| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 7 April – 15 August Competition proper: 14 May – 5 November |
| Teams | Group stage: 38 (originally) Total: 43 (from 27 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Al-Muharraq (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Nasaf |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 43 |
| Goals scored | 138 (3.21 per match) |
| Attendance | 65,676 (1,527 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Khusayin Norchaev (7 goals)[1] |
| Best player(s) | Abdulwahab Al-Malood[2] |
← 2020 2022 →
(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs) | |
The 2021 AFC Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[3]
The winners of the tournament automatically qualified for the 2022 AFC Champions League, entering the qualifying play-offs, if they had not qualified through their domestic performance.[4]
Lebanese club Al-Ahed, having won their first AFC Cup title in 2019, were the title holders, since the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia after several group stage matches and the title was not awarded. However, Al-Ahed were eliminated by the eventual winners Al-Muharraq in the West Asia Zonal semi-finals.
- ^ "Nasaf's Norchaev wins 2021 AFC Cup Top Scorer award". the-afc.com. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "Muharraq's Abdulwahab Al Maloud named 2021 AFC Cup MVP". the-afc.com. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ "AFC Cup 2021 Competition Regulations" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation.
- ^ "More Member Associations to benefit from inclusive AFC Champions League". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.