At just 19 years of age, FC Nasaf forward Khusain Norchaev entered the history books by becoming the AFC Cup’s youngest ever top scorer after he netted an impressive seven goals in six matches. 

The teenager broke the record of Shabab Al Ordon’s Odai Al Saify, who was the joint top scorer in the Jordanian side’s 2007 title-winning campaign aged 21. 

Staying on the youthful theme, with an average age of just 22.7 years old, FC Alay put out the youngest team ever to play an AFC Cup game when the Kyrgyz Republic side went up against Tajikistan’s FC Khujand. 

The oldest player in the Alay starting 11 was forward Suyuntbek Moldozhunusov at 25 years of age but the youngest player on the pitch was in fact Khujand’s 16-year-old goalkeeper Sukhrobkhudzha Yusupov, who kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win for the Tajiks. 

Yusupov was just four years old when Sayed Mohamed Jaffar won his first AFC Cup title, with the then 23-year-old ‘keeper the last line of defence in Muharraq Club’s victory over Safa SC. 

Thirteen years on, Jaffar was back on the podium after keeping four successive clean sheets in the knockout rounds, culminating in the Bahraini side’s 3-0 victory over Nasaf in the final. 

It may have only been a consolation goal in Athletic 220’s 5-1 group stage defeat by Hong Kong’s Lee Man FC, but Nyam-Osoryn Naranbold’s header was still significant. 

In 2017, fellow Ulaanbaatar side Erchim FC became the first Mongolian side to appear in the AFC Cup. Four years later, Naranbold netted the first goal for a club from the country. 

Lee Man, meanwhile, enjoyed an AFC Cup debut to remember, winning three games from three – including defeating Hong Kong rivals Kitchee SC – to top the East Zone and advance to the Inter-Zone final. 

They then gave Nasaf an almighty scare in Uzbekistan, coming from two goals down to draw level at 2-2, only to lose out in heartbreaking fashion in extra time. 

Muharraq Club became the fourth club to win the competition on more than one occasion as they joined Jordan’s Al Faisaly on two titles. 

They remain one behind Kuwait SC and Iraq’s Air Force Club, however, with both of the sides having lifted the trophy on three occasions.

Nasaf’s appearance in the final was the fourth time in the past six years a team from Central Asia has been part of the showpiece event after Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol (2015, 2017) and Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr (2018) also made the grand finale. 

However, with the quartet all losing the game that mattered most, the decade long wait to have a Central Asian side on the podium continues. Nasaf’s 2011 success remains the only time a side from the region has lifted the trophy. 

And finally, Tainan City’s 3-0 win over Athletic 220 marked the first ever AFC Cup victory by a side from Chinese Taipei. 

Hang Yuan FC lost all six games on their debut in 2018 before picking up a point in 2019. Two years on, Tainan City created a little bit of history for Chinese Taipei football.