AFC U-23 Asian Cup

The AFC U-23 Asian Cup, previously the AFC U-22 Championship (in 2013) and AFC U-23 Championship (between 2016–2020), is an international football tournament held by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The first edition was initially set to be held in 2013 and its qualification matches in 2012, but the finals tournament was postponed to be played in January 2014 due to the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup.[1][2][3]

AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Founded2012 (as AFC U-22 Championship)
RegionAsia (AFC)
Number of teams16
Current champions South Korea
(1st title)
Most successful team(s) Iraq
 Japan
 South Korea
 Uzbekistan
(1 title each)
2020 AFC U-23 Championship

The tournament is held every two years. The Olympic year tournaments, such in 2016 and 2020, are doubled as the Olympic's AFC qualifiers, from which the top 3 teams qualified to its football tournament.[2] The 2016 edition took place in January 2016.[4][5] The tournament was also renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship".[6]

From 2021, the tournament will be rebranded as the "AFC U-23 Asian Cup".[7]

Format

The overview of the competition format in the 2016 tournament was as follows:[8]

  • 16 teams competed in the final tournament, including the hosts which were automatically qualified.
  • Teams were seeded by the result of 2013 AFC U-22 Championship.
  • The tournament was held in 18 days.
  • 3 or 4 stadiums in at most 2 cities were needed to host the tournament.

In addition, players would be ineligible for participating in the AFC U-16 Championship if they participated in a higher age group competition (this tournament or the AFC U-19 Championship), though in reality it is rarely enforced.[8]

Results
Edition Year Host Final Third place match
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1 2013  Oman
Iraq		 1–0
Saudi Arabia
Jordan		 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(3–2 p)
South Korea
2 2016  Qatar
Japan		 3–2
South Korea
Iraq		 2–1 (a.e.t.)
Qatar
3 2018  China
Uzbekistan		 2–1 (a.e.t.)
Vietnam
Qatar		 1–0
South Korea
4 2020  Thailand
South Korea		 1–0 (a.e.t.)
Saudi Arabia
Australia		 1–0
Uzbekistan
5 2022 TBD

Teams reaching the top four
Team Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Total (Top 4)
 South Korea 1 (2020) 1 (2016) – 2 (2013, 2018) 4
 Iraq 1 (2013) – 1 (2016) – 2
 Uzbekistan 1 (2018) – – 1 (2020) 2
 Japan 1 (2016) – – – 1
 Saudi Arabia – 2 (2013, 2020) – – 2
 Vietnam – 1 (2018) – – 1
 Qatar – – 1 (2018) 1 (2016)* 2
 Jordan – – 1 (2013) – 1
 Australia – – 1 (2020) 1

(*) Host

Champions by regions
Regional federation Champion(s) Title(s)
EAFF (East Asia) Japan (1)
South Korea (1)		 2
CAFF (Central Asia) Uzbekistan (1) 1
WAFF (West Asia) Iraq (1) 1
AFF (Southeast Asia) N/A 0
SAFF (South Asia) N/A 0

Participating teams
Teams
2013
2016
2018
2020		Total
 Australia QFGSGS3rd 4
 Bahrain •••GS 1
 China PR GSGSGSGS 4
 Iran GSQF•GS 3
 Iraq 1st3rdQFGS 4
 Japan QF1stQFGS 4
 Jordan 3rdQFGSQF 4
 Kuwait GS•×• 1
 Malaysia ••QF• 1
 Myanmar GS••• 1
 North Korea GSQFGSGS 4
 Oman GS•GS• 2
 Palestine ••QF• 1
 Qatar •4th3rdGS 3
 Saudi Arabia 2ndGSGS2nd 4
 South Korea 4th2nd4th1st 4
 Syria QFGSGSQF 4
 Thailand •GSGSQF 3
 United Arab Emirates QFQF•QF 3
 Uzbekistan GSGS1st4th 4
 Vietnam •GS2ndGS 3
 Yemen GSGSו 2
Total16161616
Legend

All-time results
Rank Team Part Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  South Korea 42416444021+1952
2  Iraq 41912613317+1642
3  Japan 41710343119+1233
4  Qatar 3159422618+831
5  Uzbekistan 4189273019+1129
6  Saudi Arabia 4188552118+329
7  Australia 4167361617–124
8  Jordan 4175842015+523
9  United Arab Emirates 3124531113–217
10  Syria 4144461418–416
11  Iran 3104241515014
12  North Korea 4133461519–413
13  Vietnam 3121561219–78
14  Thailand 3101361118–76
15  Palestine 1411286+24
16  Malaysia 1411247–34
17  Oman 2610548-43
18  China PR 41210111021–113
19  Bahrain 1302138–52
20  Kuwait 1301214–31
21  Myanmar 13003113–120
22  Yemen 26006215–130

See also

References
  1. "Fifteen sides storm to U-22 finals". Asian Football Confederation. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  2. "Call to improve AFC competitions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  3. "Competitions Committee takes key decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  4. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016 (AC2019-Jan-version)" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-29.
  5. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016 (AC2019-June/July-version)" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-29.
  6. "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". the-afc.com. 28 November 2014. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  7. "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.
  8. "AFC announces key competition decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 2 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
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