2015 AFC Cup knockout stage

The 2015 AFC Cup knockout stage was played from 26 May to 31 October 2015. A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2015 AFC Cup.^[1]

Qualified teams

The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage qualified for the knockout stage. Both West Zone and East Zone had eight teams qualified.

Zone	Group	Winners	Runners-up
West Zone (Groups A–D)	A	Al-Wehdat	Al-Wahda
	B	Al-Shorta	Al-Jazeera
	C	Istiklol	Al-Qadsia
	D	Al-Jaish	Al-Kuwait
East Zone (Groups E–H)	E	Persipura Jayapura	Bengaluru FC
	F	Johor Darul Ta'zim	Kitchee
	G	South China	Pahang
	H	Persib Bandung	Ayeyawady United

Format

In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, while in the round of 16 and final, each tie was played as a single match. The away goals rule (for two-legged ties), extra time (away goals would not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.^[1]

Schedule

The schedule of each round was as follows.^[2]

Round	First leg	Second leg
Round of 16	26–27 May 2015
Quarter-finals	25–26 August 2015	15–16 September 2015
Semi-finals	29–30 September 2015	20–21 October 2015
Final	31 October 2015

Bracket

In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group in the same zone, with the group winners hosting the match.^[1] The matchups were determined as follows:

West Zone Winner Group A vs. Runner-up Group C Winner Group C vs. Runner-up Group A Winner Group B vs. Runner-up Group D Winner Group D vs. Runner-up Group B

East Zone Winner Group E vs. Runner-up Group G Winner Group G vs. Runner-up Group E Winner Group F vs. Runner-up Group H Winner Group H vs. Runner-up Group F

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 June 2015, 15:00 UTC+8, at the Grand Millennium Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[3] Teams from different zones could be drawn into the same tie, and there was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.^[4]

In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined by the quarter-final draw: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2 and Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4, with winners QF2 and QF4 hosting the second leg.^[4]

In the final, the host team was determined by a draw, held after the quarter-final draw.^[4]

	Round of 16				Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Al-Shorta	0
	Al-Kuwait	2
					Al-Kuwait	6	1	7
					Kitchee	0	1	1
	Persib Bandung	0
	Kitchee	2
											Al-Kuwait	4	—	—
											Istiklol (w/o)	0	—	—
	Istiklol (pen.)	1(4)
	Al-Wahda	1(2)
					Istiklol	4	1	5
					Pahang	0	3	3
	Persipura Jayapura	0
	Pahang (awd.)	3
																	Istiklol	0
																	Johor Darul Ta'zim	1
	Al-Wehdat	0
	Al-Qadsia	1
					Al-Qadsia	3	0	3
					Al-Jaish	0	2	2
	Al-Jaish	1
	Al-Jazeera	0
											Al-Qadsia	3	—	—
											Johor Darul Ta'zim (w/o)	1	—	—
	Johor Darul Ta'zim	5
	Ayeyawady United	0
					Johor Darul Ta'zim	1	3	4
					South China	1	1	2
	South China	2
	Bengaluru FC	0

Round of 16

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Zone
Al-Wehdat	0–1	Al-Qadsia
Istiklol	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	Al-Wahda
Al-Shorta	0–2	Al-Kuwait
Al-Jaish	1–0	Al-Jazeera
East Zone
Persipura Jayapura	0–3 (awd.)	Pahang
South China	2–0	Bengaluru FC
Johor Darul Ta'zim	5–0	Ayeyawady United
Persib Bandung	0–2	Kitchee

26 May 2015

15:30 UTC+9

Persipura Jayapura	Cancelled 0–3 (Awarded)	Pahang
	Report

Mandala Stadium, Jayapura

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

The Persipura Jayapura v Pahang match was not played as scheduled as Pahang players were denied entry into Indonesia due to visa issues.^[5] The AFC announced on 10 June 2015 that as a result, Persipura Jayapura forfeited the match and was considered to have lost the match by 3–0, based on the AFC Cup 2015 Competition Regulations and the AFC Disciplinary Code.^[6]

---

26 May 2015

20:00 UTC+8

South China	2–0	Bengaluru FC
McBreen 28' (pen.), 58'	Report

Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 3,381

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

---

26 May 2015

20:00 UTC+5

Istiklol	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Wahda
Al Kurdi 34' (o.g.)	Report	Al Kurdi 21'
Penalties
Davronov Nazarov Fatkhuloev Umarbaev	4–2	Omari Kataya Hamdoko Khadouj

Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe

Attendance: 17,100

Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)

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26 May 2015

19:00 UTC+3

Al-Wehdat	0–1	Al-Qadsia
	Report	Al Ansari 76'

Al-Hassan Stadium, Irbid

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Kim Sang-woo (South Korea)

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27 May 2015

15:00 UTC+7

Persib Bandung	0–2	Kitchee
	Report	Belencoso 32' Lam Ka Wai 44'

Jalak Harupat Soreang Stadium, Bandung

Attendance: 12,352

Referee: Dmitriy Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)

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27 May 2015

20:45 UTC+8

Johor Darul Ta'zim	5–0	Ayeyawady United
Safiq 1' Figueroa 46', 90+1' Díaz 61', 74'	Report

Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru

Attendance: 16,850

Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)

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27 May 2015

18:00 UTC+3

Al-Jaish	1–0	Al-Jazeera
Sharifa 90' (pen.)	Report

Al-Hassan Stadium, Irbid (Jordan)^[A]

Attendance: 300

Referee: Liu Kwok Man (Hong Kong)

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27 May 2015

19:00 UTC+3

Al-Shorta	0–2	Al-Kuwait
	Report	Al Buraiki 80' (pen.) Rogerinho 90+4'

Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha (Qatar)^[B]

Attendance: 165

Referee: Tan Hai (China)

Notes

1. ^
   Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
2. ^
   Teams from Iraq were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Qadsia	3–2	Al-Jaish	3–0	0–2
Johor Darul Ta'zim	4–2	South China	1–1	3–1
Al-Kuwait	7–1	Kitchee	6–0	1–1
Istiklol	5–3	Pahang	4–0	1–3

First leg

25 August 2015

20:45 UTC+8

Johor Darul Ta'zim	1–1	South China
Figueroa 49' (pen.)	Report	Awal 63'

Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru

Attendance: 14,700

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

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25 August 2015

19:00 UTC+3

Al-Qadsia	3–0	Al-Jaish
Al Ansari 12' Fuakumputu 64' Al-Mutawa 69'	Report

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

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26 August 2015

20:00 UTC+5

Istiklol	4–0	Pahang
Chahjouyi 35' Vasiev 36', 77' Makhmudov 51'	Report

Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

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26 August 2015

20:15 UTC+3

Al-Kuwait	6–0	Kitchee
Rogerinho 12', 52' Al Enezi 21' Hammami 45+4' Vinícius 82' (pen.) Al Kandari 90+2'	Report

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 800

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

Second leg

15 September 2015

20:00 UTC+8

South China	1–3	Johor Darul Ta'zim
Awal 28'	Report	Mahali 26' Safee 30', 45+2'

Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 6,412

Referee: Fahad Al-Marri (Qatar)

Johor Darul Ta'zim won 4–2 on aggregate.

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15 September 2015

18:30 UTC+3

Al-Jaish	2–0	Al-Qadsia
Ebrahim 35' (o.g.) Al-Baher 51'	Report

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City (Kuwait)^[C]

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

Al-Qadsia won 3–2 on aggregate.

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16 September 2015

20:00 UTC+8

Kitchee	1–1	Al-Kuwait
Paulinho 9'	Report	Al Hajri 49'

Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 1,392

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

Al-Kuwait won 7–1 on aggregate.

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16 September 2015

20:45 UTC+8

Pahang	3–1	Istiklol
Hafiz 31', 58' Saarvindran 90+2'	Report	Makhmudov 61'

Darul Makmur Stadium, Kuantan

Attendance: 1,309

Referee: Abdullah Al Hilali (Oman)

Istiklol won 5–3 on aggregate.

Notes

3. ^
   Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.

Semi-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Qadsia	w/o	Johor Darul Ta'zim	3–1	Cancelled
Al-Kuwait	w/o	Istiklol	4–0	Cancelled

First leg

29 September 2015

19:20 UTC+3

Al-Qadsia	3-1	Johor Darul Ta'zim
Fuakumputu 33' Al-Mutawa 42' (pen.) Soumah 58'	Report	Amri 82'

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 1,501

Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

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30 September 2015

19:20 UTC+3

Al-Kuwait	4–0	Istiklol
Vinícius 40', 80' (pen.), 86' (pen.) Al Harbi 90+2'	Report

Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, Kuwait City

Attendance: 350

Referee: Mohsen Torky (Iran)

Second leg

On 16 October 2015, the Kuwait Football Association was suspended by FIFA.^[7] As a result, both Al-Qadsia and Al-Kuwait were no longer eligible to compete in the AFC Cup. The second legs of both semi-finals were cancelled, and Johor Darul Ta'zim and Istiklol advanced to the final by walkover.^[8]

20 October 2015

20:45 UTC+8

Johor Darul Ta'zim	Cancelled	Al-Qadsia
	Report

Larkin Stadium, Johor Bahru

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

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21 October 2015

18:00 UTC+5

Istiklol	Cancelled	Al-Kuwait
	Report

Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Final

Main article: 2015 AFC Cup Final

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Istiklol	0–1	Johor Darul Ta'zim

31 October 2015

17:00 UTC+5

Istiklol	0–1	Johor Darul Ta'zim
	Report	Velázquez 23'

Pamir Stadium, Dushanbe

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Minoru Tōjō (Japan)