2017 AFC Cup group stage

The 2017 AFC Cup group stage are played from 20 February to 31 May 2017. A total of 34 teams compete in the group stage to decide the 11 places in the knockout stage of the 2017 AFC Cup.

The draw for the group stage was held on 13 December 2016, 14:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the Hilton Petaling Jaya in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. 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.

Due to the withdrawal of teams in the ASEAN Zone and the East Asia Zone after the draw, only 34 teams competed in the group stage, with Groups H and I having only three teams.

The seeding of each team in the draw was determined by their association and their qualifying position within their association. The mechanism of the draw was as follows:

The following 34 teams entered into the group stage draw, which included the 29 direct entrants and the five winners of the play-off round of the qualifying play-off, whose identity were not known at the time of the draw. Originally there were 30 direct entrants and six winners of the play-off round, but there were one fewer direct entrant in the ASEAN Zone due to the withdrawal of one team, and the East Asia Zone qualifying play-off was not played due to the withdrawal of three teams.

In the group stage, each group is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The following teams advance to the knockout stage:

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order (Regulations Article 10.5):

The schedule of each matchday is as follows (W: West Asia Zone; C: Central Asia Zone; S: South Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone; E: East Asia Zone). Matches in the West Asia Zone are played on Mondays and Tuesdays, while matches in the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, the ASEAN Zone, and the East Asia Zone are played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

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