2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs
The 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs was 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: 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. 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. Preliminary round. Summary. A total of two teams will play in the preliminary round. 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.