The 2016 AFC Cup group stage was played from 23 February to 11 May 2016.
[2] The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2015, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The mechanism of the draw was as follows:[6] The following 32 teams (16 from West Zone, 16 from East Zone) entered into the group-stage draw, which included the 28 direct entrants and the four winners of the qualifying play-off, whose identity were not known at the time of the draw.
The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16.
If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order (Regulations Article 11.5):[2] The schedule of each matchday was as follows.