2022 AFC Champions League group stage

The 2022 AFC Champions League group stage will be played from 15 April to 1 May 2022 for the East Region and from 7 to 27 April 2022 for the West Region.^[1] A total of 40 teams will be competing in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout stage of the 2022 AFC Champions League.^[2]

Draw[]

The draw for the group stage will be held on 17 January 2022, 14:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 40 teams will be drawn into ten groups of four: five groups each in the West Region (Groups A–E) and the East Region (Groups F–J). For each region, teams were seeded into four pots and drawn into the relevant positions within each group, based on their association ranking and their seeding within their association, in consideration of technical balance between groups. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.

The following 40 teams entered into the group stage draw, which included the 33 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.

Region	Groups	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
West Region	A–E	Al-Sadd	Al-Faisaly	Pakhtakor	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya[note 1]
		Al-Hilal	Sepahan	Al-Wehdat	Al-Taawoun (Winners of Play-off West 1)
		Foolad	Shabab Al-Ahli	Mumbai City	Nasaf Qarshi (Winners of Play-off West 2)
		Al-Jazira	Al-Rayyan	Istiklol	Sharjah (Winners of Play-off West 3)
		Al-Duhail	Al-Shabab	Ahal	Al-Gharafa[note 2]
East Region	F–J	Shandong Taishan	Urawa Red Diamonds	United City	Melbourne City[note 1]
		Kawasaki Frontale	Jeonnam Dragons	Kitchee[note 3]	Sydney FC (Winners of Play-off East 1)
		Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Chiangrai United	Hoang Anh Gia Lai	Vissel Kobe (Winners of Play-off East 2)
		BG Pathum United	Guangzhou	Johor Darul Ta'zim	Ulsan Hyundai (Winners of Play-off East 3)
		Shanghai Port	Yokohama F. Marinos	Lion City Sailors	Daegu FC (Winners of Play-off East 4)

Format[]

In the group stage, each group will be played on a double round-robin basis in centralised venues. The winners of each group and three best runners-up from each region will advance to the round of 16 of the knockout stage.

Tiebreakers[]

The teams will be ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order (Regulations Article 8.3):^[2]

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; (Not applicable since the matches are to be played in a centralised venue)
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 are 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.

Schedule[]

The schedule of each matchday will be as follows.^[3]

Matchday	Dates		Matches
	West Region	East Region
Matchday 1	7–8 April 2022	15–16 April 2022	Team 1 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 2
Matchday 2	10–11 April 2022	18–19 April 2022	Team 4 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 1
Matchday 3	14–15 April 2022	21–22 April 2022	Team 4 vs. Team 2, Team 1 vs. Team 3
Matchday 4	18–19 April 2022	24–25 April 2022	Team 2 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 1
Matchday 5	22–23 April 2022	27–28 April 2022	Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 2 vs. Team 3
Matchday 6	26–27 April 2022	30 April – 1 May 2022	Team 1 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 4

Centralised venues[]

On 16 February 2022, AFC confirmed hosts for the East group stage.^[4] On 3 March 2022, AFC confirmed hosts for the West group stage.^[5]

• Group A & B: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Group C: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• Group D: Buraidah, Saudi Arabia
• Group E: Dammam, Saudi Arabia
• Group F & J: Buriram, Thailand
• Group G: Bangkok, Thailand
• Group H: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Group I: Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Groups[]

Group A[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HIL	RAY	IST	A4
1	Al-Hilal (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	27 Apr	15 Apr	8 Apr
2	Al-Rayyan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		11 Apr	—	23 Apr	19 Apr
3	Istiklol	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			19 Apr	8 Apr	—	27 Apr
4	Sharjah	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			23 Apr	15 Apr	11 Apr	—

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Group B[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JAZ	SHB	MCI	QUW
1	Al-Jazira	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	26 Apr	14 Apr	7 Apr
2	Al-Shabab (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		10 Apr	—	22 Apr	18 Apr
3	Mumbai City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			18 Apr	7 Apr	—	26 Apr
4	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			22 Apr	14 Apr	10 Apr	—

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Group C[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FOO	SAH	AHA	GHA
1	Foolad	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	26 Apr	14 Apr	7 Apr
2	Shabab Al-Ahli	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		10 Apr	—	22 Apr	18 Apr
3	Ahal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			18 Apr	7 Apr	—	26 Apr
4	Al-Gharafa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			22 Apr	14 Apr	10 Apr	—

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Group D[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DUH	SEP	PAK	TAW
1	Al-Duhail	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	26 Apr	14 Apr	7 Apr
2	Sepahan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		10 Apr	—	22 Apr	18 Apr
3	Pakhtakor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			18 Apr	7 Apr	—	26 Apr
4	Al-Taawoun (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			22 Apr	14 Apr	10 Apr	—

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Group E[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SAD	FSY	WEH	NAS
1	Al-Sadd	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	27 Apr	15 Apr	8 Apr
2	Al-Faisaly (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		11 Apr	—	23 Apr	19 Apr
3	Al-Wehdat	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			19 Apr	8 Apr	—	27 Apr
4	Nasaf Qarshi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			23 Apr	15 Apr	11 Apr	—

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Group F[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SDT	URA	LCS	DAE
1	Shandong Taishan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	30 Apr	21 Apr	15 Apr
2	Urawa Red Diamonds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		18 Apr	—	27 Apr	24 Apr
3	Lion City Sailors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			24 Apr	15 Apr	—	30 Apr
4	Daegu FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			27 Apr	21 Apr	18 Apr	—

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Group G[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BGP	JND	UNI	MCY
1	BG Pathum United (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	30 Apr	21 Apr	15 Apr
2	Jeonnam Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		18 Apr	—	27 Apr	24 Apr
3	United City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			24 Apr	15 Apr	—	30 Apr
4	Melbourne City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			27 Apr	21 Apr	18 Apr	—

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Group H[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JEO	YFM	HOA	SYD
1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	1 May	22 Apr	16 Apr
2	Yokohama F. Marinos	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		19 Apr	—	28 Apr	25 Apr
3	Hoang Anh Gia Lai (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			25 Apr	16 Apr	—	1 May
4	Sydney FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			28 Apr	22 Apr	19 Apr	—

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Group I[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KAW	GZH	JOH	ULS
1	Kawasaki Frontale	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	30 Apr	21 Apr	15 Apr
2	Guangzhou	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		18 Apr	—	27 Apr	24 Apr
3	Johor Darul Ta'zim (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			24 Apr	15 Apr	—	30 Apr
4	Ulsan Hyundai	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			27 Apr	21 Apr	18 Apr	—

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Group J[]

Pos	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SHP	CRU	KIT	VIS
1	Shanghai Port	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16		—	1 May	22 Apr	16 Apr
2	Chiangrai United (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Possible Round of 16		19 Apr	—	28 Apr	25 Apr
3	Kitchee	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			25 Apr	16 Apr	—	1 May
4	Vissel Kobe	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			28 Apr	22 Apr	19 Apr	—

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Ranking of second-placed teams[]

West Region[]

Pos	Grp	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	A		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16
2	B		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	C		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	D		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	E		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

East Region[]

Pos	Grp	Team v	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	F		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Advance to Round of 16
2	G		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	H		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	I		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	J		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website