2021 AFC Champions League group stage

The 2021 AFC Champions League group stage will be played from 14 April to 7 May 2021.[1] A total of 40 teams will compete in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout stage of the 2021 AFC Champions League.[2]

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on 27 January 2021, 16:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[3] The 40 teams were drawn into ten groups of four: five groups each in the West Region (Groups A–E) and the East Region (Groups F–J). For each zone, teams were seeded into four pots and drawn into the relevant positions within each group, based on their association ranking and their seeding within their association, in consideration of technical balance between groups. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.[4]

The following 40 teams entered into the group stage draw, which included the 32 direct entrants and the eight winners of the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw.

Region	Groups	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
West Region	A–E	Al-Duhail	Al-Nassr	Pakhtakor	Al-Shorta[note 1]
		Al-Hilal	Tractor	Al-Wehdat	TBD (Winners of Play-off West 1)
		Persepolis	Shabab Al-Ahli	Goa	TBD (Winners of Play-off West 2)
		Sharjah	Al-Rayyan	Istiklol	TBD (Winners of Play-off West 3)
		Al-Sadd	Al-Ahli	Esteghlal[note 2]	TBD (Winners of Play-off West 4)

East Region	F–J	Jiangsu	Gamba Osaka	United City	Sydney FC[note 1]
		Kawasaki Frontale	Ulsan Hyundai	Kitchee[note 2]	TBD (Winners of Play-off East 1)
		Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Port	Viettel	TBD (Winners of Play-off East 2)
		BG Pathum United	Guangzhou	Johor Darul Ta'zim	TBD (Winners of Play-off East 3)
		Shandong Taishan	Nagoya Grampus	Tampines Rovers	TBD (Winners of Play-off East 4)

Format

In the group stage, each group will be played on a double round-robin basis in centralised venues. The winners of each group and three best runners-up from each region will advance to the round of 16 of the knockout stage.

Tiebreakers

The teams will be ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers will be applied in the following order (Regulations Article 8.3):[2]

Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
~~Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;~~ (Not applicable since the matches will be played in centralized venue)
If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams playing each other in the last round of the group are tied;
Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
Association ranking.

Schedule

The schedule of each matchday is as follows.[1][5]

Matchday	Dates		Matches
Matchday	West Region	East Region	Matches
Matchday 1	14–15 April 2021	21–22 April 2021	Team 1 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 2
Matchday 2	17–18 April 2021	24–25 April 2021	Team 4 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 1
Matchday 3	20–21 April 2021	27–28 April 2021	Team 4 vs. Team 2, Team 1 vs. Team 3
Matchday 4	23–24 April 2021	30 April–1 May 2021	Team 2 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 1
Matchday 5	26–27 April 2021	3–4 May 2021	Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 2 vs. Team 3
Matchday 6	29–30 April 2021	6–7 May 2021	Team 1 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 4