2018 AFC Cup knockout stage

In today's world, 2018 AFC Cup knockout stage has become a topic of increasing interest to a wide audience. With the advancement of technology and globalization, 2018 AFC Cup knockout stage has become increasingly relevant in our daily lives. Whether as a social phenomenon, a historical figure or a contemporary concept, 2018 AFC Cup knockout stage has captured the attention of many people around the world. In this article, we will explore different aspects of 2018 AFC Cup knockout stage and analyze its impact on today's society. Furthermore, we will examine its evolution over time and its role in different cultural contexts. Through this exploration, we hope to shed light on the importance and relevance of 2018 AFC Cup knockout stage today.

The 2018 AFC Cup knockout stage was played from 7 May to 27 October 2018.[1] A total of 11 teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2018 AFC Cup.[2]

Qualified teams

The following teams advanced from the group stage:

  • The winners of each of the three groups and the best runners-up in the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) and the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H) advanced to the Zonal semi-finals.
  • The winners of each group in the Central Asia Zone (Group D), the South Asia Zone (Group E), and the East Asia Zone (Group I) advanced to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals.
Key to colours
Teams which enter the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals
Teams which enter the Zonal semi-finals
Zone Group Winners Best runners-up
West Asia Zone A Jordan Al-Jazeera Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
(Group A)
B Lebanon Al-Ahed
C Jordan Al-Faisaly
Central Asia Zone D Turkmenistan Altyn Asyr —
South Asia Zone E India Bengaluru —
ASEAN Zone F Singapore Home United Philippines Ceres–Negros
(Group F)
G Myanmar Yangon United
H Indonesia Persija Jakarta
East Asia Zone I North Korea April 25 —

Format

In the knockout stage, the 11 teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, except the final which 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 (Regulations Article 11.3).[2]

Schedule

The schedule of each round was as follows (W: West Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone).[1] Matches in the West Asia Zone were played on Mondays and Tuesdays, while matches in the ASEAN Zone and the Inter-zone play-offs were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Round First leg Second leg
Zonal semi-finals 7–9 May 2018 (W, A) 14–16 May 2018 (W, A)
Zonal finals 1 August 2018 (A),
18 September 2018 (W) 		8 August 2018 (A),
2 October 2018 (W)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals 21–22 August 2018 28–29 August 2018
Inter-zone play-off final 19 September 2018 3 October 2018
Final 27 October 2018

Bracket

The bracket of the knockout stage was determined as follows:

Round Matchups
Zonal semi-finals (Matchups and order of legs determined by identity of best runners-up: first team listed host first leg, second team listed host second leg)
Zonal finals (Order of legs decided by draw)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals (Matchups and order of legs decided by draw, involving Winner Group D, Winner Group E, Winner Group I, and Winner AF)
Inter-zone play-off final (Winner IZSF1 host first leg, Winner IZSF2 host second leg)
  • IZF: Winner IZSF1 vs. Winner IZSF2
Final (Winner WF host match, as alternated from previous season's final)
  • Winner WF vs. Winner IZF

The bracket was decided after the draw for the Zonal finals and the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals, which was held on 23 May 2018, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[3][4][5]

Zonal semi-finalsZonal finalsInter-zone play-off semi-finalsInter-zone play-off finalFinal
Jordan Al-Jazeera112
Jordan Al-Faisaly101
Jordan Al-Jazeera011
Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya325Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya134
Lebanon Al-Ahed123
Philippines Ceres–Negros426Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya2
Myanmar Yangon United235Turkmenistan Altyn Asyr0
Philippines Ceres–Negros101
Singapore Home United336Singapore Home United123Singapore Home United011
Indonesia Persija Jakarta213North Korea April 252911
North Korea April 25213
India Bengaluru202Turkmenistan Altyn Asyr (a)213
Turkmenistan Altyn Asyr325

Zonal semi-finals

Summary

In the Zonal semi-finals, the four qualified teams from the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) played in two ties, and the four qualified teams from the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H) played in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs determined by the group stage draw and the identity of the best runners-up.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Asia Zone
Al-Jazeera Jordan 2–1 Jordan Al-Faisaly 1–1 1–0
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Iraq 5–3 Lebanon Al-Ahed 3–1 2–2
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
ASEAN Zone
Home United Singapore 6–3 Indonesia Persija Jakarta 3–2 3–1
Ceres–Negros Philippines 6–5 Myanmar Yangon United 4–2 2–3

West Asia Zone

Al-Jazeera Jordan1–1Jordan Al-Faisaly
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 1,113
Al-Faisaly Jordan0–1Jordan Al-Jazeera
Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 15,150

Al-Jazeera won 2–1 on aggregate.

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Iraq3–1Lebanon Al-Ahed
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 10,683
Al-Ahed Lebanon2–2Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 2,157

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya won 5–3 on aggregate.

ASEAN Zone

Home United Singapore3–2Indonesia Persija Jakarta
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 1,528
Persija Jakarta Indonesia1–3Singapore Home United
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 62,198

Home United won 6–3 on aggregate.

Ceres–Negros Philippines4–2Myanmar Yangon United
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 8,986
Yangon United Myanmar3–2Philippines Ceres–Negros
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 2,481

Ceres–Negros won 6–5 on aggregate.

Zonal finals

Summary

The draw for the Zonal finals was held on 23 May 2018.[5] In the Zonal finals, the two winners of West Asia Zonal semi-finals played each other, and the two winners of ASEAN Zonal semi-finals played each other, with the order of legs decided by draw. The winners of the West Asia Zonal final advanced to the final, while the winners of the ASEAN Zonal final advanced to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Asia Zone
Al-Jazeera Jordan 1–4 Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 0–1 1–3
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
ASEAN Zone
Ceres–Negros Philippines 1–3 Singapore Home United 1–1 0–2

West Asia Zone

Al-Jazeera Jordan0–1Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 2,100
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Iraq3–1Jordan Al-Jazeera
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 14,883

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya won 4–1 on aggregate.

ASEAN Zone

Ceres–Negros Philippines1–1Singapore Home United
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 6,705
Home United Singapore2–0Philippines Ceres–Negros
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 3,392

Home United won 3–1 on aggregate.

Inter-zone play-off semi-finals

Summary

The draw for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals was held on 23 May 2018.[5] In the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals, the four zonal winners other than the West Asia Zone played in two ties, i.e., the winners of the Central Asia Zone (Group D), the winners of the South Asia Zone (Group E), the winners of the East Asia Zone (Group I), and the winners of the ASEAN Zonal final (whose identity was not known at the time of the draw), with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw, without any seeding.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Home United Singapore 1–11 North Korea April 25 0–2 1–9
Bengaluru India 2–5 Turkmenistan Altyn Asyr 2–3 0–2

Matches

Home United Singapore0–2North Korea April 25
Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 2,856
April 25 North Korea9–1Singapore Home United
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Yaqoob Abdul Baki (Oman)

April 25 won 11–1 on aggregate.

Bengaluru India2–3Turkmenistan Altyn Asyr
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 5,832
Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)
Altyn Asyr Turkmenistan2–0India Bengaluru
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 12,326

Altyn Asyr won 5–2 on aggregate.

Inter-zone play-off final

Summary

In the Inter-zone play-off final, the two winners of the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals played each other, with the order of legs determined by the Inter-zone play-off semi-final draw. The winners of the Inter-zone play-off final advanced to the final.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
April 25 North Korea 3–3 (a) Turkmenistan Altyn Asyr 2–2 1–1

Matches

April 25 North Korea2–2Turkmenistan Altyn Asyr
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 4,200
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)
Altyn Asyr Turkmenistan1–1North Korea April 25
 Live Report
Stats Report
  • Han Song-hyok 7'
Attendance: 11,750

3–3 on aggregate. Altyn Asyr won on away goals.

Final

Main article: 2018 AFC Cup Final

In the final, the winners of the West Asia Zonal final and the winners of the Inter-zone play-off final played each other, with the host team (winners of the West Asia Zonal final) alternated from the previous season's final.[6]

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Iraq2–0Turkmenistan Altyn Asyr
 Live Report
Stats Report
Attendance: 24,665

References

  1. ^ a b "AFC Competitions Calendar 2018". AFC. 11 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "2018 AFC Cup Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC.
  3. ^ "Exciting ties on the cards". AFC. 22 May 2018.
  4. ^ "AFC Cup 2018 Knockout Stage Official Draw". YouTube. 23 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "AFC Cup 2018 knockout stage draw confirmed". AFC. 23 May 2018.
  6. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee recommends new AFC Cup format". AFC. 25 November 2016. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017.