2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs

The following 15 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.
• 13 teams entered in the play-off round.

Region	Teams entering in play-off round	Teams entering in preliminary round
West Region	Al-Gharafa Al-Wehda Foolad Al-Wahda Al-Ain Al-Zawraa Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya AGMK
East Region	Shanghai Port (Beijing Guoan)[note 1] Cerezo Osaka[note 2] Pohang Steelers[note 3] Daegu FC[note 2] Chiangrai United[note 2] Ratchaburi Mitr Phol[note 3] Melbourne City[note 4][note 2] Kaya–Iloilo[note 2]	Melbourne City[note 4][note 2] Brisbane Roar[note 2] Kaya–Iloilo[note 2] Shan United[note 4]

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]

The schedule of each round was as follows.^[1][5][6] On 11 March 2021, the AFC announced that the preliminary round and play-off round matches in the East Region, which were originally scheduled to be played on 7 April and 14 April 2021, had been postponed to June/July 2021, and were played in centralised venues of their respective group stage matches.^[7]

Round	West Region	East Region
Preliminary round	Not played
Play-off round	7 and 10 April 2021	23 June 2021

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 in the West Region. Teams from the same association could not be placed into the same tie. The eight winners of the play-off round (four each from both West Region and East Region) advanced to the group stage to join the 32 direct entrants.^[8]

• AGMK advanced to Group A.

	Preliminary round					Play-off round
						Al-Gharafa		0
						AGMK (a.e.t.)		1

• Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya advanced to Group B.

	Preliminary round					Play-off round
						Al-Wehda		1 (2)
						Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (p)		1 (3)

• Foolad advanced to Group D.

	Preliminary round					Play-off round
						Foolad		4
						Al-Ain		0

• Al-Wahda advanced to Group E.

	Preliminary round					Play-off round
						Al-Wahda		2
						Al-Zawraa		1

• Kaya–Iloilo advanced to Group F.

	Preliminary round					Play-off round
						Shanghai Port		0
	Brisbane Roar (w/o)		—			Kaya–Iloilo		1
	Kaya–Iloilo		—

• Cerezo Osaka advanced to Group J after Shan United and Melbourne City both withdrew from the competition.

	Preliminary round					Play-off round
						Cerezo Osaka (w/o)		—
	Melbourne City (w/o)		—			Melbourne City		—
	Shan United		—

• Pohang Steelers and Ratchaburi Mitr Phol advanced to Group G after Jiangsu withdrew from the competition and folded.

	Preliminary round					Play-off round
						Pohang Steelers		—
						Ratchaburi Mitr Phol		—

• Daegu FC advanced to Group I, and Chiangrai United advanced to Group H.

	Preliminary round					Play-off round
						Daegu FC		—
						Chiangrai United		—

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

A total of two teams will play in the preliminary round.

East Region

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Brisbane Roar	Cancelled[note 2]	Kaya–Iloilo
Melbourne City	Cancelled[note 4]	Shan United

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Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

A total of 14 teams played in the preliminary round 2: 13 teams which entered in this round, and one winner of the preliminary round.

West Region

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Al-Gharafa	0–1 (a.e.t.)	AGMK
Al-Wehda	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–3 p)	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Foolad	4–0	Al-Ain
Al-Wahda	2–1	Al-Zawraa

East Region

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Shanghai Port	0–1	Kaya–Iloilo
Cerezo Osaka	Cancelled[note 2]	Melbourne City
Pohang Steelers	Cancelled[note 3]	Ratchaburi Mitr Phol
Daegu FC	Cancelled[note 2]	Chiangrai United

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