The 2017 AFC Cup group stage was played from 20 February to 31 May 2017. A total of 34 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 11 places in the knockout stage of the 2017 AFC Cup.
Draw
The seeding of each team in the draw was determined by their association and their qualifying position within their association. The mechanism of the draw was as follows: For the West Asia Zone, a draw was held for the five associations with two direct entrants (Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Bahrain, Lebanon) to determine the three associations occupying seeds 1 and 2, with seeds 1 placed in order for Groups A, B and C, and the two associations occupying seeds 3 and 4, with seeds 3 placed in order for Groups A and B. The remaining teams were then allocated to groups according to the rules set by AFC. For the ASEAN Zone, a draw was held for the four associations with two direct entrants (Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines) to determine the three associations occupying seeds 1 and 2, with seeds 1 placed in order for Groups F, G and H, and the one association occupying seeds 3 and 4, with seed 3 placed in Group F. The remaining teams were then allocated to the groups according to the rules set by AFC. For the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone, no draw was held, and the teams were allocated to the groups according to their association ranking published on 30 November 2016.
The following 34 teams entered into the group stage draw, which included the 29 direct entrants and the five winners of the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs, whose identity were not known at the time of the draw. Originally there were 30 direct entrants and six winners of the play-off round, but there were one fewer direct entrant in the ASEAN Zone due to the withdrawal of one team, and the East Asia Zone qualifying play-offs were not played due to the withdrawal of three teams.
ZoneGroupsSeed 1Seed 2Seed 3Seed 4West Asia ZoneA–C Al-Zawraa Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Jaish Al-Wahda Al-Hidd Al-Muharraq Safa Nejmeh Al-Wehdat Al-Ahli Saham Al-Suwaiq Central Asia ZoneD Istiklol Altyn Asyr Alay Osh Dordoi South Asia ZoneE Bengaluru Maziya Abahani Limited Dhaka Mohun Bagan ASEAN ZoneF–H Johor Darul Ta'zim FELDA United Global Cebu Ceres–Negros Hà Nội Than Quảng Ninh Tampines Rovers Home United Yadanarbon Magwe Lanexang United Boeung Ket Angkor East Asia ZoneI April 25 Rovers Taipower Kigwancha Erchim
Standby teams Al-Jazeera (for Al-Wehdat) East Bengal (for Bengaluru) SHB Đà Nẵng (for Hà Nội) Kedah (for Johor Darul Ta'zim) Yangon United (for Yadanarbon) Loyola Meralco Sparks (for Global Cebu) Geylang International (for Tampines Rovers)
Format
Tiebreakers
Schedule The schedule of each matchday was as follows (W: West Asia Zone; C: Central Asia Zone; S: South Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone; E: East Asia Zone). Matches in the West Asia Zone were played on Mondays and Tuesdays, while matches in the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, the ASEAN Zone, and the East Asia Zone were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
MatchdayDatesMatchesW, AC, S, EMatchday 120–22 February 201714 March 2017Team 1 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 2Matchday 26–8 March 20174 April 2017Team 4 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 1Matchday 313–15 March 201718–19 April 2017Team 4 vs. Team 2, Team 1 vs. Team 3Matchday 43–5 April 20173 May 2017Team 2 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 1Matchday 517–19 April 201717 May 2017Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 2 vs. Team 3Matchday 61–3 May 201731 May 2017Team 1 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 4
Groups Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Ranking of second-placed teams West Asia Zone
ASEAN Zone
Notes
References
External links , the-AFC.com AFC Cup 2017, stats.the-AFC.com