2020 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs


The 2020 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs were played from 14 to 28 January 2020. A total of 28 teams competed in the qualifying play-offs to decide the remaining eight of the 32 places in the group stage of the 2020 AFC Champions League.

Teams

The following 28 teams, split into two regions, entered the qualifying play-offs, consisting of three rounds:
RegionTeams entering in play-off roundTeams entering in preliminary round 2Teams entering in preliminary round 1
West Region
  • Al-Ain
  • Al-Ahli
  • Al-Sailiya
  • Al-Rayyan
  • Esteghlal
  • Shahr Khodro
  • Lokomotiv Tashkent
  • Bunyodkor
  • Al-Zawraa
  • Istiklol
  • Chennai City
  • Al-Faisaly
  • Al-Kuwait
  • Al-Riffa
    • East Region
  • FC Seoul
  • Shanghai SIPG
  • FC Tokyo
  • Kashima Antlers
  • Melbourne Victory
  • Port
  • Buriram United
  • Kedah
  • Tai Po
  • Hồ Chí Minh City
  • Ceres–Negros
  • Tampines Rovers
  • Bali United
  • Shan United

    • Format


    In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.

    Schedule

    The schedule of each round was as follows.
    RoundMatch date
    Preliminary round 114 January 2020
    Preliminary round 221 January 2020
    Play-off round28 January 2020

    Bracket


    The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each region was determined based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match. Teams from the same association could not be placed into the same tie. The eight winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 24 direct entrants. All losers in each round from associations with only play-off slots entered the AFC Cup group stage.

    Play-off West 1

    • Al-Ain advanced to Group D.

      Play-off West 2

    • Al-Ahli advanced to Group A.

      Play-off West 3

    • Shahr Khodro advanced to Group B.

      Play-off West 4

    • Esteghlal advanced to Group A.

      Play-off East 1

    • FC Seoul advanced to Group E.

      Play-off East 2

    • Shanghai SIPG advanced to Group H.

      Play-off East 3

    • FC Tokyo advanced to Group F.

      Play-off East 4

    • Melbourne Victory advanced to Group E.

      Preliminary round 1

    Summary

    A total of eight teams played in the preliminary round 1.

    West Region

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    East Region

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    Preliminary round 2

    Summary

    A total of 16 teams played in the preliminary round 2: twelve teams which entered in this round, and the four winners of the preliminary round 1.

    West Region

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    East Region

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    Play-off round

    Summary

    A total of 16 teams played in the play-off round: eight teams which entered in this round, and the eight winners of the preliminary round 2.

    West Region

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    East Region

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