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The 2020 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs were played from 21 January to 26 February 2020,[1] before the remaining matches were 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 19 teams would compete in the qualifying play-offs to decide seven of the 36 places in the group stage of the 2020 AFC Cup.[3]
Teams
The following 19 teams, split into five zones (West Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, South Asia Zone, ASEAN Zone, East Asia Zone), entered the qualifying play-offs, consisting of three rounds:
In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals would not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 9.3).[3]
Schedule
The original schedule of each round was as follows.[1][6]
Round
West Asia
Central Asia
South Asia
ASEAN
East Asia
First leg
Second leg
First leg
Second leg
First leg
Second leg
First leg
Second leg
First leg
Second leg
Preliminary round 1
Not played
Not played
22 January 2020
29 January 2020
Not played
Not played
Preliminary round 2
5 February 2020
12 February 2020
5 February 2020
12 February 2020
5 February 2020 (cancelled)
12 February 2020 (cancelled)
Play-off round
21 January 2020
28 January 2020
19 February 2020
26 February 2020
19 February 2020
26 February 2020
22 January 2020
29 January 2020
19 February 2020 (cancelled)
26 February 2020 (cancelled)
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
The East Asia Zone preliminary round 2 first leg between Ulaanbaatar City and Taipower, originally scheduled to be played on 5 February 2020 and hosted by Ulaanbaatar City, was not played as scheduled because the Mongolian government had banned Chinese nationals, including people from Taiwan, from entering Mongolia due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.[7][8]
The AFC announced on 11 February 2020 that the East Asia Zone preliminary round and play-off round matches would be postponed to 7 and 14 April, and 21 and 28 April.[9]
The AFC announced on 18 March 2020 that all matches would be postponed until further notice.[10][11]
On 9 July 2020, the AFC announced the new schedule for the remaining matches.[12][13] The tie between Taipower and Ulaanbaatar City, now in the play-off round after Tai Po's withdrawal,[5] would be played as a single match on 30 September, later rescheduled to 16 October, and hosted by Taipower as they were from the higher-ranked association.[14]
The AFC announced the cancellation of the remainder of the competition on 10 September 2020, due to logistics in coordinating the five zones.[2]
Bracket
The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each zone was determined based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the second leg.[15] The seven winners of the play-off round (one each from West Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, South Asia Zone, East Asia Zone, and three from ASEAN Zone) would advance to the group stage to join the 29 direct entrants.
Neftchi won on walkover after Ahal were disqualified by the AFC for failing to travel to Kyrgyzstan for the first leg due to concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.[17][18][19][16][9]
^ abcUnder the original competition format, Kitchee (Hong Kong) would enter the play-off round, and Taipower (Chinese Taipei) and Ulaanbaatar City (Mongolia) would enter the preliminary round 2. However, Tai Po (Hong Kong) withdrew from the group stage after the draw (originally drawn in Group I).[4] As a result, Kitchee entered the group stage instead of the play-off round to replace Tai Po, and Taipower and Ulaanbaatar City entered the play-off round instead of the preliminary round 2, which was cancelled.[5]
Hilal Al-Quds advanced to Group A.
Hilal Al-Quds
Sur
Neftchi
Ahal
Khujand (a.e.t.)
Abahani Limited Dhaka
Maziya (a)
Bengaluru
Defenders
Paro (a)
PSM Makassar advanced to Group H.
Lalenok United
PSM Makassar
Yangon United advanced to Group F.
Indera
Yangon United
Svay Rieng advanced to Group G.
Svay Rieng
Master 7
Taipower
Ulaanbaatar City
