2016 AFC U-23 Championship
بطولة آسيا تحت 23 سنة لكرة القدم 2016
Tournament details
Host countryQatar
Dates12–30 January
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)4 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Japan (1st title)
Runners-up South Korea
Third place Iraq
Fourth place Qatar
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored103 (3.22 per match)
Attendance93,639 (2,926 per match)
Top scorer(s)Qatar Ahmed Alaa
(6 goals)
Best player(s)Japan Shoya Nakajima
Fair play award Japan

The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2016 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the second edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. The tournament was held in Qatar between 12–30 January 2016.[1][2] A total of 16 teams compete in the tournament. The tournament was also renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship".[1]

For the first time, the AFC U-23 Championship acted as the AFC qualifiers for the Olympic football tournament, replacing the previous process of home-and-away Olympic qualifiers. The top three teams of the tournament qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Brazil as the AFC representatives.[3]

Japan won the tournament with a 3–2 final win over South Korea. Both finalists and third-placed Iraq qualified for the Olympics.[4]

Host selection

Qatar was one of the countries which came forward wishing to host the finals competition.[5] They were selected over the other bidding nations Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran.[1]

Qualification

The qualifiers draw was held on Thursday, 4 December 2014.[6] A total of 43 teams were drawn into ten groups, with the ten group winners and the five best runners-up qualifying for the final tournament, together with Qatar who qualified automatically as hosts.[7]

Qualification rounds were played between 23–31 March 2015,[8] except for Group B which was scheduled to be held in Lahore, Pakistan, but was postponed due to the Lahore church bombings.

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.[9]

Team Qualified as Appearance Previous best performance
 QatarHosts1stDebut
 IraqGroup A winners2ndChampions (2013)
 JordanGroup B winners2ndThird place (2013)
 Saudi ArabiaGroup C winners2ndRunners-up (2013)
 United Arab EmiratesGroup D winners2ndQuarter-finals (2013)
 SyriaGroup E winners2ndQuarter-finals (2013)
 AustraliaGroup F winners2ndQuarter-finals (2013)
 North KoreaGroup G winners2ndGroup stage (2013)
 South KoreaGroup H winners2ndFourth place (2013)
 JapanGroup I winners2ndQuarter-finals (2013)
 ChinaGroup J winners2ndGroup stage (2013)
 Thailand1st best runners-up (Group G)1stDebut
 Iran2nd best runners-up (Group C)2ndGroup stage (2013)
 Vietnam3rd best runners-up (Group I)1stDebut
 Yemen4th best runners-up (Group D)2ndGroup stage (2013)
 Uzbekistan5th best runners-up (Group E)2ndGroup stage (2013)

Venues

The tournament was held in four stadiums, located in the cities of Al Rayyan and Doha.[10]

Qatar
Al Rayyan Doha
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium
(Al-Sadd Stadium)		 Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium
(Lekhwiya Stadium)		 Grand Hamad Stadium
(Al-Arabi Stadium)		 Suheim bin Hamad Stadium
(Qatar SC Stadium)
Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 18,000 Capacity: 15,000

Draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 12 September 2015, 12:00 AST (UTC+3), at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams.[10] The teams were seeded according to their performance in the previous edition in 2013.[11]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

 Qatar (hosts; position A1)
 Iraq
 Saudi Arabia
 Jordan

 South Korea
 Syria
 Australia
 Japan

 United Arab Emirates
 Iran
 North Korea
 Uzbekistan

 China
 Yemen
 Thailand
 Vietnam

Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship.

Referees
Assistant referees
  • Bahrain Nawaf Moosa
  • China Wang Dexin
  • Iran Reza Sokhandan
  • Japan Haruhiro Otsuka
  • Jordan Ahmed Al Roalle
  • South Korea Yoon Kwang-yeol
  • Malaysia Mohd Yusri Mohamad
  • Oman Abu Bakar Al-Amri
  • Qatar Taleb Al-Marri
  • Qatar Saud Al-Maqaleh
  • Saudi Arabia Mohammed Al Abakry
  • Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Shalawi
  • Kyrgyzstan Ismailzhan Talipzhanov
  • Sri Lanka Deniye Gedara Palitha Parakkrama Hemathunga
  • Chinese Taipei Yu Hsu Min
  • United Arab Emirates Mohamed Al-Hammadi
  • United Arab Emirates Hasan Al-Mahri
  • Uzbekistan Jakhongir Saidov

Squads

Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team could register a maximum of 23 players (minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers).[12]

As the tournament was not held during the FIFA International Match Calendar, clubs were not obligated to release the players.[13]

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order:[12]

  1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
  3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply;
  5. Goal difference in all the group matches;
  6. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
  7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
  8. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
  9. Drawing of lots.

All times were local, AST (UTC+3).[14]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Qatar (H) 3 3 0 0 9 4 +5 9 Knockout stage
2  Iran 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
3  Syria 3 1 0 2 5 7 −2 3
4  China 3 0 0 3 4 9 −5 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Syria 0–2 Iran
Report Motahari 64'
Mi. Mohammadi 72'
Attendance: 1,133
Qatar 3–1 China
A. Hassan 65', 72'
A. Alaa 82'		 Report Liao Lisheng 43'
Attendance: 6,340
China 1–3 Syria
Liao Lisheng 21' Report Kharbin 43' (pen.), 53'
Al Baher 83'
Attendance: 1,205
Iran 1–2 Qatar
A. Karimi 90+1' Report A. Alaa 35'
A. Hassan 56'
Attendance: 11,026
Qatar 4–2 Syria
A. Hassan 10'
A. Alaa 24', 82'
A. Ali 28'		 Report Kalfa 4'
Kharbin 81' (pen.)
Attendance: 9,255
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)
Iran 3–2 China
Motahari 38'
Pahlavan 40'
Torabi 48'		 Report Chang Feiya 40'
Liao Lisheng 70' (pen.)
Attendance: 802
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Japan 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9 Knockout stage
2  North Korea 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2[lower-alpha 1]
3  Saudi Arabia 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2[lower-alpha 1]
4  Thailand 3 0 2 1 3 7 −4 2[lower-alpha 1]
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 3 Head-to-head: North Korea (0 GD, 5 GF), Saudi Arabia (0 GD, 4 GF), Thailand (0 GD, 3 GF)
Japan 1–0 North Korea
Ueda 5' Report
Attendance: 1,531
Saudi Arabia 1–1 Thailand
Al-Saiari 71' Report Pinyo 84'
Attendance: 1,531
Thailand 0–4 Japan
Report Suzuki 27'
Yajima 49'
Kubo 75', 84' (pen.)
Attendance: 1,674
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
North Korea 3–3 Saudi Arabia
Kim Yong-il 27'
Yun Il-gwang 52'
Jang Kuk-chol 85'		 Report Kanno 40'
Al-Muwallad 62'
Al-Ghamdi 69'
Attendance: 1,674
Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)
Saudi Arabia 1–2 Japan
Madu 57' (pen.) Report Oshima 32'
Ideguchi 53'
Attendance: 807
North Korea 2–2 Thailand
Kim Yong-il 17'
Thossawat 45' (o.g.)		 Report Narubadin 30'
Chanathip 78'
Attendance: 1,086

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  South Korea 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 7 Knockout stage
2  Iraq 3 2 1 0 6 3 +3 7
3  Uzbekistan 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
4  Yemen 3 0 0 3 1 10 −9 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Iraq 2–0 Yemen
Faez 36' (pen.)
Husni 39'		 Report
Attendance: 803
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)
South Korea 2–1 Uzbekistan
Moon Chang-jin 20' (pen.), 48' Report Khamdamov 57'
Attendance: 803
Yemen 0–5 South Korea
Report Kwon Chang-hoon 14', 31', 41'
Ryu Seung-woo 72'
Kim Seung-jun 76'
Attendance: 686
Referee: Dmitriy Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)
Uzbekistan 2–3 Iraq
Khamdamov 1'
Khakimov 79'		 Report Attwan 38'
Kamel 43'
Tariq 84'
Attendance: 686
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)
Iraq 1–1 South Korea
Waleed 90+2' Report Kim Hyun 22'
Attendance: 1,086
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
Uzbekistan 3–1 Yemen
Sokhibov 18'
Sergeev 68'
Masharipov 90+3'		 Report A. Al-Sarori 82'
Attendance: 227
Referee: Ma Ning (China)

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  United Arab Emirates 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7 Knockout stage
2  Jordan 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2 5
3  Australia 3 1 1 1 2 1 +1 4
4  Vietnam 3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Jordan 3–1 Vietnam
Faisal 38', 72'
Manasrah 68'		 Report Đỗ Duy Mạnh 87'
Attendance: 1,392
Referee: Ma Ning (China)
Australia 0–1 United Arab Emirates
Report Gallifuoco 86' (o.g.)
Attendance: 307
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)
Vietnam 0–2 Australia
Report Donachie 2'
Maclaren 61'
Attendance: 539
Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)
United Arab Emirates 0–0 Jordan
Report
Attendance: 1,752
Jordan 0–0 Australia
Report
Attendance: 2,338
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary.[12]

Bracket

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
22 January – Al Rayyan
 
 
 Qatar (a.e.t.)2
 
26 January – Al Rayyan
 
 North Korea1
 
 Qatar1
 
23 January – Doha (SBH)
 
 South Korea3
 
 South Korea1
 
30 January – Doha (ABK)
 
 Jordan0
 
 South Korea2
 
22 January – Doha (ABK)
 
 Japan3
 
 Japan (a.e.t.)3
 
26 January – Doha (ABK)
 
 Iran0
 
 Japan2
 
23 January – Doha (GH)
 
 Iraq1 Third place
 
 United Arab Emirates1
 
29 January – Al Rayyan
 
 Iraq (a.e.t.)3
 
 Qatar1
 
 
 Iraq (a.e.t.)2
 

Quarter-finals

Japan 3–0 (a.e.t.) Iran
Toyokawa 95'
Nakajima 108', 110'		 Report
Attendance: 1,703
Qatar 2–1 (a.e.t.) North Korea
A. Afif 6' (pen.)
A. Assad 92'		 Report So Kyong-jin 90+1'
Attendance: 9,702
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
South Korea 1–0 Jordan
Moon Chang-jin 23' Report
Attendance: 3,126
United Arab Emirates 1–3 (a.e.t.) Iraq
Alaa A. 75' (o.g.) Report Husni 77'
Abdul-Raheem 103'
Waleed 120+3'
Attendance: 1,030

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.

Japan 2–1 Iraq
Kubo 26'
Harakawa 90+3'		 Report Saad 43'
Attendance: 1,489
Qatar 1–3 South Korea
A. Alaa 79' Report Ryu Seung-woo 48'
Kwon Chang-hoon 89'
Moon Chang-jin 90+5'
Attendance: 11,840

Third place play-off

Winner qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.

Qatar 1–2 (a.e.t.) Iraq
A. Alaa 27' Report Abdul-Raheem 86'
Ayman 109'
Attendance: 10,049
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Final

South Korea 2–3 Japan
Kwon Chang-hoon 20'
Jin Sung-wook 47'		 Report Asano 67', 81'
Yajima 68'
Attendance: 5,394

Winners

2016 AFC U-23 Championship
Japan
Japan
First title

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Top Goalscorer[15] Most Valuable Player[16] Fair Play award[16]
Qatar Ahmed Alaa Japan Shoya Nakajima Japan Japan

Statistics

Goalscorers

6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Source: The-AFC.com

Tournament team rankings

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1  Japan 6 6 0 0 15 4 +11 18 Champions
2  South Korea 6 4 1 1 14 6 +8 13 Runners-up
3  Iraq 6 4 1 1 12 7 +5 13 Third place
4  Qatar (H) 6 4 0 2 13 10 +3 12 Fourth place
5  United Arab Emirates 4 2 1 1 5 5 0 7 Eliminated in
quarter-finals
6  Iran 4 2 0 2 6 7 −1 6
7  Jordan 4 1 2 1 3 2 +1 5
8  North Korea 4 0 2 2 6 8 −2 2
9  Australia 3 1 1 1 2 1 +1 4 Eliminated in
group stage
10  Uzbekistan 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
11  Syria 3 1 0 2 5 7 −2 3
12  Saudi Arabia 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2
13  Thailand 3 0 2 1 3 7 −4 2
14  China 3 0 0 3 4 9 −5 0
15  Vietnam 3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0
16  Yemen 3 0 0 3 1 10 −9 0
Source: AFC
(H) Hosts

Qualified teams for Olympics

The following three teams from AFC qualified for the Olympic football tournament.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament1
 Japan26 January 20169 (1936, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
 South Korea26 January 20169 (1948, 1964, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
 Iraq29 January 20164 (1980, 1984, 1988, 2004)
1 Italic indicates host for that year. Statistics include all Olympic format (current Olympic under-23 format started in 1992).

Broadcasting rights

Territory Channel Ref
Arab world beIN Sports
Al-Kass Sports		 [17][18]
 Australia Fox Sports [19]
 China CCTV [19]
Europe Eurosport [19]
 Hong Kong Now TV [19]
 Iran IRIB [19]
 Japan NHK [19]
Latin America Fox Sports [19]
 New Zealand Sky Sports [19]
 South Africa SABC [19]
 South Korea KBS [19]
 Thailand BBTV CH7 [20]
 United States ONE World Sports [21]
 Uzbekistan Sport-UZ [19]
 Vietnam VTV [22][23]

Controversies

Qatar, Syria and Yemen each had at least two players born on 1 January 1993, the cut off date for eligibility in this tournament.[24][25]

Notes

  1. ↑ Including a fastest goal in the tournament

References

  1. 1 2 3 "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". the-afc.com. 28 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2017.
  3. ↑ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD – RIO 2016 – Football" (PDF). Rio 2016 Official Website. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Iraq clinch Asia's final Rio spot". FIFA.com. 29 January 2016. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Qatar bids to host AFC U-22 championship". QFA. 12 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "AFC U-23 Championship 2016 Qualifiers draw". Asian Football Confederation. 3 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Holders Iraq face stern test in AFC U-23 C'ship qualifiers". AFC. 4 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2015" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Participants for AFC U-23 Championship Qatar 2016 confirmed". the-AFC.com. 21 May 2015.
  10. 1 2 "AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 draw concluded in Doha". AFC. 12 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Stage set for AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 draw". AFC. 11 September 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 "Regulations AFC U-23 Championship 2016" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh to miss Olympic qualifiers". persianfootball.com. 1 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 Match Schedule" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Ahmed Alaa lands U23 Top Scorer award". AFC. 31 January 2016.
  16. 1 2 "Nakajima named AFC U23 Championship MVP". AFC. 31 January 2016.
  17. ↑ "لا تفوتوا متابعة بطولة آسيا تحت 23 سنة حصرياً على قنواتنا" (in Arabic). beIN Sports Arabia Facebook page. 9 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "كأس آسيا الأولمبية في الدوحة مشفرة" (in Arabic). Al Riyadh. 11 January 2016.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "AFC U23 Championship 2016 Schedule,Teams,Venues,Live Broadcaster info". sportsmanch.com. 29 December 2015. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016.
  20. ↑ "AFC U23 CHAMPIONSHIP QATAR 2016". BBTV CH7. 12 January 2016. Archived from the original on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "AFC U23 Championship: Full Daily Schedule". One World Sports. 4 January 2016. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "CHÍNH THỨC: VTV sở hữu bản quyền phát sóng VCK U23 châu Á 2016". vtv.vn (in Vietnamese). 31 December 2015.
  23. ↑ "VTV6 truyền hình trực tiếp các trận đấu của U23 Việt Nam tại VCK U23 châu Á". vtv.vn (in Vietnamese). 5 January 2016.
  24. ↑ "Final Registration Player List" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  25. ↑ Mayeli Kohan: Qatar used overage players
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