2019 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs

The 2019 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs were played from 5 February to 13 March 2019.^[1] A total of 11 teams competed in the qualifying play-offs to decide four of the 36 places in the group stage of the 2019 AFC Cup.^[2]

Teams[]

The following 11 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 two rounds:

• 6 teams entered in the preliminary round.
• 5 teams entered in the play-off round.

Zone	Teams entering in play-off round	Teams entering in preliminary round
West Asia Zone	Al-Nasr Hilal Al-Quds
Central Asia Zone	Khujand	Ahal Alay
South Asia Zone	Chennaiyin	Transport United Colombo
ASEAN Zone	None
East Asia Zone	Tai Po	Ryomyong Erchim

Format[]

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 do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 9.3). The four winners of the play-off round (one each from West Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, South Asia Zone, East Asia Zone) advanced to the group stage to join the 32 direct entrants.^[2]

Schedule[]

The schedule of each round was as follows.^[1][3]

Round	West Asia Zone		Central Asia Zone, South Asia Zone, East Asia Zone
	First leg	Second leg	First leg	Second leg
Preliminary round	Not played		20 February 2019	27 February 2019
Play-off round	5 February 2019	12 February 2019	6 March 2019	13 March 2019

Bracket[]

The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each zone, determined based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the second leg, was officially announced by the AFC prior to the group stage draw on 22 November 2018.^[4]

Play-off West Asia[]

• Hilal Al-Quds advanced to Group A.

	Play-off round
	Hilal Al-Quds	2	1	3
	Al-Nasr	1	0	1

Play-off Central Asia[]

• Khujand advanced to Group D.

	Preliminary round						Play-off round
	Alay	1	0	1
	Ahal	2	1	3
							Ahal	1	0	1
							Khujand (a)	1	0	1
	—	—	—	—
	Khujand	—	—	Bye

Play-off South Asia[]

• Chennaiyin advanced to Group E.

	Preliminary round						Play-off round
	Colombo	7	2	9
	Transport United	1	1	2
							Colombo	0	0	0
							Chennaiyin	0	1	1
	—	—	—	—
	Chennaiyin	—	—	Bye

Play-off East Asia[]

• Tai Po advanced to Group I.

	Preliminary round						Play-off round
	Erchim	0	0	0
	Ryomyong	3	3	6
							Ryomyong	0	0	0 (3)
							Tai Po (p)	0	0	0 (5)
	—	—	—	—
	Tai Po	—	—	Bye

Preliminary round[]

Summary[]

A total of six teams played in the preliminary round.

Central Asia Zone

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Alay	1–3	Ahal	1–2	0–1

South Asia Zone

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Colombo	9–2	Transport United	7–1	2–1

East Asia Zone

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Erchim	0–6	Ryomyong	0–3	0–3

Central Asia Zone[]

Ahal won 3–1 on aggregate.

South Asia Zone[]

Colombo won 9–2 on aggregate.

East Asia Zone[]

Ryomyong won 6–0 on aggregate.

Play-off round[]

Summary[]

A total of eight teams played in the play-off round: five teams which entered in this round, and three winners of the preliminary round.

West Asia Zone

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Hilal Al-Quds	3–1	Al-Nasr	2–1	1–0

Central Asia Zone

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Ahal	1–1 (a)	Khujand	1–1	0–0

South Asia Zone

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Colombo	0–1	Chennaiyin	0–0	0–1

East Asia Zone

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Ryomyong	0–0 (3–5 p)	Tai Po	0–0	0–0 (a.e.t.)

West Asia Zone[]

Hilal Al-Quds won 3–1 on aggregate.

Central Asia Zone[]

1–1 on aggregate. Khujand won on away goals.

South Asia Zone[]

Chennaiyin won 1–0 on aggregate.

East Asia Zone[]

0–0 on aggregate. Tai Po won 5–3 on penalties.

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• AFC Cup, the-AFC.com
• AFC Cup 2019, stats.the-AFC.com