2016 AFC Cup

TheSuheim Bin Hamad Stadium inDoha hosted the final
Tournament details
Dates	Qualifying round: 11–15 August 2015 Competition proper: 9 February – 5 November 2016
Teams	Competition proper: 32 Total: 40 (from 23 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (1st title)
Runners-up	Bengaluru
Tournament statistics
Matches played	127
Goals scored	361 (2.84 per match)
Attendance	394,183 (3,104 per match)
Top scorer	Hammadi Ahmed(16 goals)
Best player	Hammadi Ahmed
Fair play award	Bengaluru
←2015 2017 →

The2016 AFC Cup was the 13th edition of theAFC Cup,Asia's secondary clubfootball tournament organized by theAsian Football Confederation (AFC).^[1]

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya from Iraq defeated India'sBengaluru in thefinal to win their first AFC Cup title, becoming the first Iraqi team to win the competition.^[2]Johor Darul Ta'zim, the defending champions, were eliminated in the semi-finals by Bengaluru.

The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014,^[3] which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014.^[4] The 46AFC member associations (excluding the associate memberNorthern Mariana Islands) are 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 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2014 rankings:^[5]

• The associations are split into West Zone and East Zone, with 23 associations in each zone:
  • West Zone consists of the associations fromWest Asia,Central Asia,South Asia, except India and Maldives
  • East Zone consists of the associations fromASEAN andEast Asia, plus India and Maldives
• In each zone, there are a total of 12 direct slots in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
• All associations which do not receive direct slots in the AFC Champions League group stage are eligible to enter the AFC Cup.
• The associations ranked 7th to 16th in each zone get at least one direct slot in the group stage (including losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off), while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:
  • The associations ranked 7th and 8th each get two direct slots.
  • The associations ranked 9th to 12th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot (in play-off round).
  • The associations ranked 13th to 16th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot (in preliminary round).
  • The associations ranked 17th or below each get one play-off slot (in qualifying round).

The AFC Competitions Committee decided on the participation of member associations in the 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC Cup on 28 November 2014.^[6][7][8]

The following table shows the slot allocation for the 2016 AFC Cup, which are adjusted accordingly since some of the slots are unused.

West Zone Rank Member Association Points[5] Slots ACL Play-off Group stage Play-off round Qualif. round 6 10 Iraq[A] 47.106 0 2 0 0 7 11 Kuwait[B] 45.423 0 0 0 0 8 12 Jordan 44.309 1 1 0 0 9 14 Oman[C] 30.586 0 2 0 0 10 16 Bahrain[D] 25.547 0 1 1 0 11 17 Lebanon[D] 25.043 0 1 1 0 12 19 Syria[D] 22.883 0 1 1 0 13 25 Palestine[E] 15.911 0 1 1 0 14 28 Tajikistan[E] 11.761 0 1 1 0 15 29 Afghanistan[F] 11.464 0 0 0 0 16 30 Turkmenistan[E] 10.554 0 1 1 0 17 32 Kyrgyzstan[G] 8.761 0 0 1 1 18 35 Yemen[H] 5.249 0 0 0 0 19 36 Sri Lanka[H] 4.071 0 0 0 0 20 38 Nepal[H] 3.268 0 0 0 0 21 39 Pakistan 2.732 0 0 0 1 22 46 Bhutan 0.000 0 0 0 1 Total 1 11 7 3 22

East Zone Rank Member Association Points[5] Slots ACL Play-off Group stage Play-off round Qualif. round 7 18 Indonesia[I] 25.004 0 0 0 0 8 20 Hong Kong 20.077 1 1 0 0 9 21 Myanmar[J] 18.949 1 1 0 0 10 22 Malaysia[J] 18.153 1 1 0 0 11 23 India[J] 16.756 1 1 0 0 12 24 Singapore[J] 16.097 1 1 0 0 13 26 Maldives[K] 15.884 0 2 0 0 14 27 Philippines[K] 12.268 0 2 0 0 15 31 North Korea[L] 9.000 0 0 0 0 16 33 Laos[M] 7.554 0 1 0 0 17 34 Guam[N] 5.946 0 0 0 0 18 37 Bangladesh[O] 3.643 0 0 0 1 19 39 East Timor[N] 2.732 0 0 0 0 20 41 Macau 2.625 0 0 0 1 21 42 Cambodia[N] 2.464 0 0 0 0 22 43 Chinese Taipei[N] 2.089 0 0 0 0 23 44 Mongolia 1.554 0 0 0 1 24 45 Brunei[N] 0.804 0 0 0 0 Total 5 10 0 3 18

Notes

The following 40 teams from 23 associations entered the competition.^[9]

West Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups A–D) Naft Al-Wasat 2014–15 Iraqi Premier League champions 1st none Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2014–15 Iraqi Premier League runners-up 1st none Al-Wehdat 2014–15 Jordan League champions[Note ACL] 9th 2015 Al-Faisaly 2014–15 Jordan FA Cup winners 8th 2013 Al-Orouba 2014–15 Oman Professional League champions and2014–15 Sultan Qaboos Cup winners 4th 2012 Fanja 2014–15 Oman Professional League runners-up 4th 2015 Al-Muharraq 2014–15 Bahrain First Division League champions 5th 2009 Al-Ahed 2014–15 Lebanese Premier League champions 7th 2012 Al-Jaish 2014–15 Syrian Premier League champions 6th 2015 Shabab Al-Dhahiriya 2014–15 West Bank Premier League champions 2nd 2014 Istiklol 2015 Tajik League champions and2015 Tajik Cup winners 2nd 2015 Altyn Asyr 2015 Ýokary Liga champions and2015 Turkmenistan Cup winners 2nd 2015 Entering inqualifying play-off (play-off round) Al-Hidd 2015 Bahraini King's Cup winners 3rd 2015 Tripoli 2014–15 Lebanese FA Cup winners 2nd 2004 Al-Wahda 2015 Syrian Cup winners 5th 2015 Ahli Al-Khaleel 2014–15 Palestine Cup winners 1st none Khujand 2015 Tajik League runners-up 1st none Balkan 2015 Ýokary Liga runners-up 4th 2007 Alay Osh 2015 Kyrgyzstan League champions 2nd 2014

East Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups E–H) Kitchee 2014–15 Hong Kong Premier League champions[Note ACL] 6th 2015 South China 2014–15 Hong Kong season play-off winners 7th 2015 Yangon United 2015 Myanmar National League champions[Note ACL] 4th 2014 Ayeyawady United 2015 General Aung San Shield winners 4th 2015 Johor Darul Ta'zim 2015 Malaysia Super League champions[Note ACL] 3rd 2015 Selangor 2015 Malaysia Super League runners-up[Note MAS] 5th 2014 Mohun Bagan 2014–15 I-League champions[Note ACL] 3rd 2009 Bengaluru 2014–15 Indian Federation Cup winners 2nd 2015 Tampines Rovers 2015 S.League runners-up[Note ACL][Note SIN] 8th 2014 Balestier Khalsa 2015 S.League 4th place[Note SIN] 2nd 2015 New Radiant 2015 Dhivehi Premier League champions 8th 2015 Maziya 2015 Maldives President's Cup winners 4th 2015 Ceres 2015 UFL Division 1 champions 2nd 2015 Kaya 2015 UFL Cup winners 1st none Lao Toyota 2015 Lao Premier League champions 2nd 2015

Team	Qualifying method	App	Last App
Entering inqualifying round (teams not split into zones for qualifying round)[10]
Alga	2014 Kyrgyzstan League 3rd place	1st	none
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	2013–14 Bangladesh Football Premier League champions	1st	none
K-Electric	2014–15 Pakistan Premier League champions	1st	none
Benfica de Macau	2015 Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol champions	1st	none
Khoromkhon	2014 Mongolian Premier League champions	1st	none
Druk United	2014 Bhutan National League champions	1st	none

Notes

Naft Al-Wasat

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya

Jordan

Teams fromJordan:
Al-Wehdat
Al-Faisaly

Al-Orouba

Fanja

Al-Muharraq
Al-Hidd (p)

Lebanon

Teams fromLebanon:
Al-Ahed
Tripoli (p)

Syria

Teams fromSyria:
Al-Jaish
Al-Wahda (p)

Palestine

Teams fromPalestine:
Shabab Al-Dhahiriya
Ahli Al-Khaleel (p)

Istiklol

Khujand (p)

Altyn Asyr

Balkan (p)

Alay Osh (p)

Alga (q)

K-Electric (q)

Druk United (q)

Kitchee
South China

Yangon U

Ayeyawady U

Johor DT

Selangor

Mohun Bagan

Bengaluru

Tampines R
Balestier K

New Radiant
Maziya

Ceres

Kaya

Lao Toyota

Sheikh Jamal (q)

Khoromkhon (q)

Benfica (q)

class=notpageimage|

Location of teams of the2016 AFC Cup.
West Zone
East Zone
(p) Qualifying play-off participants
(q) Qualifying round participants

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws are held inKuala Lumpur,Malaysia).^[11]

The draw for the qualifying round was held on 29 June 2015 at the AFC House inKuala Lumpur,Malaysia. The six teams were drawn into two groups of three.^[10]

In the qualifying round, each group was played on a single round-robin basis at the pre-selected hosts. The winners of each group advanced to either thequalifying play-off or thegroup stage (depending on number of teams in each zone and geographical location).

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KEL	DRU	KHO
1	K-Electric	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1	4	Qualifying play-off		—	3–3	—
2	Druk United(H)	2	0	2	0	3	3	0	2			—	—	0–0
3	Khoromkhon	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1			0–1	—	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SJD	ALG	BEN
1	Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	2	1	1	0	5	2	+3	4	Group stage[a]		—	—	4–1
2	Alga(H)	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4			1–1	—	—
3	Benfica de Macau	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	0			—	0–2	—

In the qualifying play-off, each tie was played as a single match.Extra time andpenalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 10.2). The four winners of the play-off round advanced to thegroup stage to join the 28 direct entrants.^[1]

The bracket of the qualifying play-off was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting each match.^[12][13]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Zone
Al-Hidd	2–0	K-Electric
Tripoli	0–0 (a.e.t.) (7–6p)	Alay Osh
Al-Wahda	2–0	Balkan
Ahli Al-Khaleel	1–0	Khujand

The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2015, 15:00MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel inKuala Lumpur,Malaysia.^[9] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.^[12][13]In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-awayround-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to theround of 16.^[1]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AHE	WEH	HID	ALT
1	Al-Ahed	6	4	0	2	14	9	+5	12	Knockout stage		—	3–2	1–0	3–0
2	Al-Wehdat	6	2	2	2	10	12	−2	8			3–2	—	2–0	1–1
3	Al-Hidd	6	2	1	3	11	12	−1	7			2–5	6–2	—	1–1
4	Altyn Asyr	6	1	3	2	5	7	−2	6			2–0	0–0	1–2	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NAF	FAI	TRI	IST
1	Naft Al-Wasat	6	5	0	1	9	3	+6	15	Knockout stage		—	1–0	1–0	2–0
2	Al-Faisaly	6	3	2	1	10	6	+4	11			2–1	—	3–1	4–2
3	Tripoli	6	2	1	3	8	10	−2	7			1–3	1–1	—	2–1
4	Istiklol	6	0	1	5	4	12	−8	1			0–1	0–0	1–3	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		QUW	WAH	DHA	ORU
1	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	6	5	0	1	15	7	+8	15	Knockout stage		—	1–0	4–1	2–1
2	Al-Wahda	6	3	0	3	11	9	+2	9			5–2	—	0–3[a]	2–1
3	Shabab Al-Dhahiriya	6	2	1	3	7	10	−3	7			0–2	0–3[b]	—	2–0
4	Al-Orouba	6	1	1	4	5	12	−7	4			0–4	2–1	1–1	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MHQ	JAI	KHA	FAN
1	Al-Muharraq	6	5	1	0	9	3	+6	16	Knockout stage		—	1–0	2–1	1–0
2	Al-Jaish	6	3	1	2	5	3	+2	10			0–2	—	1–0	1–0
3	Ahli Al-Khaleel	6	1	2	3	7	11	−4	5			1–1	0–3[a]	—	2–1
4	Fanja	6	0	2	4	5	9	−4	2			1–2	0–0	3–3	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		CER	TAM	SEL	SJD
1	Ceres	6	3	3	0	12	4	+8	12	Knockout stage		—	2–1	2–2	5–0
2	Tampines Rovers	6	3	1	2	10	6	+4	10			1–1	—	1–0	4–0
3	Selangor	6	2	2	2	8	8	0	8			0–0	0–1	—	2–1
4	Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi	6	1	0	5	7	19	−12	3			0–2	3–2	3–4	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KIT	KAY	BAL	NRA
1	Kitchee	6	4	1	1	8	1	+7	13	Knockout stage		—	1–0	4–0	0–0
2	Kaya	6	3	1	2	5	2	+3	10			0–1	—	1–0	1–0
3	Balestier Khalsa	6	2	1	3	6	10	−4	7			1–0	0–3	—	3–0
4	New Radiant	6	0	3	3	2	8	−6	3			0–2	0–0	2–2	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MOH	SCA	YAN	MAZ
1	Mohun Bagan	6	3	2	1	14	9	+5	11	Knockout stage		—	0–3	3–2	5–2
2	South China	6	3	0	3	9	9	0	9			0–4	—	2–1	2–0
3	Yangon United	6	2	2	2	10	10	0	8			1–1	2–1	—	3–2
4	Maziya	6	1	2	3	8	13	−5	5			1–1	2–1	1–1	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JDT	BFC	AYE	LAO
1	Johor Darul Ta'zim	6	6	0	0	21	3	+18	18	Knockout stage		—	3–0	8–1	3–0
2	Bengaluru	6	3	0	3	9	10	−1	9			0–1	—	5–3	2–1
3	Ayeyawady United	6	2	0	4	12	20	−8	6			1–2	0–1	—	4–2
4	Lao Toyota	6	1	0	5	8	17	−9	3			1–4	2–1	2–3	—

In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played asingle-elimination tournament, with the teams split between the two zones until the final. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie was played on a home-and-awaytwo-legged basis, while in the round of 16 and final, each tie was played as a single match. Theaway goals rule (for two-legged ties),extra time (away goals would not apply in extra time) andpenalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 12.4).^[1]

Starting from this season, the knockout stage was split between the two zones until the final, similar to the AFC Champions League (Regulations Article 12.3).^[1]

	Round of 16				Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2
	Al-Wehdat	1
					Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1	4	5
					Al-Jaish	1	0	1
	Naft Al-Wasat	0
	Al-Jaish	1
											Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1	3	4
	West Zone
											Al-Ahed	1	2	3
	Al-Ahed	4
	Al-Wahda	0
					Al-Ahed	1	2	3
					Al-Muharraq	0	0	0
	Al-Muharraq	1
	Al-Faisaly	0
																	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1
																	Bengaluru	0
	Ceres	0
	South China(a.e.t.)	1
					South China	1	1	2
					Johor Darul Ta'zim	1	2	3
	Johor Darul Ta'zim	7
	Kaya	2
											Johor Darul Ta'zim	1	1	2
	East Zone
											Bengaluru	1	3	4
	Kitchee	2
	Bengaluru	3
					Bengaluru	1	0	1
					Tampines Rovers	0	0	0
	Mohun Bagan	1
	Tampines Rovers(a.e.t.)	2

In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group from the same zone, with the group winners hosting the match.^[13]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Zone
Al-Ahed	4–0	Al-Wahda
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2–1	Al-Wehdat
Naft Al-Wasat	0–1	Al-Jaish
Al-Muharraq	1–0	Al-Faisaly
East Zone
Ceres	0–1 (a.e.t.)	South China
Mohun Bagan	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Tampines Rovers
Kitchee	2–3	Bengaluru
Johor Darul Ta'zim	7–2	Kaya

In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Zone were drawn into two ties, and the four teams from the East Zone were drawn into the other two ties, with the order of legs also decided by the draw.^[20]

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 9 June 2016, 15:00MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel inKuala Lumpur,Malaysia.^[21] There was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.^[20]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	5–1	Al-Jaish	1–1	4–0
Al-Ahed	3–0	Al-Muharraq	1–0	2–0
East Zone
South China	2–3	Johor Darul Ta'zim	1–1	1–2
Bengaluru	1–0	Tampines Rovers	1–0	0–0

In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Zone played each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Zone played each other, with the order of legs determined by the quarter-final draw.^[20]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	4–3	Al-Ahed	1–1	3–2
East Zone
Johor Darul Ta'zim	2–4	Bengaluru	1–1	1–3

In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the host team decided by a draw, held after the quarter-final draw.^[20]

5 November 2016 (2016-11-05)

19:00 UTC+3

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1–0	Bengaluru
Ahmad 70'	Report

Suheim bin Hamad Stadium,Doha (Qatar)

Attendance: 5,806

Referee:Kim Jong-hyeok (South Korea)

Award	Player	Team
Most Valuable Player	Hammadi Ahmed[22]	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Top Goalscorer	Hammadi Ahmed[22]	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Fair Play Award	—	Bengaluru FC[23]

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	R16	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F	Total
1	Hammadi Ahmed	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2	1	2	1	2	3	1	1	1		1	1	16
2	Adrián Gallardo	Ceres	1	2	1	1		3							8
	Mohd Safiq Rahim	Johor Darul Ta'zim	3	1	2			1					1		8
4	Christopher Chizoba	Ayeyawady United		3		2		1							6
	Jorge Pereyra Díaz	Johor Darul Ta'zim	1			1			1	1	1	1			6
	Mouhamadou Dramé	Al-Ahed		1	2	1			2						6
	Jeje Lalpekhlua	Mohun Bagan	2	1	2		1								6
	Juan Martín Lucero	Johor Darul Ta'zim	2						3		1				6
	Raja Rafe	Al-Wahda	1		4		1								6
	Rufino	Kitchee	1			2		2	1						6

Note: Goals scored in the qualifying play-off are not counted when determining top scorer (see regulations, Article 77.4).^[1]

Source: the-AFC.com^[24][25][26]

• 2016 AFC Champions League

• AFC Cup, the-AFC.com

• 2016 AFC Cup
• AFC Champions League Two seasons
• 2016 in Asian men's continental football

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Short description matches Wikidata