[1] A total of six teams competed in the qualifying round to decide two places in the competition proper of the 2016 AFC Cup.

[3] A total of six teams six nine AFC associations competed in the qualifying round.

The draw for the qualifying round was held on 29 June 2015 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[4] For the draw, the pre-selected hosts were placed in their own pot, while the remaining teams were seeded according to the performance of their association in the 2014 AFC President's Cup.

In the qualifying round, each group was played on a single round-robin basis at the pre-selected hosts.