# 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs

The 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs were played from 7 April to 23 June 2021. A total of 15 teams competed in the qualifying play-offs to decide seven of the 40 places in the group stage of the 2021 AFC Champions League.

## Teams

The following 15 teams, split into two regions (West Region and East Region), entered the qualifying play-offs, consisting of two rounds:
* 2 teams entered in the preliminary round.
* 13 teams entered in the play-off round.
| Region | Teams entering in play-off round | Teams entering in preliminary round |
| West Region | Al-Gharafa Al-Wehda Foolad Al-Wahda Al-Ain Al-Zawraa Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya AGMK | |
| East Region | Shanghai Port (Beijing Guoan) Cerezo Osaka Pohang Steelers Daegu FC Chiangrai United Ratchaburi Mitr Phol Melbourne City Kaya–Iloilo | Melbourne City Brisbane Roar Kaya–Iloilo Shan United |

## Format

In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.

## Schedule

The schedule of each round was as follows. On 11 March 2021, the AFC announced that the preliminary round and play-off round matches in the East Region, which were originally scheduled to be played on 7 April and 14 April 2021, had been postponed to June/July 2021, and were played in centralised venues of their respective group stage matches.
| Round | West Region | East Region |
| Preliminary round | Not played | Not played |
| Play-off round | 7 and 10 April 2021 | 23 June 2021 |

## Bracket

The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each region was determined based on each team's association ranking and their seeding within their association, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match in the West Region. Teams from the same association could not be placed into the same tie. The eight winners of the play-off round (four each from both West Region and East Region) advanced to the group stage to join the 32 direct entrants.

### Play-off West 1

* AGMK advanced to Group A.
| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Play-off round | Play-off round | Play-off round |
| | | | Al-Gharafa | Al-Gharafa | 0 |
| | | | AGMK (a.e.t.) | AGMK (a.e.t.) | 1 |

### Play-off West 2

* Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya advanced to Group B.
| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Play-off round | Play-off round | Play-off round |
| | | | Al-Wehda | Al-Wehda | 1 (2) |
| | | | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (p) | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (p) | 1 (3) |

### Play-off West 3

* Foolad advanced to Group D.
| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Play-off round | Play-off round | Play-off round |
| | | | Foolad | Foolad | 4 |
| | | | Al-Ain | Al-Ain | 0 |

### Play-off West 4

* Al-Wahda advanced to Group E.
| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Play-off round | Play-off round | Play-off round |
| | | | Al-Wahda | Al-Wahda | 2 |
| | | | Al-Zawraa | Al-Zawraa | 1 |

### Play-off East 1

* Kaya–Iloilo advanced to Group F.
| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Play-off round | Play-off round | Play-off round |
| | | | Shanghai Port | Shanghai Port | 0 |
| Brisbane Roar (w/o) | Brisbane Roar (w/o) | — | Kaya–Iloilo | Kaya–Iloilo | 1 |
| Kaya–Iloilo | Kaya–Iloilo | — | | | |

### Play-off East 2

* Cerezo Osaka advanced to Group J after Shan United and Melbourne City withdrew from the competition.
| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Play-off round | Play-off round | Play-off round |
| | | | Cerezo Osaka (w/o) | Cerezo Osaka (w/o) | — |
| Melbourne City (w/o) | Melbourne City (w/o) | — | Melbourne City | Melbourne City | — |
| Shan United | Shan United | — | | | |

### Play-off East 3

* Pohang Steelers and Ratchaburi Mitr Phol advanced to Group G after Jiangsu ceased operations.
| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Play-off round | Play-off round | Play-off round |
| | | | Pohang Steelers | Pohang Steelers | — |
| | | | Ratchaburi Mitr Phol | Ratchaburi Mitr Phol | — |

### Play-off East 4

* Daegu FC advanced to Group I and Chiangrai United advanced to Group H.
| Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | Play-off round | Play-off round | Play-off round |
| | | | Daegu FC | Daegu FC | — |
| | | | Chiangrai United | Chiangrai United | — |

## Preliminary round
### Summary

A total of two teams will play in the preliminary round.
East Region :
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |

### East Region
## Play-off round
### Summary

A total of 14 teams played in the preliminary round 2: 13 teams which entered in this round, and one winner of the preliminary round.
West Region :
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
East Region :
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |