The 2021 Malaysia Cup group stage began on 25 September and ended on 10 November 2021. A total of 16 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 8 places in the knockout stage of the 2021 Malaysia Cup.[1]
The draw for the group stage was held on 15 September 2021, 14:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Bukit Jalil, in Kuala Lumpur.[2]
The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on the following principles.
- Pot 1 contained the Super League winners, and another three teams at the top four based on league positions. Pot 1 includes the top 4 teams from the Super League.
- Pot 2 with those place 5th to 8th from the Super League.
- Pot 3 with those placed 9th to 11th from Super League, together with the 1st placed team from the Premier League.
- Pot 4 with those placed 2th to 5th from Premier League.
The schedule of each matchday is as follows:
More information Matchday, Dates ...
Group stage schedule
Matchday |
Dates |
1 |
26–27 September 2021 |
2 |
29 September– 1 October 2021 |
3 |
29–30 October 2021 |
4 |
1–3 November 2021 |
5 |
6–7 November 2021 |
6 |
9–10 November 2021 |
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Below are the participating teams grouped by their seeding pot. They include:
- Top 11 teams from the Super League and Top 5 teams from Premier League which enter in this stage.
More information Pot 1 (Super League), Pot 2 (Super League) ...
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In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarter-finals.
Tiebreakers
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above was reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Away goals scored in all group matches;
- Wins in all group matches;
- Away wins in all group matches;
- Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
The matchdays were 26–27 September, 29 September– 1 October, 29–30 October, 1–3 November, 6–7 November, and 9–10 November 2021. All times are on Malaysia Standard Time (UTC+8).
Group A
More information Pos, Pld ...
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More information Penang, 1–3 ...
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More information Kuala Lumpur City, 3–1 ...
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More information Sarawak United, 1–0 ...
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More information Penang, 1–1 ...
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More information Kuala Lumpur City, 4–0 ...
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More information Sri Pahang, 4–0 ...
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More information Sarawak United, 2–2 ...
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More information Penang, 0–5 ...
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More information Sri Pahang, 1–2 ...
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More information Kuala Lumpur City, 1–0 ...
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More information Sarawak United, 1–2 ...
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More information Sri Pahang, 0–1 ...
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Group B
More information Pos, Pld ...
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More information Terengganu, 2–0 ...
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More information Selangor, 1–0 ...
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More information Terengganu, 2–1 ...
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More information Kuching City, 2–2 ...
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More information Selangor, 5–1 ...
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More information Perak, 1–4 ...
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More information Kuching City, 1–2 ...
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More information Terengganu, 4–0 ...
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More information Perak, 0–1 ...
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More information Selangor, 1–3 ...
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More information Kuching City, 1–1 ...
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More information Perak, 1–2 ...
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Group C
More information Pos, Pld ...
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Negeri Sembilan withdrew from the tournament on 22 October 2021, after 20 players and 4 staff members had caught the Coronavirus, this prompted them to withdraw for the safety of all parties and were advised by the team's medical doctor. As according to MFL's rule book, all of Negeri Sembilan's remaining matches will be awarded a 3–0 win to the opposing team.[27]
More information Kedah Darul Aman, 3−0 ...
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More information Melaka United, 2−0 ...
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More information Kedah Darul Aman, 1−3 ...
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More information Kelantan United, 0−1 ...
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More information Melaka United, 2−1 ...
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More information Negeri Sembilan, 0–3 Awarded ...
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More information Kelantan United, 3–3 ...
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More information Kedah Darul Aman, 3–0 Awarded ...
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More information Kelantan United, 1–3 ...
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More information Negeri Sembilan, 0–3 Awarded ...
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More information Negeri Sembilan, 0–3 Awarded ...
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More information Melaka United, 2−0 ...
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Group D
More information Pos, Pld ...
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More information Johor Darul Ta'zim, 2−0 ...
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More information Petaling Jaya City, 1−1 ...
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More information Kelantan, 2−2 ...
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More information Johor Darul Ta'zim, 1−0 ...
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More information Sabah, 0–2 ...
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More information Petaling Jaya City, 3−1 ...
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More information Kelantan, 0–0 ...
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More information Johor Darul Ta'zim, 3–0 ...
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More information Sabah, 2–1 ...
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More information Petaling Jaya City, 1−2 ...
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More information Kelantan, 0−4 ...
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More information Sabah, 1−0 ...
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Originally the matches, Kelantan United vs Negeri Sembilan which was supposed to be held on 30 October, and Kelantan United vs Melaka United on 2 November were moved to new date due to Kelantan United and Kelantan FC sharing the same venue, Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium, and some of their matches are to be held on the same date. So, the matches Kelantan United vs Negeri Sembilan was moved to 1 October and Kelantan United vs Melaka United on 1 November.[31]
Negeri Sembilan were unable to play the final four matches of the group stage due to several team members and officials testing positive for COVID-19. They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and the last four remaining matches played by them shall be considered "awarded" a 3–0 win to the opposing team, based on Malaysian Football League's rule book.[34][35]
The original Matchday 5 matches: Negeri Sembilan vs Kelantan United and Melaka United vs Kedah Darul Aman, and the Matchday 6 matches: Kelantan United vs Kedah Darul Aman and Negeri Sembilan vs Melaka, were switched around so matches from Matchday 5 were moved to Matchday 6 and Matchday 6 to Matchday 5 to avoid the clash of Kelantan United and Kelantan FC venues, where they share the same stadium as their venue for Matchday 6 .[31]