2020 (A), 4 November 2020 (W, C, S, E)
Knockout stageZonal semi-finals20–21 October 2020 (A), 23–24 November 2020 (W)
Zonal finalsCancelled4 November 2020 (A), 1 December 2020 (W)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals24–25 November 2020
Inter-zone play-off final2 December 2020
Final12 December 2020

The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows.

Original schedule for 2020 AFC Cup
StageRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond leg
Preliminary stagePreliminary round 1No draw22 January 2020 (S)29 January 2020 (S)
Preliminary round 24–5 February 2020 (C, S, E)11–12 February 2020 (C, S, E)
Play-off stagePlay-off round21–22 January 2020 (W, A),
18–19 February 2020 (C, S, E)		28–29 January 2020 (W, A),
25–26 February 2020 (C, S, E)
Group stageMatchday 110 December 201910–12 February 2020 (W, A), 10–11 March 2020 (C, S, E)
Matchday 224–26 February 2020 (W, A), 14–15 April 2020 (C, S, E)
Matchday 39–11 March 2020 (W, A), 28–29 April 2020 (C, S, E)
Matchday 413–15 April 2020 (W, A), 12–13 May 2020 (C, S, E)
Matchday 527–29 April 2020 (W, A), 26–27 May 2020 (C, S, E)
Matchday 611–13 May 2020 (W, A), 16–17 June 2020 (C, S, E)
Knockout stageZonal semi-finals25–27 May 2020 (W, A)15–17 June 2020 (W, A)
Zonal finalsTBD4–5 August 2020 (A),
29 September 2020 (W)		11–12 August 2020 (A),
20 October 2020 (W)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals25–26 August 202015–16 September 2020
Inter-zone play-off final30 September 202021 October 2020
Final7 November 2020

Qualifying play-offs

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 would not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 9.3). [1] The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each zone was determined based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the second leg. [20] The seven winners of the play-off round (one each from West Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, South Asia Zone, East Asia Zone, and three from ASEAN Zone) would advance to the group stage to join the 29 direct entrants.

Preliminary round 1

Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
South Asia Zone
Defenders Flag of Sri Lanka.svg 5–5 (a) Flag of Bhutan.svg Paro 3–3 2–2

Preliminary round 2

Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Central Asia Zone
Neftchi Flag of Kyrgyzstan.svg w/o [†] Flag of Turkmenistan.svg Ahal — —
Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
South Asia Zone
Paro Flag of Bhutan.svg 1–10 Flag of India.svg Bengaluru 0–1 1–9
Abahani Limited Dhaka Flag of Bangladesh.svg 2–2 (a) Flag of Maldives.svg Maziya 2–2 0–0
Notes
  1. † Neftchi won on walkover after Ahal were disqualified by the AFC for failing to appear for the first leg. [12] [21]

Play-off round

Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
West Asia Zone
Hilal Al-Quds Flag of Palestine.svg 2–0 Flag of Oman.svg Sur 2–0 0–0
Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Central Asia Zone
Neftchi Flag of Kyrgyzstan.svg 1–3 Flag of Tajikistan.svg Khujand 1–0 0–3 (a.e.t.)
Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
South Asia Zone
Maziya Flag of Maldives.svg 4–4 (4–3 p) Flag of India.svg Bengaluru 2–1 2–3 (a.e.t.)
Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
ASEAN Zone
Lalenok United Flag of East Timor.svg 2–7 Flag of Indonesia.svg PSM Makassar 1–4 1–3
Indera Flag of Brunei.svg 2–9 Flag of Myanmar.svg Yangon United 1–6 1–3
Svay Rieng Flag of Cambodia.svg 7–1 Flag of Laos.svg Master 7 4–1 3–0
Team 1 Score Team 2
East Asia Zone
Taipower Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg 16 Oct Flag of Mongolia.svg Ulaanbaatar City

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2019, 14:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [22] The 36 teams were drawn into nine groups of four: three groups each in the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) and the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H), and one group each in the Central Asia Zone (Group D), the South Asia Zone (Group E), and the East Asia Zone (Group I). Teams from the same association in the West Asia Zone and ASEAN Zone could not be drawn into the same group. In the group stage, each group was played on a double round-robin basis, with matches played home-and-away before the suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but to be moved to centralised venues after restart which was eventually cancelled. The following teams would have advanced to the knockout stage:

Group A

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPts JAI MAN AHE HQU
1 Flag of Syria.svg Al-Jaish 211010+14 [a] — 0–0 29 Oct 4 Nov
2 Flag of Bahrain.svg Manama 211010+14 [a] 1 Nov — 1–0 29 Oct
3 Flag of Lebanon.svg Al-Ahed 21012203 26 Oct 4 Nov — 2–1
4 Flag of Palestine.svg Hilal Al-Quds 200213−20 0–1 26 Oct 1 Nov —
Source: AFC
Notes:
  1. 1 2 2019 AFC association ranking: Syria (Al-Jaish) 22nd, Bahrain (Manama) 27th.

Group B

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPts KWT ANS WAT FAI
1 Flag of Kuwait.svg Al-Kuwait 211010+14— 1–0 4 Nov 29 Oct
2 Flag of Lebanon.svg Al-Ansar 21014403 1 Nov — 29 Oct 4–3
3 Flag of Syria.svg Al-Wathba 20200002 0–0 26 Oct — 1 Nov
4 Flag of Jordan.svg Al-Faisaly 201134−11 26 Oct 4 Nov 0–0 —
Source: AFC

Group C

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPts QAD DHO RIF JAZ
1 Flag of Kuwait.svg Al-Qadsia 110021+13 [a] — 23 Oct 1 Nov 26 Oct
2 Flag of Oman.svg Dhofar 110010+13 [a] 4 Nov — 29 Oct 1–0
3 Flag of Bahrain.svg Al-Riffa 210132+13 [a] 1–2 26 Oct — 4 Nov
4 Flag of Jordan.svg Al-Jazeera 200203−30 29 Oct 1 Nov 0–2 —
Source: AFC
Notes:
  1. 1 2 3 Head-to-head points (GD): Al-Qadsia 3 (+1), Dhofar 0 (0), Al-Riffa 0 (–1).

Group D

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPts IST ALT DOR KHU
1 Flag of Tajikistan.svg Istiklol 110020+23— 4 Nov 26 Oct 2–0
2 Flag of Turkmenistan.svg Altyn Asyr 00000000 23 Oct — 1 Nov 29 Oct
3 Flag of Kyrgyzstan.svg Dordoi 00000000 29 Oct 20 Oct — 4 Nov
4 Flag of Tajikistan.svg Khujand 100102−20 1 Nov 26 Oct 23 Oct —
Source: AFC

Group E

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPts BAS MAZ CHE TCS
1 Flag of Bangladesh.svg Bashundhara Kings 110051+43— 4 Nov 29 Oct 5–1
2 Flag of Maldives.svg Maziya 10102201 [a] 23 Oct — 1 Nov 26 Oct
3 Flag of India.svg Chennai City 10102201 [a] 26 Oct 2–2 — 4 Nov
4 Flag of Maldives.svg TC Sports 100115−40 1 Nov 29 Oct 23 Oct —
Source: AFC
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head away goals: Maziya 2, Chennai City 0.

Group F

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPts HCM YAN HOU LTO
1 Flag of Vietnam.svg Hồ Chí Minh City 321074+37 [a] — 26 Sep 29 Sep 23 Sep
2 Flag of Myanmar.svg Yangon United 321064+27 [a] 2–2 — 1–0 3–2
3 Flag of Singapore.svg Hougang United 31025503 2–3 23 Sep — 26 Sep
4 Flag of Laos.svg Lao Toyota 300338−50 0–2 29 Sep 1–3 —
Source: AFC
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head away goals: Hồ Chí Minh City 2, Yangon United 0.

Group G

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPts CER TQN SVR BAL
1 Flag of the Philippines.svg Ceres–Negros 3210102+87— 2–2 4–0 4–0
2 Flag of Vietnam.svg Than Quảng Ninh 31117704 29 Sep — 23 Sep 26 Sep
3 Flag of Cambodia.svg Svay Rieng 310239−63 [a] 26 Sep 1–4 — 2–1
4 Flag of Indonesia.svg Bali United 310257−23 [a] 23 Sep 4–1 29 Sep —
Source: AFC
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head points: Svay Rieng 3, Bali United 0.

Group H

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPts TAM KAY PSM SHA
1 Flag of Singapore.svg Tampines Rovers 321042+27— 29 Sep 2–1 2–1
2 Flag of the Philippines.svg Kaya–Iloilo 312031+25 0–0 — 23 Sep 26 Sep
3 Flag of Indonesia.svg PSM Makassar 311154+14 26 Sep 1–1 — 3–1
4 Flag of Myanmar.svg Shan United 300327−50 23 Sep 0–2 29 Sep —
Source: AFC

Group I

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPts KIT TAT CPK I4
1 Flag of Hong Kong.svg Kitchee 00000000— 4 Nov 26 Oct 20 Oct
2 Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Tatung 00000000 23 Oct — 1 Nov 29 Oct
3 Flag of Macau.svg MUST CPK 00000000 29 Oct 20 Oct — 4 Nov
4Flag placeholder.svg Winners of Play-off East Asia 00000000 1 Nov 26 Oct 23 Oct —
Source: AFC

Top scorers

  Match cancelled.
RankPlayerTeamMD1MD2MD3Total
1 Flag of Spain.svg Bienvenido Marañón Flag of the Philippines.svg Ceres–Negros 2125
2 Flag of Argentina.svg Hernán Barcos Flag of Bangladesh.svg Bashundhara Kings 44
Flag of Croatia.svg Stipe Plazibat Flag of Singapore.svg Hougang United 22
4 Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg Amido Baldé Flag of Vietnam.svg Hồ Chí Minh City 123
Flag of Jamaica.svg Jeremie Lynch Flag of Vietnam.svg Than Quảng Ninh 111
6 Flag of Myanmar.svg Aung Kyaw Naing Flag of Myanmar.svg Yangon United 22
Flag of Tajikistan.svg Manuchekhr Dzhalilov Flag of Tajikistan.svg Istiklol 2
Flag of Spain.svg Fito Flag of India.svg Chennai City 2
Flag of the Philippines.svg Eric Giganto Flag of the Philippines.svg Kaya–Iloilo 11
Flag of Jordan.svg Ahmed Hamdouni Flag of Jordan.svg Al-Faisaly 2
Flag of Montenegro.svg Boris Kopitović Flag of Singapore.svg Tampines Rovers 11
Flag of Cameroon.svg Jean Befolo Mbarga Flag of Cambodia.svg Svay Rieng 11
Flag of Vietnam.svg Nguyễn Công Phượng Flag of Vietnam.svg Hồ Chí Minh City 11
Flag of Vietnam.svg Nguyễn Hải Huy Flag of Vietnam.svg Than Quảng Ninh 11
Flag of Vietnam.svg Nguyễn Xuân Nam Flag of Vietnam.svg Hồ Chí Minh City 2
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Melvin Platje Flag of Indonesia.svg Bali United 2
Flag of the Philippines.svg OJ Porteria Flag of the Philippines.svg Ceres–Negros 11
Flag of Indonesia.svg Ferdinand Sinaga Flag of Indonesia.svg PSM Makassar 11
Flag of Indonesia.svg Ilija Spasojević Flag of Indonesia.svg Bali United 11
Flag of Senegal.svg El Hadji Malick Tall Flag of Lebanon.svg Al-Ansar 2
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jordan Webb Flag of Singapore.svg Tampines Rovers 11

Note: Goals scored in the qualifying play-offs are not counted when determining top scorer (Regulations Article 64.4). [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AFC Champions League Elite</span> Asian association football tournament for clubs

The AFC Champions League Elite is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition in Asian football, played by the national league champions of their national associations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AFC Champions League Two</span> Annual second-tier Asian club football competition

The AFC Champions League Two is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC Champions League Elite and above the AFC Challenge League.

The 2015 AFC Champions League was the 34th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 13th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The 2015 AFC Cup was the 12th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The 2014 AFC Champions League was the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 12th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Western Sydney Wanderers in the quarter-finals.

Indonesian football clubs have entered Asian association football competitions organized by Asian Football Confederation including AFC Champions League, Asian Cup Winners' Cup, and AFC Cup since 1970.

The 2016 AFC Champions League was the 35th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 14th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The 2016 AFC Cup was the 13th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The 2017 AFC Cup was the 14th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

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).

The 2019 AFC Champions League was the 38th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 17th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The 2019 AFC Cup was the 16th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 AFC Champions League</span> 39th edition of premier club football tournament organized by the AFC

The 2020 AFC Champions League was the 39th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 18th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The 2021 AFC Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The 2021 AFC Champions League was the 40th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 19th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The 2022 AFC Champions League was the 41st edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 20th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The 2022 AFC Cup was the 19th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The 2021 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs were played from 7 April to 15 August 2021. A total of seven teams competed in the qualifying play-offs to decide three of the 38 places in the group stage of the 2021 AFC Cup.

The 2023–24 AFC Cup was the 20th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the final edition under the AFC Cup title, as the competition was revamped under the name AFC Champions League Two starting in 2024–25. This was the first AFC Cup season to have a two-year (autumn-to-spring) schedule, unlike the previous all-year-round (spring-to-autumn) schedule.

The 2023–24 AFC Champions League was the 42nd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 21st and final under the AFC Champions League title, as the competition would be rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite starting in 2024–25.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "2020 AFC Cup Competition Regulations" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2020-03-16. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  2. 1 2 "AFC Statement on AFC Cup 2020 matches". AFC. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  3. 1 2 "AFC reiterates commitment to complete 2020 competitions with new calendar". AFC. 9 July 2020. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  4. 1 2 "AFC Executive Committee announces updates to 2020 competitions calendar". AFC. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "Football: Asian Football Confederation cancels second-tier AFC Cup due to Covid-19 pandemic". The Straits Times. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Entry Manual: AFC Club Competitions 2017–2020" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "AFC Club Competitions Ranking (as of 15 December 2017)" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "AFC Club Competitions Ranking Mechanics (2017 version)" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2018-10-12. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "List of Licensed Clubs for AFC Cup 2020" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 2020-02-15. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  10. ↑ "Stage set for AFC Cup 2020 draw". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 8 December 2019. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "Indera SC to represent the country will be playing against Yangon United FC from Myanmar in AFC Cup 2020, qualifying round 1". National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam. 6 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  12. 1 2 "АФК Кубогу-2020: "Нефтчи" плей-офф баскычына автоматтык түрдө өттү" [AFC Cup 2020: "Neftchi" automatically enters the playoff stage] (in Kyrgyz). Football Federation of Kyrgyz Republic. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  13. ↑ "Update on AFC Cup Preliminary Stage matches". AFC. 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Reigning champions withdraw from Premier League". offside.hk. 30 May 2020. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "AFC Statement on AFC Cup 2020 East Zone". Asian Football Association. 9 June 2020. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  16. ↑ del Rosario, Paolo (July 23, 2020). "Ownership transfer official: Ceres Negros to rebrand to United City FC". ESPN5. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  17. ↑ "SỐC: Hà Nội FC mất suất tham dự AFC Champions League 2020 và AFC Cup 2020". Fox Sports Vietnam. 8 October 2019. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  18. ↑ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2020". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 4 April 2018. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  19. ↑ "AFC Cup West Zone Group Stage matches postponed". AFC. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  20. ↑ "AFC Cup 2020 At A Glance". AFC.
  21. ↑ "Update on AFC Cup Preliminary Stage matches". AFC. 11 February 2020.
  22. ↑ "Teams learn 2020 group stage challenge". Asian Football Confederation. 10 December 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.