The 2013 AFC Cup was the tenth edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia.
In an all-Kuwait final, defending champions Al-Kuwait defeated Al-Qadsia 2–0 to win their third AFC Cup title in five years, becoming the first team to win the AFC Cup three times. Both finalists also qualified for the 2014 AFC Champions League.
Association team allocation The AFC laid out the procedure for deciding the participating associations and the allocation of slots, with the final decision to be made by the AFC in November 2012. The following changes to the list of participating associations may be made from the 2012 AFC Cup if the AFC approved the following applications made by any association: An association originally participating in the AFC Cup may apply to participate in the 2013 AFC Champions League. An association may participate in both the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup if it only partially fulfills the AFC Champions League criteria. An association originally participating in the AFC President's Cup may apply to participate in the 2013 AFC Cup.
The following changes in the participating associations were made compared to the previous year: Losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off did not participate in the AFC Cup. Tajikistan clubs' participation was upgraded from the AFC President's Cup to the AFC Cup starting from 2013 by the AFC.
Each participating association was given two entries: Team 1 (league champions) of each association directly entered the group stage. Team 2 (cup winners or league runners-up) of each association either directly entered the group stage or entered the qualifying play-off, depending on the evaluation by the AFC.
+West Asia ZoneMemberAssociationSlotsGroup stagePlay-off Bahrain20 Iraq20 Jordan20 Kuwait20 Lebanon20 Oman20 Syria11 Tajikistan11 Yemen11Total153
+East Asia ZoneMemberAssociationSlotsGroup stagePlay-off Hong Kong20 India20 Indonesia20 Malaysia20 Maldives20 Myanmar20 Singapore20 Vietnam20Total160
Teams The following teams entered the competition.
+West Asia ZoneTeamQualifying methodAppLast AppGroup stage direct entrants (Groups A–D) Al-Riffa2011–12 Bahrain First Division League champions2nd2010 Al-Muharraq2012 Bahraini King's Cup winners5th2009 Erbil2011–12 Iraqi Elite League champions4th2012 Dohuk2011–12 Iraqi Elite League runners-up2nd2011 Al-Faisaly2011–12 Jordan League champions and 2011–12 Jordan FA Cup winners7th2012 Al-Ramtha2011–12 Jordan League runners-up1stnone Al-Qadsia2011–12 Kuwaiti Premier League champions and 2011–12 Kuwait Emir Cup winners4th2012 Al-Kuwait2011–12 Kuwaiti Premier League runners-up5th2012 Safa2011–12 Lebanese Premier League champions4th2012 Al-Ansar2011–12 Lebanese FA Cup winners4th2011 Fanja2011–12 Oman Elite League champions1stnone Dhofar2011 Sultan Qaboos Cup winners3rd2007 Al-Shorta2011–12 Syrian Premier League champions2nd2012 Ravshan Kulob2012 Tajik League champions1stnone Al-Shaab Ibb2011–12 Yemeni League champions2nd2004Qualifying play-off participants Al-Wahda2012 Syrian Cup winners2nd2004 Regar-TadAZ2012 Tajik Cup winners1stnone Al-Ahli Taizz2012 Yemeni President Cup winners1stnone
+East Asia ZoneTeamQualifying methodAppLast AppGroup stage direct entrants (Groups E–H) Kitchee2011–12 Hong Kong First Division League champions3rd2012 Sunray Cave JC Sun Hei2011–12 Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield winners4th2007 East Bengal2011–12 I-League runners-up2012 Indian Federation Cup winners7th2012 Churchill Brothers2011–12 I-League 3rd place2nd2010 Semen Padang2011–12 Indonesian Premier League champions1stnone Persibo Bojonegoro2012 Piala Indonesia winners1stnone Kelantan2012 Malaysia Super League champions and 2012 Malaysia FA Cup winners2nd2012 Selangor2012 Malaysia Super League 3rd place3rd2010 New Radiant2012 Dhivehi League champions5th2008 Maziya2012 Maldives FA Cup winners1stnone Yangon United2012 Myanmar National League champions2nd2012 Ayeyawady United2012 MFF Cup winners2nd2012 Tampines Rovers2012 S.League champions6th2012 Warriors2012 Singapore Cup winners3rd2008 SHB Đà Nẵng2012 V-League champions2nd2010 Sài Gòn Xuân Thành2012 Vietnamese Cup winners1stnone
Al-Muharraq (Bahrain) withdrew after the draw was held. As a result, Regar-TadAZ (Tajikistan), which were initially to enter the qualifying play-off, instead directly entered the group stage, and only two teams participated in the qualifying play-off.
Notes
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws held at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifying play-offRound 16 December 20129 February 2013Group stageMatchday 15–6 March 2013Matchday 212–13 March 2013Matchday 32–3 April 2013Matchday 49–10 April 2013Matchday 523–24 April 2013Matchday 630 April–1 May 2013Knock-out stageRound of 1614–15 May 2013Quarter-finals20 June 201317 September 201324 September 2013Semi-finals1 October 201322 October 2013Final2 November 2013
For 2013, the round of 16 continued to be played as a single match instead of over two legs on a home-and-away basis as originally planned.
Qualifying play-off
The draw for the qualifying play-off was held on 6 December 2012. Each tie was played as a single match, with extra time and penalty shoot-out used to decide the winner if necessary. The winner advanced to the group stage to join the 31 automatic qualifiers.
Due to the withdrawal of Al-Muharraq after the draw was held, Regar-TadAZ, which were initially drawn to play the winner between Al-Wahda and Al-Ahli Taizz for a place in the group stage, were directly entered into Group A, while the winner between Al-Wahda and Al-Ahli Taizz would be entered into Group B to replace Al-Muharraq.
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 6 December 2012. 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.
Tiebreakers The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned (away goals do not apply) Goal difference in all the group matches Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card) Drawing of lots
Group A
Tiebreakers Al-Riffa are ranked ahead of Safa on head-to-head record.
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Tiebreakers New Radiant and Yangon United are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.
Group G
Group H
Tiebreakers Selangor are ranked ahead of Sài Gòn Xuân Thành on head-to-head record.
Knock-out stage
In the knock-out 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 do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.
Bracket
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.
!colspan=3|West Asia Zone
!colspan=3|East Asia Zone
Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final (to decide the host team) was held on 20 June 2013. In this draw, teams from different zones could play each other, and the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are two teams from the same association, they may not play each other in the quarter-finals.
Semi-finals
Final
Awards AwardPlayerTeamMost Valuable Player Bader Al-Mutawa Al-QadsiaTop Goalscorer Issam Jemâa Al-Kuwait
Top scorers RankPlayerTeamTotal1 Issam Jemâa Al-Kuwait 222 432 1162 Jordi Tarrés Kitchee2211131 1 123 Edward Wilson Semen Padang1 12221 1 104 Bader Al-Mutawa Al-Qadsia 122112 9 Ali Ashfaq New Radiant 5 3 1 9 Adama Koné Yangon United311121 97 Ahmad Al Douni Al-Riffa (GS+R16) Al-Shorta (QF) 3 111 1 7 Amjad Radhi Erbil11 2 21 7 Rogerinho Al-Kuwait1111 1 11710 Chidi Edeh East Bengal 11 13 6 Gastón Merlo SHB Đà Nẵng11 31 6 Mohamed Umair New Radiant11 112 6
See also 2013 AFC Champions League 2013 AFC President's Cup
References
External links