AFC Cup season 2023-2024: everything you need to know
The AFC Cup is a continental club football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for teams from Asia's developing football nations. It is the second-tier tournament after the AFC Champions League, which features the top teams from Asia's strongest football nations.
The AFC Cup 2023 2024 is the 19th and last edition of the AFC Cup, as it will be discontinued from the 2024-25 season and replaced by the AFC Champions League 2 and the AFC Challenge League, which will be the new second and third-tier tournaments respectively.
This is also the first and only AFC Cup season to have a two-year (autumn-to-spring) schedule, instead of an all-year-round (spring-to-autumn) schedule.
The winners of the AFC Cup 2023-2024 will automatically qualify for the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite, entering the qualifying play-offs, if they have not qualified through their domestic performance.
In this article, we will provide you with everything you need to know about the AFC Cup 2023-2024, including the teams, schedule, format, and more.
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Teams
The AFC Cup 2023-2024 features a total of 65 teams (maximum) from 37 associations. The associations are split into five zones: West Asia Zone, South Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, ASEAN Zone, and East Asia Zone.
The slots are allocated by the following criteria according to the Entry Manual:
- The associations ranked 6th to 10th in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation are allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage.
- The associations ranked 11th to 15th in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation are allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup play-off round.
- The associations ranked 16th or lower in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation are allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup preliminary round.
- The associations ranked 6th in both the West Region and the East Region for AFC Champions League slot allocation are allocated one additional direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage without taking away any direct slot from other associations. However, if they advance to the AFC Champions League group stage, their slot will be filled by a standby team from their association if available.
- The teams from associations ranked 6th, 11th and 12th which are eliminated in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs enter the AFC Cup group stage.
The following table shows the number of slots allocated to each association based on their ranking:
| Association | Ranking | Slots |
|---|---|---|
| Qatar | West Region 6th | 2 |
| Bahrain | West Region 7th | 1 |
| Jordan | West Region 8th | 1 |
| Kuwait | West Region 9th | 1 |
| Lebanon | West Region 10th | 1 |
| Iraq | West Region 11th | 1+1* |
| Syria | West Region 12th | 1+1* |
| Palestine | West Region 13th | 1 |
| Yemen | West Region 14th | 1 |
| Oman | West Region 15th | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia II | West Region - | - |
| Maldives | South Asia Zone - | 1 |
| India | South Asia Zone - | 1 |
| Bangladesh | South Asia Zone - | 1 |
| Nepal | South Asia Zone - | 1 |
| Bhutan | South Asia Zone - | 1 |
| Sri Lanka | South Asia Zone - | - |
| Pakistan | South Asia Zone - | - |
| Uzbekistan II | Central Asia Zone - | - |
| Tajikistan II | Central Asia Zone - | - |
| Kyrgyz Republic II** | Central Asia Zone - | - |
| Turkmenistan II | Central Asia Zone - | - |
| Afghanistan II | Central Asia Zone - | - |
| Mongolia II** | Central Asia Zone - | - |
| Thailand II | ASEAN Zone - | - |
| Vietnam II | ASEAN Zone - | - |
| Malaysia II* | ASEAN Zone - | - |
| Indonesia II | ASEAN Zone - | - |
| Singapore II** |
ASEAN Zone - |-| | Philippines II** | ASEAN Zone - |-| | Myanmar II** | ASEAN Zone - |-| | Cambodia II** | ASEAN Zone - |-| | Laos II** | ASEAN Zone - |-| | Brunei Darussalam II** | ASEAN Zone - |-| | Timor-Leste II** | ASEAN Zone - |-| | China PR | East Region 6th | 2 | | Hong Kong | East Region 7th | 1 | | Korea Republic II** | East Region - |-| | Japan II** | East Region - |-| | Chinese Taipei II** | East Region - |-| | Macau II** | East Region - |-| | Guam II** | East Region - |-| | DPR Korea*** | East Region - |-|
- The additional slot is for the AFC Champions League play-off round losers. The second teams of the associations are not eligible to participate in the AFC Cup. The associations are suspended by the AFC and/or FIFA and are not eligible to participate in the AFC Cup.
Schedule
The schedule of the AFC Cup 2023-2024 is as follows:
- Preliminary round: 8–23 August 2023
- Play-off round: 18–23 September 2023
- Group stage: 18 September–14 December 2023
- Zonal semi-finals: 13–21 February 2024
- Zonal finals: 5–13 March 2024
- Inter-zone play-off semi-finals: 2–10 April 2024
- Inter-zone play-off final: 23 April–1 May 2024
- Final: 5 May 2024
Format
The format of the AFC Cup 2023-2024 is as follows:
- Preliminary round: The teams from the associations ranked 16th or lower in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation play a single-leg knockout round, with the winners advancing to the play-off round.
- Play-off round: The teams from the associations ranked 11th to 15th in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation join the preliminary round winners and play a single-leg knockout round, with the winners advancing to the group stage.
- Group stage: The teams from the associations ranked 6th to 10th in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation join the play-off round winners and are divided into six groups of four teams each, based on their zones. Each group is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The group winners and runners-up advance to the zonal semi-finals.
- Zonal semi-finals: The group winners and runners-up from each zone are paired up and play a two-legged knockout round, with the winners advancing to the zonal finals.
- Zonal finals: The zonal semi-final winners from each zone play a two-legged knockout round, with the winners advancing to the inter-zone play-off semi-finals.
- Inter-zone play-off semi-finals: The zonal final winners from each zone are paired up and play a two-legged knockout round, with the winners advancing to the inter-zone play-off final.
- Inter-zone play-off final: The inter-zone play-off semi-final winners play a two-legged knockout round, with the winner advancing to the final.
- Final: The inter-zone play-off final winner plays against the title holder (Al-Seeb) in a single-leg match at a neutral venue. The winner is crowned as the AFC Cup champion.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about the AFC Cup 2023-2024:
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Q: Who are the title holders of the AFC Cup?
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A: Al-Seeb from Oman are the title holders of the AFC Cup, having won their first title in 2022 by defeating Al-Ahed from Lebanon in the final.
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Q: Which teams have won the most AFC Cup titles?
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A: Al-Kuwait from Kuwait and Al-Faisaly from Jordan have won the most AFC Cup titles, with three each. Al-Kuwait won in 2009, 2012, and 2013, while Al-Faisaly won in 2005, 2006, and 2010.
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Q: Which teams have participated in the most AFC Cup editions?
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A: Al-Faisaly from Jordan and Home United from Singapore have participated in the most AFC Cup editions, with 14 each. Al-Faisaly participated in every edition from 2004 to 2017, while Home United participated in every edition from 2004 to 2019.
Conclusion
The AFC Cup 2023-2024 is the last edition of Asia’s secondary club football tournament, which will be replaced by new competitions from the next season. It is also the first and only edition to have a two-year