The top eight teams in the league stage from each region advance to the round of 16, with both West Region and East Region having eight qualified teams.
In the knockout stage, the 16 teams will play a single-elimination tournament. The round of 16 will see each team play against team from its region, with cross-regional pairings made from the quarter-finals. Each tie will be played as a single match, except the round of 16 which will be played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. Extra time and a penalty shoot-out will be used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 10).[2] The match-ups for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final will be determined at a single draw event.
Schedule
The schedule of the knockout component is as follows.[1]
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