2011 AFC Cup
The 2011 AFC Cup was the eighth edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia. Qualifying teams. The following is the list of participants confirmed by the AFC. There were 28 direct entries while 4 teams joined as losers of the 2011 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs. Schedule. Schedule of dates for 2011 competition. Group stage. The draw for the group stage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010. Clubs from the same country may not be drawn into  the same group. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage. Knockout stage. Round of 16. Based on the results from the group stage, the matchups of the round of 16 were decided as below. Each tie was played in one match, hosted by the winners of each group ("Team 1") against the runners-up of another group ("Team 2"). Quarter-finals. The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 June 2011. In this draw, the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are exactly  two clubs from the same country, they may not face each other in the quarter-finals; however, if there are more than two clubs from the same country, they may face each other in the quarter-finals. Final. The final of the 2011 AFC Cup was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by draw. Awards. The following awards were given for the 2011 AFC Cup: