2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs

The 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs were played from 8 to 15 March 2022.^[1] A total of 16 teams competed in the qualifying play-offs to decide seven of the 40 places in the group stage of the 2022 AFC Champions League.^[2]

Teams

The following 14 teams, split into two regions (West Region and East Region), entered the qualifying play-offs, consisting of two rounds:

• 2 teams entered in the preliminary round.
• 12 teams entered in the play-off round.

Region	Teams entering in play-off round	Teams entering in preliminary round
West Region	Al-Taawoun Baniyas Sharjah Al-Zawraa Nasaf Qarshi Al-Jaish
East Region	Changchun Yatai[note 1] Vissel Kobe Ulsan Hyundai Daegu FC Buriram United Port Melbourne Victory	Melbourne Victory[note 2] Sydney FC Kaya FC–Iloilo Shan United[note 2]

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.^[2]

Schedule

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

Round	Match date
Preliminary round	8 March 2022
Play-off round	15 March 2022

Bracket

The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each region was determined based on each team's association ranking and their seeding within their association, 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 seven winners of the play-off round (three from West Region and four from East Region) advanced to the group stage to join the 33 direct entrants.

Play-off West 1

• Al-Taawoun advanced to Group D.

	Preliminary round				Play-off round
					Al-Taawoun (p)	1 (5)
					Al-Jaish	1 (4)

Play-off West 2

• Nasaf Qarshi advanced to Group E.

	Preliminary round				Play-off round
					Baniyas	0
					Nasaf Qarshi	2

Play-off West 3

• Sharjah advanced to Group A.

	Preliminary round				Play-off round
					Sharjah (p)	1 (6)
					Al-Zawraa	1 (5)

Play-off East 1

• Sydney FC advanced to Group H.

	Preliminary round				Play-off round
					Changchun Yatai
					Sydney FC	w/o
	Sydney FC	5
	Kaya–Iloilo	0

Play-off East 2

• Vissel Kobe advanced to Group J.

	Preliminary round				Play-off round
					Vissel Kobe (a.e.t.)	4
					Melbourne Victory	3
	Melbourne Victory	w/o
	Shan United

Play-off East 3

• Ulsan Hyundai advanced to Group I.

	Preliminary round				Play-off round
					Ulsan Hyundai	3
					Port	0

Play-off East 4

• Daegu FC advanced to Group F.

	Preliminary round				Play-off round
					Daegu FC (p)	1 (3)
					Buriram United	1 (2)

Preliminary round

Summary

A total of two teams played in the preliminary round.

East Region

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Sydney FC	5–0	Kaya–Iloilo
Melbourne Victory	Cancelled[note 2]	Shan United

East Region

8 March 2022 (2022-03-08)

19:30 UTC+11

Sydney FC	5–0	Kaya–Iloilo
Buhagiar 30' Bobô 47', 49' (pen.) Le Fondre 71', 81'	Live Report

Jubilee Oval, Sydney

Attendance: 435

Referee: Rowan Arumughan (India)

Melbourne Victory	Cancelled[note 2]	Shan United

Play-off round

Summary

A total of 14 teams played in the play-off round: 12 teams which entered in this round, and two winners of the preliminary round.

West Region

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Al-Taawoun	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Al-Jaish
Baniyas	0–2	Nasaf Qarshi
Sharjah	1–1 (a.e.t.) (6–5 p)	Al-Zawraa

East Region

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Changchun Yatai	Cancelled[note 1]	Sydney FC
Vissel Kobe	4–3 (a.e.t.)	Melbourne Victory
Ulsan Hyundai	3–0	Port
Daegu FC	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	Buriram United

West Region

15 March 2022 (2022-03-15)

18:50 UTC+3

Al-Taawoun	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Jaish
Al-Nabit 81'	Live Report	Al Wakid 70'
Penalties
Al-Sobhi Tawamba Hawsawi Cássio Medrán	5–4	Al Saleh Hamad Al Turk Meshleb Amer

King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, Buraidah

Attendance: 12,911

Referee: Sivakorn Pu-udom (Thailand)

15 March 2022 (2022-03-15)

20:15 UTC+4

Baniyas	0–2	Nasaf Qarshi
	Live Report	Nasrullayev 27' Norchaev 75'

Baniyas Club Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 1,304

Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

15 March 2022 (2022-03-15)

20:15 UTC+4

Sharjah	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Zawraa
Ba Wazir 89' (pen.)	Live Report	Abdul-Amir 62'
Penalties
Ba Wazir Shukurov Saleh Caio Abdulbasit Abdulrahman	6–5	Sartip Abdul-Amir Touil Ridha Jalil Kamil Hassan

Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah

Attendance: 2,200

Referee: Kim Dae-yong (South Korea)

East Region

Changchun Yatai	Cancelled[note 1]	Sydney FC

15 March 2022 (2022-03-15)

19:00 UTC+9

Vissel Kobe	4–3 (a.e.t.)	Melbourne Victory
Iniesta 6' Osako 80', 87' Lincoln 95'	Live Report	D'Agostino 12', 71' Folami 90'

Noevir Stadium Kobe, Kobe

Attendance: 7,861

Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)

15 March 2022 (2022-03-15)

19:00 UTC+9

Ulsan Hyundai	3–0	Port
Choi Gi-yun 19' Um Won-sang 83' Leonardo 87' (pen.)	Live Report

Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium, Ulsan

Attendance: 1,569

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

15 March 2022 (2022-03-15)

19:30 UTC+9

Daegu FC	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Buriram United
Cesinha 120+1'	Live Report	Bolingi 119'
Penalties
Lamas Kim Jin-hyuk Lee Keun-ho Suzuki	3–2	Ratthanakorn Suphanat Theerathon Sasalak Bolingi

DGB Daegu Bank Park, Daegu

Attendance: 3,271

Referee: Bijan Heydari (Iran)

Notes

1. Changchun Yatai withdrew from the competition after the draw. AFC decided to cancel the play-off match, and the winner of preliminary stage, Sydney FC, automatically advanced to the group stage.^[4]
2. Shan United withdrew from the AFC Champions League and Melbourne Victory entered the play-off round instead of the preliminary round.^[3]

References

1. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2022" (PDF). the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-13. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
2. "AFC Champions League 2022 Competition Regulations" (PDF). the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation.
3. "AFC confirms the withdrawal of Myanmar clubs". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 19 January 2022.
4. "Latest update on the AFC Champions League 2022". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 1 March 2022.

External links

• Official website