The 2018 AFC Cup group stage was played from 10 February to 16 May 2018.^[1] A total of 36 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 11 places in the knockout stage of the 2018 AFC Cup.^[2]

The draw for the group stage was held on 6 December 2017, 14:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[3][4] The 36 teams were drawn into nine groups of four: three groups each in the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) and the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H), and one group each in the Central Asia Zone (Group D), the South Asia Zone (Group E), and the East Asia Zone (Group I). Teams from the same association in the West Asia Zone and ASEAN Zone could not be drawn into the same group.

The seeding of each team in the draw was determined by their association and their qualifying position within their association. The mechanism of the draw was as follows:

• For the West Asia Zone, a draw was held for the five associations with two direct entrants (Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Bahrain, Lebanon) to determine the three associations occupying seeds 1 and 2, with seeds 1 placed in order for Groups A, B and C, and the two associations occupying seeds 3 and 4, with seeds 3 placed in order for Groups A and B. The remaining teams were then allocated to groups according to the rules set by AFC.
• For the ASEAN Zone, a draw was held for the five associations with two direct entrants (Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore) to determine the three associations occupying seeds 1 and 2, with seeds 1 placed in order for Groups F, G and H, and the two associations occupying seeds 3 and 4, with seeds 3 placed in Groups F and G. The remaining teams were then allocated to the groups according to the rules set by AFC.
• For the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone, no draw was held, and the teams were allocated to the groups according to their association ranking published on 30 November 2016.

The following 36 teams entered into the group-stage draw, which included the 31 direct entrants and the five winners of the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw.

More information Zone, Groups ...

Zone	Groups	Seed 1	Seed 2	Seed 3	Seed 4
West Asia Zone	A–C	Malkiya[note 1]	Manama[note 1]	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya[note 1]	Al-Zawraa[note 1]
		Al-Ahed[note 1]	Al-Ansar[note 1]	Al-Jaish[note 1]	Al-Wahda[note 1]
		Al-Faisaly[note 1]	Al-Jazeera[note 1]	Dhofar	Al-Suwaiq (Play-off West Asia)
Central Asia Zone	D	Istiklol	Altyn Asyr[note 2]	Alay Osh	Ahal (Play-off Central Asia)
South Asia Zone	E	Aizawl	New Radiant	Abahani Limited Dhaka[note 2]	Bengaluru (Play-off South Asia)
ASEAN Zone	F–H	Ceres–Negros[note 2][note 3]	Global Cebu[note 2][note 3]	Shan United[note 3]	Yangon United[note 3]
		Bali United[note 3]	Persija Jakarta[note 3]	FLC Thanh Hóa[note 3]	Sông Lam Nghệ An[note 3]
		Tampines Rovers[note 3]	Home United[note 3]	Johor Darul Ta'zim	Boeung Ket Angkor (Play-off ASEAN)
East Asia Zone	I	April 25	Hang Yuen	Benfica de Macau	Hwaebul (Play-off East Asia)

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Standby teams^{[note 4]}

• Al-Wehdat (for Al-Faisaly)
• Mohun Bagan (for Aizawl)
• Hà Nội (for FLC Thanh Hóa)
• Selangor (for Johor Darul Ta'zim)
• Madura United (for Bali United)
• Yadanarbon (for Shan United)
• Meralco Manila (for Ceres–Negros)^{[note 2][note 5]}
• Geylang International (for Tampines Rovers)

In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The following teams advanced to the knockout stage:

• The winners of each group and the best runners-up in the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone advanced to the Zonal semi-finals.
• The winners of each group in the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone advanced to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals.

The schedule of each matchday was as follows (W: West Asia Zone; C: Central Asia Zone; S: South Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone; E: East Asia Zone).^[1]

• Matches in the West Asia Zone were played on Mondays and Tuesdays (Matchdays 1–3: two groups on Monday, one group on Tuesday; Matchdays 4–6: one group on Monday, two groups on Tuesday).
• Matches in the ASEAN Zone were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (Matchdays 1–3: two groups on Tuesday, one group on Wednesday; Matchdays 4–6: one group on Tuesday, two groups on Wednesday).
• Matches in the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone were played on Wednesdays; if two teams from the same association played at home on the same matchday, one match was moved to Tuesdays.