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The AFC Cup is an annual international association football competition between domestic clubs run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Qualification to the competition is available to clubs from AFC-affiliated countries that fall into the AFC's 'developing nations' category as laid out in their 'Vision Asia' document.〔(AFC Cup 2004 )〕 Countries which are 'emerging' nations are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup qualifying play-off, where as countries which are 'mature' nations are entered into the AFC Champions League. The 'developing nations' are the fourteen 'next-best' countries that lie outside the top-14 countries in the AFC region which send their clubs to the more prestigious AFC Champions League. Before the reform in competition format that took place in 2009, the two competitions were not interlinked as the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League are in Europe, and AFC Champions League losers did not compete in the Cup. Following the reform in 2009, finalists of the AFC Cup meeting AFC's criteria and certain other eligible teams are allowed to compete in the qualifying round of AFC Champions League with the losers demoted to play in the AFC Cup. Kuwait SC are the most successful club in the competition's history, having won three titles. Clubs from Kuwait have won four titles, making them the most successful nation in the competition. Ever since the inauguration of the competition in 2004, the finalists of each edition have been dominated by clubs from West Asia until 2015 when the Malaysian team Johor Darul Ta'zim from East Asia became one of the finalists. Johor Darul Ta'zim are the current champions after defeating Istiklol in the final to win the 2015 AFC Cup. ==Format== AFC’s second-tier club competition will also see changes in terms of teams and format for the 2014 edition. - A total of 32 teams participate in the group stage (16 from West Asia and Central Asia, and 16 from East Asia, South East Asia and South Asia). - The teams will be divided into eight groups. Four of these groups will comprise West Asian teams, and four groups will make up the East Asian block. - Two teams from each group will qualify for the Round of 16, where they will play one single knockout match. - The quarter-finals, semi-finals will be played over two legs. - The final will be played as a one-off match. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「AFC Cup」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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