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 from Malaysia won the tournament after defeating Istiklol from Tajikistan in the final.
Al-Qadsia, the defending champions, 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 top 24 member associations (MAs) as per the AFC rankings which do not receive direct slots in the AFC Champions League are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup group stage (including losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off). The MAs ranked 25 to 32 are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup group stage, and the associations ranked 33 to 47 are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup qualifying play-off (including those of "emerging countries" which participated in the AFC President's Cup, whose last edition was in 2014).
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.
Participation for 2015 AFC CupParticipatingNot participating
+West ZoneRankMemberAssociationPointsSlotsACLGroupstagePlay-offZoneAll 610 Iraq47.1060200 711 Kuwait45.4231100 812 Jordan44.3091100 914 Oman30.58610101016 Bahrain25.54710101117 Lebanon25.04301101219 Syria22.88301101325 Palestine15.911011 (0)0 (1)1428 Tajikistan11.76101011529 Afghanistan11.46400001630 Turkmenistan10.55400021732 Kyrgyzstan8.76100011835 Yemen5.24900011936 Sri Lanka4.07100002037 Bangladesh3.64300012138 Nepal3.2680000 (1)2239 Pakistan2.73200002346 Bhutan0.0000000Total485611
+East ZoneRankMemberAssociationPointsSlotsACLGroupstagePlay-offZoneAll 718 Indonesia25.004110 820 Hong Kong20.077110 921 Myanmar18.9491101022 Malaysia18.1531101123 India16.7561101224 Singapore16.0971101326 Maldives15.8840111427 Philippines12.2680111531 North Korea9.0000001633 Laos7.5540101734 Guam5.9460001839 East Timor2.7320001941 Macau2.6250002042 Cambodia2.4640002143 Chinese Taipei2.0890002244 Mongolia1.5540002345 Brunei0.804000Total692
Notes
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).
+West ZoneTeamQualifying methodAppLast AppGroup stage direct entrants (Groups A–D) Al-Shorta2013–14 Iraqi Premier League first place2nd2014 Erbil2013–14 Iraqi Premier League second place6th2014 Al-Qadsia2013–14 Kuwaiti Premier League champions6th2014 Al-Kuwait2013–14 Kuwait Emir Cup winners7th2014 Al-Wehdat2013–14 Jordan League champions and 2013–14 Jordan FA Cup winners8th2012 Al-Jazeera2013–14 Jordan League 3rd place1stnone Al-Nahda2013–14 Oman Professional League champions3rd2010 Riffa2013–14 Bahrain First Division League champions4th2014 Al-Nejmeh2013–14 Lebanese Premier League champions7th2014 Al-Wahda2013–14 Syrian Premier League champions4th2014 Taraji Wadi Al-Nes2013–14 West Bank Premier League champions1stnone Istiklol2014 Tajik League champions and 2014 Tajik Cup winners1stnoneQualifying play-off participantsEntering in play-off round Fanja2013–14 Sultan Qaboos Cup winners3rd2014 Al-Hidd2013–14 Bahrain First Division League 3rd place2nd2014 Salam Zgharta2013–14 Lebanese FA Cup winners1stnone Al-Jaish2014 Syrian Cup winners5th2014Entering in preliminary round Hilal Al-Quds2013–14 Palestine Cup winners1stnone Khayr Vahdat2014 Tajik League runners-up1stnone Altyn Asyr2014 Ýokary Liga champions1stnone Ahal2014 Turkmenistan Cup winners1stnone Dordoi2014 Kyrgyzstan League champions1stnone Al-Saqr2013–14 Yemeni League champions3rd2011 Sheikh Russel2014 AFC President's Cup group stage winners1stnone2014 AFC President's Cup group stage winners1stnone
+East ZoneTeamQualifying methodAppLast AppGroup stage direct entrants (Groups E–H) Persib Bandung2014 Indonesia Super League champions1stnone2014 Indonesia Super League runners-up3rd2014 Kitchee2013–14 Hong Kong First Division League champions5th2014 South China2013–14 Hong Kong season play-off winners6th2014 Yadanarbon2014 Myanmar National League champions1stnone Ayeyawady United2014 MFF Cup winners3rd2013 Johor Darul Ta'zim2014 Malaysia Super League champions2nd2009 Pahang2014 Malaysia FA Cup winners3rd2007 Bengaluru2013–14 I-League champions1stnone East Bengal2013–14 I-League runners-up8th2013 Warriors2014 S.League champions4th2013 Balestier Khalsa2014 Singapore Cup winners1stnone New Radiant2014 Dhivehi League champions7th2014 Global2014 UFL Division 1 champions1stnone Lao Toyota2014 Lao League runners-up1stnoneQualifying play-off participantsEntering in play-off round Maziya2014 Maldives FA Cup winners3rd2014 Ceres2014 UFL FA League Cup winners1stnone
Notes
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).
StageRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legPreliminary stagePreliminary roundNo draw9–10 February 2015Play-off stagePlay-off round17 February 2015Group stageMatchday 111 December 201424–25 February 2015Matchday 210–11 March 2015Matchday 317–18 March 2015Matchday 414–15 April 2015Matchday 528–29 April 2015Matchday 612–13 May 2015Knockout stageRound of 1626–27 May 2015Quarter-finals18 June 201525–26 August 201515–16 September 2015Semi-finals29–30 September 201520–21 October 2015Final31 October 2015 at Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe
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.
Preliminary round
Notes
Play-off round
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.
Tiebreakers 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: 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; Greater number of away goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned; If, after applying criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 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); Team who belongs to the member association with the higher AFC ranking.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
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.
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.
Notes
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.
Notes
Final
In the final, the host team was determined by a draw, held after the quarter-final draw.
Awards AwardPlayerTeamMost Valuable Player Mohd Safiq Rahim Johor Darul Ta'zimTop Goalscorer Daniel McBreen South China Riste Naumov Ayeyawady United
Top scorers RankPlayerTeamTotal1 Daniel McBreen South China21 122 8 Riste Naumov Ayeyawady United2 2 22 83 Dickson Nwakaeme Pahang1 23 64 Juan Belencoso Kitchee 11 2 1 5 Mahama Awal South China21 11 5 Boaz Solossa Persipura Jayapura1 1 21 5 Rogerinho Al-Kuwait 2 12 5 Bader Al-Mutawa Al-Qadsia 2 1 1 1 5 Luciano Figueroa Johor Darul Ta'zim 1 121 510 Ranti Martins East Bengal11 1 1 4 Marwan Hussein Al-Shorta 2 2 4 Mahmoud Za'tara Al-Wehdat21 1 4 Vinícius Al-Kuwait 1 3 4 Safee Sali Johor Darul Ta'zim1 1 2 4 Mohd Safiq Rahim Johor Darul Ta'zim1 1 11 4 Edison Fonseca Ayeyawady United 11 2 4 Manuchekhr Dzhalilov Istiklol 11 2 4 Khurshed Makhmudov Istiklol 1 1 11 4
See also 2015 AFC Champions League
References
External links AFC Cup, the-AFC.com