2020 AFC Cup group stage

The 2020 AFC Cup group stage was played from 10 February to 11 March 2020,[1] before the remaining matches were initially suspended, and eventually cancelled by the AFC on 10 September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] Under the original competition format, a total of 36 teams would compete in the group stage to decide the 11 places in the knockout stage of the 2020 AFC Cup.[3]

Draw

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The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2019, 14:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[4] The 36 teams were drawn into nine groups of four: three groups each in the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) and the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H), and one group each in the Central Asia Zone (Group D), the South Asia Zone (Group E), and the East Asia Zone (Group I). Teams from the same association in the West Asia Zone and ASEAN Zone could not be drawn into the same group.

The mechanism of the draw was as follows:[5]

  • For the West Asia Zone, a draw was held for the five associations with two direct entrants (Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon) to determine the order of associations occupying the following group positions (higher-seeded team of each association allocated to first position, lower-seeded team of each association allocated to second position): A1 and B2, B1 and C2, C1 and A2, A3 and B4, B3 and C4. The direct entrant from Oman and the play-off winners were allocated to positions C3 and A4 respectively.
  • For the ASEAN Zone, a draw was held for the three associations with two direct entrants (Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore) to determine the order of associations occupying the following group positions (higher-seeded team of each association allocated to first position, lower-seeded team of each association allocated to second position): F1 and G2, G1 and H2, H1 and F2; another draw was held for the three associations with one direct entrant (Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos) to determine the order of associations occupying the following group positions (direct entrant of each association allocated to first position, play-off winners which the play-off team of each association may advance from allocated to second position): F3 and G4, G3 and H4, H3 and F4.
  • For the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone, no draw was held. The direct entrants were allocated to group positions 1, 2 and 3 according to their association ranking (Central Asia Zone: Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan; South Asia Zone: India, Maldives, Bangladesh; East Asia Zone: Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Macau), and the play-off winners were allocated to group positions 4.

The following 36 teams entered into the group stage draw, which included the 29 direct entrants and the seven winners of the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw.

Zone Groups Teams
West Asia Zone A–C   Al-Jaish   Al-Wathba   Al-Riffa   Manama
  Al-Faisaly   Al-Jazeera   Al-Ahed   Al-Ansar
  Al-Kuwait   Al-Qadsia   Dhofar   Hilal Al-Quds (Winners of Play-off West Asia)
Central Asia Zone D   Istiklol   Altyn Asyr   Dordoi   Khujand (Winners of Play-off Central Asia)
South Asia Zone E   Chennai City   TC Sports   Bashundhara Kings   Maziya (Winners of Play-off South Asia)
ASEAN Zone F–H   Hồ Chí Minh City   Than Quảng Ninh   Bali United   PSM Makassar (Winners of Play-off ASEAN 1)
  Ceres–Negros   Kaya–Iloilo   Shan United   Yangon United (Winners of Play-off ASEAN 2)
  Tampines Rovers   Hougang United   Lao Toyota   Svay Rieng (Winners of Play-off ASEAN 3)
East Asia Zone I   Tai Po[note 1]   Tatung   MUST CPK TBD (Winners of Play-off East Asia)
Standby teams[note 2]

Format

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In the group stage, each group was played on a double round-robin basis, with matches played home-and-away before the suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but to be moved to centralised venues after restart which was eventually cancelled. The following teams would have advanced to the knockout stage:

  • The winners of each group and the best runners-up in the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone would have advanced to the Zonal semi-finals.
  • The winners of each group in the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone would have advanced to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

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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 were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 10.5):[3]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; (this tiebreaker was removed since the matches were played in centralised venues after restart)
  5. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  6. Goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams playing each other in the last round of the group were tied;
  9. Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
  10. Association ranking;
  11. Drawing of lots.

Schedule

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The original schedule of each matchday was as follows.[8]

  • Matches in the West Asia Zone were played on Mondays and Tuesdays. One or two groups were played on each day, with the following groups played on Mondays:
    • Matchdays 1 and 2: Groups A and B
    • Matchday 3: Groups A and C
    • Matchday 4: Group B
    • Matchdays 5 and 6: Group C
  • Matches in the ASEAN Zone were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. One or two groups were played on each day, with the following groups played on Tuesdays:
    • Matchdays 1 and 2: Groups F and G
    • Matchday 3: Groups F and H
    • Matchday 4: Group G
    • Matchdays 5 and 6: Group H
  • Matches in the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone were played on Wednesdays. If two teams from the same association were scheduled to play at home on the same matchday, the home match of the lower-seeded team was moved to Tuesday.
Matchday Original dates Original scheduled matches
West Asia, ASEAN Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia
Matchday 1 10–12 February 2020 (all 12 matches played) 11 March 2020 (3 matches played, 3 cancelled) Team 1 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 2
Matchday 2 24–26 February 2020 (11 matches played, 1 cancelled) 15 April 2020 (all 6 matches cancelled) Team 4 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 1
Matchday 3 9–11 March 2020 (6 matches played, 6 cancelled) 29 April 2020 (all 6 matches cancelled) Team 4 vs. Team 2, Team 1 vs. Team 3
Matchday 4 13–15 April 2020 (all 12 matches cancelled) 13 May 2020 (all 6 matches cancelled) Team 2 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 1
Matchday 5 27–29 April 2020 (all 12 matches cancelled) 27 May 2020 (all 6 matches cancelled) Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 2 vs. Team 3
Matchday 6 11–13 May 2020 (all 12 matches cancelled) 17 June 2020 (all 6 matches cancelled) Team 1 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 4

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, the AFC announced on 11 February 2020 that the East Asia Zone group stage matches would be postponed to 6 May, 13 May, 20 May, 27 May, 17 June and 24 June.[9]

The following matches were postponed to a later date between late February and early March, prior to AFC's announcement to postpone all matches:[10][11]

  • Group A: Hilal Al-Quds v Manama and Al-Ahed v Al-Jaish (9 March)
  • Group B: Al-Wathba v Al-Ansar and Al-Faisaly v Al-Kuwait (10 March)
  • Group C: Al-Qadsia v Dhofar (25 February),[12] Al-Qadsia v Al-Jazeera and Al-Riffa v Dhofar (9 March)
  • Group D: Dordoi v Altyn Asyr (11 March)

The AFC announced on 12 March 2020 that all remaining West Asia Zone group stage matches would be postponed to new dates yet to be confirmed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.[13]

The AFC announced on 18 March 2020 that all matches would be postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14][15] Only 32 group stage matches out of the 108 scheduled had been played by then.

On 9 July 2020, the AFC announced the new schedule for the remaining matches, with all group stage matches played at centralised venues.[16][17]

Matchday West Asia Central Asia South Asia ASEAN East Asia
Matchday 1 20 October 2020 (1 match) 20 October 2020
Matchday 2 23 October 2020 (1 match) 23 October 2020 23 October 2020 23 October 2020
Matchday 3 26 October 2020 26 October 2020 26 October 2020 26 October 2020
Matchday 4 29 October 2020 29 October 2020 29 October 2020 23 September 2020 29 October 2020
Matchday 5 1 November 2020 1 November 2020 1 November 2020 26 September 2020 1 November 2020
Matchday 6 4 November 2020 4 November 2020 4 November 2020 29 September 2020 4 November 2020

The AFC announced the cancellation of the remainder of the competition on 10 September 2020, due to logistics in coordinating the five zones.[2]

Centralized venues after restart

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On 30 July 2020, AFC announced that the ASEAN Zone matches of Groups F and G would be played at the Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City and Cẩm Phả Stadium, Cẩm Phả, both in Vietnam. Moreover, AFC had earlier confirmed Maldives as the host for the South Asia Zone matches of Group E, which would be played at the National Football Stadium, Malé.[18] On 5 August 2020, AFC announced that Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan had been confirmed as the hosts for the West Asia Zone matches of Groups A, B and C respectively.[19]

Groups

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts JAI MAN AHE HQU
1   Al-Jaish 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 4[a] 0–0 29 Oct 4 Nov
2   Manama 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 4[a] 1 Nov 1–0 29 Oct
3   Al-Ahed 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3 26 Oct 4 Nov 2–1
4   Hilal Al-Quds 2 0 0 2 1 3 −2 0 0–1 26 Oct 1 Nov
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b 2019 AFC association ranking: Syria (Al-Jaish) 22nd, Bahrain (Manama) 27th.
Al-Ahed  2–1  Hilal Al-Quds
  • Al Ali   56'
  • Zreik   84'
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Manama  1–0  Al-Ahed
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Attendance: 403
Referee: Yu Ming-hsun (Chinese Taipei)
Hilal Al-Quds  0–1  Al-Jaish
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Attendance: 162
Referee: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)

Hilal Al-Quds  Cancelled  Manama
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Al-Ahed  Cancelled  Al-Jaish
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Manama  Cancelled  Hilal Al-Quds
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Al-Jaish  Cancelled  Al-Ahed
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Hilal Al-Quds  Cancelled  Al-Ahed
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Manama  Cancelled  Al-Jaish
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Al-Ahed  Cancelled  Manama
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Al-Jaish  Cancelled  Hilal Al-Quds
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Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts KWT ANS WAT FAI
1   Al-Kuwait 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 4 1–0 4 Nov 29 Oct
2   Al-Ansar 2 1 0 1 4 4 0 3 1 Nov 29 Oct 4–3
3   Al-Wathba 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0–0 26 Oct 1 Nov
4   Al-Faisaly 2 0 1 1 3 4 −1 1 26 Oct 4 Nov 0–0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Al-Kuwait  1–0  Al-Ansar
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Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Kim Hee-gon (South Korea)
Al-Faisaly  0–0  Al-Wathba
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Al-Wathba  0–0  Al-Kuwait
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Attendance: 203
Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)
Al-Ansar  4–3  Al-Faisaly
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Al-Wathba  Cancelled  Al-Ansar
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Al-Faisaly  Cancelled  Al-Kuwait
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Al-Ansar  Cancelled  Al-Wathba
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Al-Kuwait  Cancelled  Al-Faisaly
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Al-Wathba  Cancelled  Al-Faisaly
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Al-Ansar  Cancelled  Al-Kuwait
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Al-Faisaly  Cancelled  Al-Ansar
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Al-Kuwait  Cancelled  Al-Wathba
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Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts QAD DHO RIF JAZ
1   Al-Qadsia 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 3[a] 23 Oct 1 Nov 26 Oct
2   Dhofar 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3[a] 4 Nov 29 Oct 1–0
3   Al-Riffa 2 1 0 1 3 2 +1 3[a] 1–2 26 Oct 4 Nov
4   Al-Jazeera 2 0 0 2 0 3 −3 0 29 Oct 1 Nov 0–2
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head points (GD): Al-Qadsia 3 (+1), Dhofar 0 (0), Al-Riffa 0 (–1).
Al-Riffa  1–2  Al-Qadsia
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Attendance: 1,250
Referee: Yusuke Araki (Japan)
Dhofar  1–0  Al-Jazeera
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Al-Jazeera  0–2  Al-Riffa
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Attendance: 93
Referee: Shaun Evans (Australia)

Al-Qadsia  Cancelled  Dhofar
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Al-Qadsia  Cancelled  Al-Jazeera
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Al-Riffa  Cancelled  Dhofar
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Al-Jazeera  Cancelled  Al-Qadsia
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Dhofar  Cancelled  Al-Riffa
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Al-Qadsia  Cancelled  Al-Riffa
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Al-Jazeera  Cancelled  Dhofar
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Al-Riffa  Cancelled  Al-Jazeera
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Dhofar  Cancelled  Al-Qadsia
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Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts IST ALT DOR KHU
1   Istiklol 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3 4 Nov 26 Oct 2–0
2   Altyn Asyr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 Oct 1 Nov 29 Oct
3   Dordoi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 Oct 20 Oct 4 Nov
4   Khujand 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0 1 Nov 26 Oct 23 Oct
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Istiklol  2–0  Khujand
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Attendance: 0[note 6]
Referee: Ahmad Al-Ali (Kuwait)

Dordoi  Cancelled  Altyn Asyr
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Khujand  Cancelled  Dordoi
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Altyn Asyr  Cancelled  Istiklol
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Khujand  Cancelled  Altyn Asyr
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Istiklol  Cancelled  Dordoi
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Altyn Asyr  Cancelled  Khujand
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Dordoi  Cancelled  Istiklol
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Khujand  Cancelled  Istiklol
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Altyn Asyr  Cancelled  Dordoi
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Istiklol  Cancelled  Altyn Asyr
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Dordoi  Cancelled  Khujand
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Group E

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts BAS MAZ CHE TCS
1   Bashundhara Kings 1 1 0 0 5 1 +4 3 4 Nov 29 Oct 5–1
2   Maziya 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1[a] 23 Oct 1 Nov 26 Oct
3   Chennai City 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 1[a] 26 Oct 2–2 4 Nov
4   TC Sports 1 0 0 1 1 5 −4 0 1 Nov 29 Oct 23 Oct
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head away goals: Maziya 2, Chennai City 0.
Bashundhara Kings  5–1  TC Sports
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Attendance: 4,200
Referee: Shuan Evans (Australia)
Chennai City  2–2  Maziya
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Attendance: 6,277
Referee: Omar Al-Yaqoubi (Oman)


Maziya  Cancelled  TC Sports
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TC Sports  Cancelled  Maziya
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Maziya  Cancelled  Chennai City
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Group F

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts HCM YAN HOU LTO
1   Hồ Chí Minh City 3 2 1 0 7 4 +3 7[a] 26 Sep 29 Sep 23 Sep
2   Yangon United 3 2 1 0 6 4 +2 7[a] 2–2 1–0 3–2
3   Hougang United 3 1 0 2 5 5 0 3 2–3 23 Sep 26 Sep
4   Lao Toyota 3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0 0–2 29 Sep 1–3
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head away goals: Hồ Chí Minh City 2, Yangon United 0.
Yangon United  2–2  Hồ Chí Minh City
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Attendance: 584
Referee: Sherzod Kasimov (Uzbekistan)
Lao Toyota  1–3  Hougang United
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Yangon United  3–2  Lao Toyota
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Attendance: 504
Referee: Ali Reda (Lebanon)
Hougang United  2–3  Hồ Chí Minh City
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Attendance: 873
Referee: Kim Dae-yong (South Korea)

Yangon United  1–0  Hougang United
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Attendance: 547
Referee: Jonathan Barreiro (Australia)
Lao Toyota  0–2  Hồ Chí Minh City
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Attendance: 0[note 12]
Referee: Zaid Thamer (Iraq)



Group G

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts CER TQN SVR BAL
1   Ceres–Negros 3 2 1 0 10 2 +8 7 2–2 4–0 4–0
2   Than Quảng Ninh 3 1 1 1 7 7 0 4 29 Sep 23 Sep 26 Sep
3   Svay Rieng 3 1 0 2 3 9 −6 3[a] 26 Sep 1–4 2–1
4   Bali United 3 1 0 2 5 7 −2 3[a] 23 Sep 4–1 29 Sep
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head points: Svay Rieng 3, Bali United 0.
Ceres–Negros  4–0  Svay Rieng
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Bali United  4–1  Than Quảng Ninh
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Attendance: 5,750
Referee: Masoud Tufayelieh (Syria)

Svay Rieng  2–1  Bali United
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Attendance: 2,106
Referee: Mahmood Al-Majarafi (Oman)

Svay Rieng  1–4  Than Quảng Ninh
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Attendance: 2,349
Referee: Baraa Aisha (Palestine)
Ceres–Negros  4–0  Bali United
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Attendance: 1[note 15]
Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)



Bali United  Cancelled  Svay Rieng
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Group H

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts TAM KAY PSM SHA
1   Tampines Rovers 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7 29 Sep 2–1 2–1
2   Kaya–Iloilo 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2 5 0–0 23 Sep 26 Sep
3   PSM Makassar 3 1 1 1 5 4 +1 4 26 Sep 1–1 3–1
4   Shan United 3 0 0 3 2 7 −5 0 23 Sep 0–2 29 Sep
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Shan United  0–2  Kaya–Iloilo
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Attendance: 438
Referee: Saoud Al-Athbah (Qatar)
Tampines Rovers  2–1  PSM Makassar
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PSM Makassar  3–1  Shan United
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Kaya–Iloilo  0–0  Tampines Rovers
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Attendance: 412
Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)

Tampines Rovers  2–1  Shan United
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Attendance: 450
Referee: Chen Hsin-chuan (Chinese Taipei)

Kaya–Iloilo  Cancelled  PSM Makassar
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Shan United  Cancelled  Tampines Rovers
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PSM Makassar  Cancelled  Tampines Rovers
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Kaya–Iloilo  Cancelled  Shan United
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Tampines Rovers  Cancelled  Kaya–Iloilo
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Shan United  Cancelled  PSM Makassar
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Group I

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts KIT TAT CPK I4
1   Kitchee 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Nov 26 Oct 20 Oct
2   Tatung 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 Oct 1 Nov 29 Oct
3   MUST CPK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 Oct 20 Oct 4 Nov
4   Winners of Play-off East Asia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Nov 26 Oct 23 Oct
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Kitchee  Cancelled  Winners of Play-off East Asia
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MUST CPK  Cancelled  Tatung
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Winners of Play-off East Asia  Cancelled  MUST CPK
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Tatung  Cancelled  Kitchee
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Winners of Play-off East Asia  Cancelled  Tatung
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Kitchee  Cancelled  MUST CPK
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Tatung  Cancelled  Winners of Play-off East Asia
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MUST CPK  Cancelled  Kitchee
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Winners of Play-off East Asia  Cancelled  Kitchee
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Tatung  Cancelled  MUST CPK
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Kitchee  Cancelled  Tatung
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MUST CPK  Cancelled  Winners of Play-off East Asia
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Notes

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  1. ^ Tai Po (Hong Kong) withdrew from the group stage after the draw (originally drawn in Group I).[6] As a result, Kitchee (Hong Kong) entered the group stage instead of the play-off round to replace Tai Po.[7]
  2. ^ The standby teams would replace a team from the same association which played in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and advanced to the AFC Champions League group stage. There were no standby teams from Vietnam (for Hồ Chí Minh City), Philippines (for Ceres–Negros), and Hong Kong (for Tai Po).
  3. ^ The identity of the standby team from Indonesia was not known at the time of the group stage draw.
  4. ^ a b Teams from Syria are not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
  5. ^ Teams from Palestine play their home matches against teams from Lebanon and Syria on neutral venues due to the refusal of the governments of Lebanon and Syria to allow their citizens to pass through Israeli-controlled crossings into the Palestinian territories.
  6. ^ Due to concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tajikistan, the match between Istiklol and Khujand was played behind closed doors.[20]
  7. ^ Bashundhara Kings play their home matches at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, instead of their regular home stadium Sheikh Kamal Stadium, Nilphamari.
  8. ^ Chennai City play their home matches at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai, instead of their regular home stadium Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore.
  9. ^ a b c d Due to the decision of the Vietnamese government to suspend sport activities in February in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam, the group stage matches which Vietnamese teams were supposed to host on matchdays 1 and 2 would be switched with the corresponding away matches.[21][22]
  10. ^ Hougang United play their home matches at Jalan Besar Stadium and Jurong West Stadium, Singapore, instead of their regular home stadium Hougang Stadium, Singapore.
  11. ^ a b Due to the Lao New Year in mid-April, the home match of Lao Toyota against Hồ Chí Minh City would be switched with the corresponding away match.[23]
  12. ^ Due to concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic in Laos, the match between Lao Toyota and Hồ Chí Minh City was played behind closed doors.[23]
  13. ^ a b c Ceres–Negros (United City) play their home matches at Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, instead of their regular home stadium Panaad Stadium, Bacolod.
  14. ^ a b Svay Rieng play their home matches at Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, instead of their regular home stadium Svay Rieng Stadium, Svay Rieng.
  15. ^ The match between Ceres–Negros and Bali United in Manila was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.[24]
  16. ^ a b Tampines Rovers play their home matches at Jalan Besar Stadium and Jurong West Stadium, Singapore, instead of their regular home stadium Our Tampines Hub, Singapore.
  17. ^ a b PSM Makassar play their home matches at Gelora Bung Karno Madya Stadium, Jakarta, instead of their regular home stadium Andi Mattalata Stadium, Makassar, since the stadium did not meet AFC regulations.
  18. ^ Kaya–Iloilo play their home matches at Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, instead of their regular home stadium Iloilo Sports Complex, Iloilo City.
  19. ^ The match between PSM Makassar and Kaya–Iloilo in Jakarta was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2020". AFC. 6 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "AFC Executive Committee announces updates to 2020 competitions calendar". AFC. 10 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b "2020 AFC Cup Competition Regulations" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation.
  4. ^ "Teams learn 2020 group stage challenge". Asian Football Confederation. 10 December 2019.
  5. ^ "#ACL2020 & #AFCCup2020 - Preview Show". Asian Football Confederation. 9 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Reigning champions withdraw from Premier League". offside.hk. 30 May 2020.
  7. ^ "AFC Statement on AFC Cup 2020 East Zone". Asian Football Association. 9 June 2020.
  8. ^ "AFC Cup 2020 Official Match Schedule". Asian Football Confederation.
  9. ^ "Update on AFC Cup Preliminary Stage matches". Asian Football Confederation. 11 February 2020.
  10. ^ "AFC calls for emergency meetings with National and Club representatives". Asian Football Confederation. 27 February 2020.
  11. ^ "AFC Competitions update". AFC. 9 March 2020.
  12. ^ "AFC Statement". Asian Football Confederation. 25 February 2020.
  13. ^ "AFC Cup West Zone Group Stage matches postponed". AFC. 12 March 2020.
  14. ^ "AFC Statement on AFC Cup 2020 matches". AFC. 18 March 2020.
  15. ^ "AFC extends postponement of all matches and competitions". AFC. 14 April 2020.
  16. ^ "AFC reiterates commitment to complete 2020 competitions with new calendar". AFC. 9 July 2020.
  17. ^ "AFC Cup revised schedule". AFC. 9 July 2020.
  18. ^ "AFC Cup ASEAN Zone Groups F and G to be played in Vietnam". AFC. 30 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Venues for AFC Cup West Zone matches confirmed". AFC. 5 August 2020.
  20. ^ "КУБОК АФК-2020: МАТЧ "ИСТИКЛОЛ" – "ХУДЖАНД" ПРОЙДЕТ БЕЗ ЗРИТЕЛЕЙ". FC Istiklol. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  21. ^ "CLB TP. Hồ Chí Minh vỡ kế hoạch ở AFC Cup vì virus corona" (in Vietnamese). thethao247.vn. 5 February 2020.
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  24. ^ Tupas, Cedelf (10 March 2020). "Ceres-Negros to play AFC Cup match vs Bali United in empty stadium". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  25. ^ Ervan Yudhi Tri Atmoko (9 March 2020). "Laga PSM Makassar Vs Kaya FC di Piala AFC Digelar Tanpa Penonton". Kompas.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 11 March 2020.
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