2015 AFC Cup
The 2015 AFC Cup was the 12th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Johor Darul Ta'zim won the tournament after defeating Istiklol in the final. Al-Qadsia were the defending champions, but they were eliminated in the semi-finals after the Kuwait Football Association was suspended by FIFA. Association team allocation. The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014, which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014. The member associations 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: 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. Teams. The following 41 teams from 23 associations entered the competition. Teams in "italics" played in the 2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off, but failed to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage (had they advanced  to the AFC Champions League group stage, they would have been replaced by another team from the same association). Schedule. The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Qualifying play-off. The bracket for the qualifying play-off, which consisted of two rounds (preliminary round and play-off round), was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team. Each tie was played as a single match, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the  winner if necessary. The winners of each tie in the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 27 automatic qualifiers. Group stage. The draw for the group stage was held on 11 December 2014. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group. Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16. The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1  point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order: Knockout stage. In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, while in the round of 16 and final, each tie was played as a single match. The away goals rule (for two-legged ties), extra time (away goals would not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary . Round of 16. In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group in the same zone, with the group winners hosting the match. Quarter-finals. The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 June 2015. Teams from different zones could be drawn into the same tie, and there was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie. Semi-finals. In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined by the quarter-final draw. Final. In the final, the host team was  determined by a draw, held after the quarter-final draw.