2022 AFC Cup

2022 AFC Cup
The 2022 AFC Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
This season was the last in an all-year-round (spring-to-autumn) schedule; from 2023 the competition was switched to an autumn-to-spring schedule.
Bahraini club Al-Muharraq were the title holders, having won their second AFC Cup title in 2021. As they failed to obtain the AFC license, they did not defend their title. Al-Seeb of Oman won its first continental title. They automatically qualified for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League and entered the qualifying play-offs, since Omani teams were unable to qualify through their domestic performance.
Association team allocation
The 47 AFC member associations were ranked based on their clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions (their national team's FIFA World Rankings no longer considered). The slots were allocated according to the following criteria according to the Entry Manual:
The associations were split into five zones (Article 5.1):
West Asia Zone consisted of the 12 associations from the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF).
South Asia Zone consisted of the 7 associations from the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).
Central Asia Zone consisted of the 6 associations from Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).
ASEAN Zone consisted of the 12 associations from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).
East Asia Zone consisted of the 10 associations from the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF).
The AFC may reallocate one or more associations to another zone if necessary for sporting reasons.
Excluding the top five associations in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation, all other associations were eligible to enter the AFC Cup.
The teams from associations ranked 6th, 11th and 12th which were eliminated in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs, entered the AFC Cup group stage (Article 3.2). The following rules were applied:
The associations ranked 6th in both the West Region and the East Region, while allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage without taking away any direct slot from other associations, were not ranked in each zone for AFC Cup slot allocation (Article 5.3).
If they advanced to the AFC Champions League group stage, the AFC Cup group stage slot would be filled by the standby team from their association if such team would be available (Article 5.12).
The rules above dud not apply to the AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders, which were allocated AFC Champions League play-off slots if they did not qualify for the tournament through domestic performance.
In the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone, there are three groups in the group stage, including 9 direct slots, with the 3 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.2). The slots in each zone are distributed as follows:
The associations ranked 1st to 3rd were each allocated two direct slots.
The associations ranked 4th to 6th were each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 7th or below were each allocated one play-off slot.
If any zone had an association ranked 6th for AFC Champions League slot allocation, they were allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage. There were 10 direct slots, with the 2 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs.
In the South Asia Zone, the Central Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone, there was a single group in the group stage, including 3 direct slots, with the 1 remaining slot filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.2). The slots in each zone were distributed as follows:
The associations ranked 1st to 3rd were each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 4th or below were each allocated one play-off slot.
If any zone has an association ranked 6th for AFC Champions League slot allocation, they were allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage. There were 4 direct slots, and to ensure equal opportunity in each zone, another group was added to this zone in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.4.1).
If any zone had at least 7 play-off slots, to ensure equal opportunity in each zone, another group was added to this zone in the group stage, with the 5 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.4.2).
If any association with direct slots did not fulfill any one of the AFC Cup criteria, they had all their direct slots converted into play-off slots. The direct slots would be redistributed to the highest eligible association by the following criteria (Articles 5.7 and 5.8):
For each association, the maximum number of total slots would be two (Articles 3.4 and 3.5).
If any association was allocated one additional direct slot, one play-off slot was annulled and not redistributed.
If any association with only play-off slot(s), including those mentioned above, did not fulfill the minimum AFC Cup criteria, the play-off slot(s) would be annulled and not redistributed (Articles 5.10 and 5.11).
For each association, the maximum number of total slots was one-third of the total number of eligible teams (excluding foreign teams) in the top division (Article 5.6). Based on this rule, any direct slots given up would be redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.10).
All participating teams had to be granted an AFC Champions League or AFC Cup license, and (apart from cup winners) finish in the top half of their top division (Articles 7.1 and 9.5). If any association did not have enough teams which satisfied this criteria, any direct slots given up would be redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.9).
If any team granted a license refused to participate, their slot, either direct or play-off, is annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.11).
Association ranking
For the 2022 AFC Cup, the associations were allocated slots according to their AFC Club Competitions Ranking which was published on 29 November 2019, which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup during the period between 2016 and 2019.
Notes
Teams
Notes
Schedule
The tournament ran from April to October 2022, so as not to clash with the World Cup.
The final schedule of the competition was as follows:
Notes
W: West Asia Zone
S: South Asia Zone
C: Central Asia Zone
A: ASEAN Zone
E: East Asia Zone
Qualifying play-offs
Preliminary round 1
Preliminary round 2
Play-off round
Group stage
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Group J
Ranking of runner-up teams
West Asia Zone
ASEAN Zone
Knockout stage
Bracket
Zonal semi-finals
Zonal finals
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals
Inter-zone play-off final
Final
Top scorers
See also
2022 AFC Champions League
Notes
References
External links
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