2012 AFC Cup

Tournament details
Dates	18 February – 3 November 2012
Teams	30+3 (from 18 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Al-Kuwait (2nd title)
Runners-up	Erbil
Tournament statistics
Matches played	118
Goals scored	366 (3.1 per match)
Attendance	439,955 (3,728 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Amjad Radhi Raja Rafe (9 goals each)[1]
Best player(s)	Rogerinho[2]
← 2011 2013 →

The 2012 AFC Cup was the ninth edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia.

Al-Kuwait from Kuwait won their second AFC Cup title in four years, defeating Erbil from Iraq 4–0 in the final.^[3]

Allocation of entries per association

The following allocation of berths for the 2012 AFC Cup was approved by the AFC in November 2011.^[4][5] The four associations (Yemen, Malaysia, Maldives and Myanmar) with the lowest points according to the AFC evaluation system had one team entering the group stage and another entering the play-off.^[4]

West Asia Pos Member Association Points Spots Group stage Play-off — 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round losers — 2 0 1 Kuwait 35.32 3 0 2 Jordan 33.47 2 0 3 Syria 30.28 2 0 4 Iraq 28.98 2 0 5 Bahrain 28.13 0 0 7 Oman 20.68 2 0 11 Lebanon 15.09 2 0 12 India 11.75 2 0 13 Yemen 11.02 1 1 15 Maldives 9.13 1 1 Total 19 2

East Asia Pos Member Association Points Spots Group stage Play-off — 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round loser — 2 0 6 Vietnam 24.16 2 0 8 Indonesia 17.58 1 0 9 Singapore 16.51 2 0 10 Hong Kong 15.68 2 0 14 Malaysia 10.79 1 1 16 Myanmar 5.47 1 1 Total 11 G2G

Notes

• ^A Different from previous seasons where losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off semi-final round also entered the AFC Cup, from 2012 only losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round entered the AFC Cup.^[4]
• ^B Kuwait have three teams entering as Al-Kuwait, the 2011 AFC Cup runners-up failed to fulfil the criteria set by AFC to compete in the 2012 AFC Champions League, and thus directly entered the 2012 AFC Cup.^[4]
• ^C Bahrain, while eligible to enter the AFC Cup, chose not to participate in 2012.^[4]
• ^D Indonesia only have one team entering as their league champion entered the 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off.^[4]
• ^E Malaysia returned to the competition, after not participating in 2011.^[6]
• ^F Myanmar applied for upgrade from the AFC President's Cup to the AFC Cup,^[7] and was approved by the AFC in November 2011,^[4] and made their debut in the competition.^[5]
• ^G After the withdrawal of Liaoning Whowin and disqualification of Persipura Jayapura from the 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off East Asia Zone, only three teams were left, meaning only one final round loser would enter the AFC Cup in the East Asia Zone instead of two. As a result, no qualifying play-off was necessary for the East Asia Zone and both the second representatives from Malaysia (Terengganu) and Myanmar (Ayeyawady United), which were originally slated to enter the AFC Cup qualifying play-off, automatically advanced to the group stage. Persipura Jayapura were later provisionally reinstated to the 2012 AFC Champions League, but the AFC decided that the loser of the qualifying play-off match between Adelaide United and Persipura Jayapura would not advance to the 2012 AFC Cup group stage.^[8]

Qualified teamsedit

A total of 33 teams participated in the 2012 AFC Cup, including 3 teams which joined as 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round losers:^[4]

• 31 teams (19 in West Asia Zone, 12 in East Asia Zone) directly entered the group stage.
• 2 teams (both in West Asia Zone) competed in the qualifying play-off. The winners qualified for the group stage.

Group stage direct entrants: West Asia Zone (Groups A–E) Team Qualifying method App Last App Neftchi Farg'ona 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round losers 2nd 2009 Al-Ettifaq 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round losers 1st none Salgaocar 2010–11 I-League champions 2011 Indian Federation Cup winners 1st none East Bengal 2010–11 I-League runners-up 6th 2011 Al-Zawra'a 2010–11 Iraqi Elite League champions 2nd 2009 Erbil 2010–11 Iraqi Elite League runners-up 3rd 2011 Al-Wehdat 2010–11 Jordan League champions 2010–11 Jordan FA Cup winners 7th 2011 Al-Faisaly 2010–11 Jordan League runners-up 6th 2011 Al-Qadsia 2010–11 Kuwaiti Premier League champions 3rd 2011 Kazma 2011 Kuwait Emir Cup winners 2nd 2010 Al-Kuwait 2011 AFC Cup runners-up 4th 2011 Al-Ahed 2010–11 Lebanese Premier League champions 2010–11 Lebanese FA Cup winners 6th 2011 Safa 2010–11 Lebanese Premier League runners-up 3rd 2009 VB 2011 Dhivehi League champions 2011 Maldives FA Cup winners 5th 2011 Al-Suwaiq 2010–11 Oman Mobile League champions 3rd 2011 Al-Orouba† 2010–11 Oman Mobile League runners-up 3rd 2011 Al-Shorta 2010–11 Syrian Premier League AFC Cup play-off winners 1st none Al-Ittihad 2010–11 Syrian Cup winners 3rd 2011 Al-Oruba 2010–11 Yemeni League champions 1st none Qualifying play-off participants: West Asia Zone Victory 2011 Dhivehi League runners-up 5th 2011 Al-Tilal 2010–11 Yemeni League runners-up 3rd 2011

Group stage direct entrants: East Asia Zone (Groups F–H) Team Qualifying method App Last App Chonburi 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round loser 3rd 2011 Kitchee 2010–11 Hong Kong First Division League champions 2nd 2008 Citizen 2010–11 Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield winners 1st none Arema 2010–11 Indonesia Super League runners-up 1st none Kelantan 2011 Malaysia Super League champions 1st none Terengganu 2011 Malaysia FA Cup winners 1st none Yangon United 2011 Myanmar National League champions 1st none Ayeyawady United 2011 Myanmar National League runners-up 1st none Tampines Rovers 2011 S.League champions 5th 2011 Home United 2011 Singapore Cup winners 6th 2009 Sông Lam Nghệ An 2011 V-League champions 2nd 2011 Navibank Sài Gòn 2011 Vietnamese Cup winners 1st none

Notes

• ^† Al-Orouba were the second representative from Oman, instead of Dhofar, the 2011 Sultan Qaboos Cup winners.

Scheduleedit

Schedule of dates for 2012 competition.^[9]