The 2018 AFC Cup group stage was played from 10 February to 16 May 2018.
[1] A total of 36 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 11 places in the knockout stage of the 2018 AFC Cup.
[2] The draw for the group stage was held on 6 December 2017, 14:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Teams from the same association in the West Asia Zone and ASEAN Zone could not be drawn into the same group.
The mechanism of the draw was as follows: The following 36 teams entered into the group-stage draw, which included the 31 direct entrants and the five winners of the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw.