The 2012 AFC Cup group stage was contested by a total of 32 teams (20 from West Asia Zone and 12 from East Asia Zone).
They included: The draw for the group stage was held at the AFC house in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 6 December 2011, 15:00 UTC+08:00.
Clubs from the same country may not be drawn into the same group.
In each group, teams played each other home-and-away in a round-robin format.
[2] The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.