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
    
State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds 0 1 1
Oman Al-Suwaiq 1 1 2

Play-off Central Asia
Preliminary round Play-off round
        
Kyrgyzstan Dordoi 1 2 3
Turkmenistan Ahal 3 2 5
Turkmenistan Ahal 1 2 3
Tajikistan Khujand 0 0 0

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

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

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

Preliminary round

Summary

A total of six teams played in the preliminary round.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
 Central Asia Zone
Dordoi Kyrgyzstan 3–5 Turkmenistan Ahal 1–3 2–2
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
 South Asia Zone
Transport United Bhutan 0–3 India Bengaluru 0–0 0–3
Saif Bangladesh 1–4 Maldives TC Sports 0–1 1–3

Central Asia Zone
Dordoi Kyrgyzstan1–3Turkmenistan Ahal
  • Zhyrgalbek Uulu 19'
 Stats Report
Dordoi Stadium, Bishkek
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)
Ahal Turkmenistan2–2Kyrgyzstan Dordoi
 Stats Report
Attendance: 6,670
Referee: Khamis Al-Kuwari (Qatar)

Ahal won 5–3 on aggregate.

South Asia Zone
Transport United Bhutan0–0India Bengaluru
Stats Report
Attendance: 3,100
Bengaluru India3–0Bhutan Transport United
 Stats Report
Attendance: 1,167
Referee: Mooud Bonyadifar (Iran)

Bengaluru won 3–0 on aggregate.

Saif Bangladesh0–1Maldives TC Sports
Stats Report
Attendance: 7,000
TC Sports Maldives3–1Bangladesh 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.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
 West Asia Zone
Hilal Al-Quds State of Palestine 1–2 Oman Al-Suwaiq 0–1 1–1
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
 Central Asia Zone
Ahal Turkmenistan 3–0 Tajikistan Khujand 1–0 2–0
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
 South Asia Zone
TC Sports Maldives 2–8 India Bengaluru 2–3 0–5
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
 ASEAN Zone
Boeung Ket Angkor Cambodia 4–3 Laos Lao Toyota 3–3 1–0
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
 East Asia Zone
Erchim Mongolia 0–7 North Korea Hwaebul 0–4 0–3

West Asia Zone
Hilal Al-Quds State of Palestine0–1Oman Al-Suwaiq
Stats Report
Arab American University Stadium, Jenin
Attendance: 1,450
Referee: Dmitry Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)
Al-Suwaiq Oman1–1State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds
 Stats Report
Attendance: 4,300
Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)

Al-Suwaiq won 2–1 on aggregate.

Central Asia Zone
Ahal Turkmenistan1–0Tajikistan Khujand
 Stats Report
Attendance: 9,300
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)
Khujand Tajikistan0–2Turkmenistan Ahal
Stats Report
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

Ahal won 3–0 on aggregate.

South Asia Zone
TC Sports Maldives2–3India Bengaluru
 Stats Report
Attendance: 890
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
Bengaluru India5–0Maldives TC Sports
 Stats Report
Attendance: 1,473

Bengaluru won 8–2 on aggregate.

ASEAN Zone
Boeung Ket Angkor Cambodia3–3Laos Lao Toyota
 Stats Report
Attendance: 1,778
Referee: Yu Ming-hsun (Chinese Taipei)
Lao Toyota Laos0–1Cambodia Boeung Ket Angkor
Stats Report
Attendance: 450

Boeung Ket Angkor won 4–3 on aggregate.

East Asia Zone
Erchim Mongolia0–4North Korea Hwaebul
Stats Report
Attendance: 335
Hwaebul North Korea3–0Mongolia 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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