Organising body | AFC |
---|---|
Founded | 2012 (as AFC U-22 Championship) |
Region | Asia (including Australia) |
Number of teams | 16 |
Current champions |
Japan (2nd title) ( 2024) |
Most successful team(s) | Japan (2 titles) |
The AFC U-23 Asian Cup, previously the AFC U-22 Championship (in 2013) and AFC U-23 Championship (between 2016 and 2020), is a biennial international football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. Each edition of the tournament that is in an even year is linked to the qualification process for the Olympic Games, whereby the top three teams in the tournament qualify directly and the fourth-placed team enters an intercontinental play-off match.
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] In 2016 the tournament was also renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship". [4] The tournament was rebranded as the "AFC U-23 Asian Cup" in 2021. [5]
In July 2023, the AFC announced that each non-Olympic edition of the tournament would be hosted by the same association hosting the next AFC Asian Cup. [6] However, on 24 May 2024, AFC announced that the tournament will be held quadrennially from 2028, effectively discontinued the non-Olympic qualifiers’ editions from 2030. [7]
The overview of the competition format in the 2016 tournament was as follows: [8]
In addition, players would be ineligible for participating in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup if they participated in a higher age group competition (this tournament or the AFC U-20 Asian Cup), though in reality it is rarely enforced. [8]
Edition | Year | Hosts | Final | Third place match | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | |||||
1 | 2013 | Oman | Iraq |
1–0 Al-Seeb Stadium, Seeb |
Saudi Arabia |
Jordan |
0–0 (
a.e.t.) (3–2 p) Al-Seeb Stadium, Seeb |
South Korea | ||
2 | 2016 | Qatar | Japan |
3–2 Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha |
South Korea |
Iraq |
2–1 (
a.e.t.) Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha |
Qatar | ||
3 | 2018 | China | Uzbekistan |
2–1 (
a.e.t.) Changzhou Sports Centre, Changzhou |
Vietnam |
Qatar |
1–0 Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan |
South Korea | ||
4 | 2020 | Thailand | South Korea |
1–0 (
a.e.t.) Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok |
Saudi Arabia |
Australia |
1–0 Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok |
Uzbekistan | ||
5 | 2022 | Uzbekistan | Saudi Arabia |
2–0 Milliy Stadium, Tashkent |
Uzbekistan |
Japan |
3–0 Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent |
Australia | ||
6 | 2024 | Qatar | Japan |
1–0 Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha |
Uzbekistan |
Iraq |
2–1 (
a.e.t.) Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha |
Indonesia | ||
7 | 2026 | Saudi Arabia | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Team | Title(s) | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Japan | 2 ( 2016, 2024) | – | 1 ( 2022) | – | 3 |
Uzbekistan | 1 ( 2018) | 2 ( 2022, 2024) | – | 1 ( 2020) | 4 |
Saudi Arabia | 1 ( 2022) | 2 ( 2013, 2020) | – | – | 3 |
South Korea | 1 ( 2020) | 1 ( 2016) | – | 2 ( 2013, 2018) | 4 |
Iraq | 1 ( 2013) | – | 2 ( 2016, 2024) | – | 3 |
Vietnam | – | 1 ( 2018) | – | – | 1 |
Qatar | – | – | 1 ( 2018) | 1 ( 2016) | 2 |
Australia | – | – | 1 ( 2020) | 1 ( 2022) | 2 |
Jordan | – | – | 1 ( 2013) | – | 1 |
Indonesia | – | – | – | 1 ( 2024) | 1 |
In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. 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. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.
Rank | Team | Part | M | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Point(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | South Korea | 6 | 32 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 52 | 28 | +24 | 69 |
2 | Japan | 6 | 29 | 19 | 4 | 6 | 52 | 25 | +27 | 61 |
3 | Iraq | 6 | 29 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 49 | 30 | +19 | 60 |
4 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 30 | 17 | 4 | 9 | 56 | 24 | +32 | 55 |
5 | Saudi Arabia | 6 | 28 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 44 | 24 | +20 | 51 |
6 | Qatar | 5 | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 35 | 32 | +3 | 40 |
7 | Australia | 6 | 25 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 21 | 24 | −3 | 36 |
8 | Jordan | 6 | 23 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 28 |
9 | United Arab Emirates | 5 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 22 | −7 | 20 |
10 | Vietnam | 5 | 20 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 29 | −7 | 19 |
11 | Iran | 4 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 18 | 19 | −1 | 16 |
12 | Syria | 4 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 18 | −4 | 16 |
13 | North Korea | 4 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 19 | −4 | 13 |
14 | Thailand | 5 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 27 | −9 | 13 |
15 | Indonesia | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 7 |
16 | China | 5 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 12 | 25 | −13 | 6 |
17 | Palestine | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 4 |
18 | Turkmenistan | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 |
19 | Kuwait | 3 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 19 | −14 | 4 |
20 | Malaysia | 3 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 22 | −16 | 4 |
21 | Oman | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 3 |
22 | Tajikistan | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 18 | −13 | 3 |
23 | Bahrain | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 |
24 | Myanmar | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 13 | −12 | 0 |
25 | Yemen | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 15 | −13 | 0 |
Regional federation | Champion(s) | Title(s) |
---|---|---|
EAFF (East Asia) |
Japan (2) South Korea (1) |
3 |
WAFF (West Asia) |
Iraq (1) Saudi Arabia (1) |
2 |
CAFA (Central Asia) | Uzbekistan (1) | 1 |
AFF (Southeast Asia) | – | 0 |
SAFF (South Asia) | – | 0 |
Teams | 2013 |
2016 |
2018 |
2020 |
2022 |
2024 |
2026 |
Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | QF | GS | GS | 3rd | 4th | GS | 6 | |
Bahrain | • | • | • | GS | • | • | 1 | |
China | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | GS | 5 | |
Indonesia | • | • | • | • | • | 4th | 1 | |
Iran | GS | QF | • | GS | GS | • | 4 | |
Iraq | 1st | 3rd | QF | GS | QF | 3rd | 6 | |
Japan | QF | 1st | QF | GS | 3rd | 1st | 6 | |
Jordan | 3rd | QF | GS | QF | GS | GS | 6 | |
Kuwait | GS | • | × | • | GS | GS | 3 | |
Malaysia | • | • | QF | • | GS | GS | 3 | |
Myanmar | GS | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | |
North Korea | GS | QF | GS | GS | × | × | 4 | |
Oman | GS | • | GS | • | • | • | 2 | |
Palestine | • | • | QF | • | • | • | 1 | |
Qatar | • | 4th | 3rd | GS | GS | QF | 5 | |
Saudi Arabia | 2nd | GS | GS | 2nd | 1st | QF | Q | 7 |
South Korea | 4th | 2nd | 4th | 1st | QF | QF | 6 | |
Syria | QF | GS | GS | QF | • | • | 4 | |
Tajikistan | • | • | • | • | GS | GS | 2 | |
Thailand | • | GS | GS | QF | GS | GS | 5 | |
Turkmenistan | • | • | • | • | QF | • | 1 | |
United Arab Emirates | QF | QF | • | QF | GS | GS | 5 | |
Uzbekistan | GS | GS | 1st | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 6 | |
Vietnam | • | GS | 2nd | GS | QF | QF | 5 | |
Yemen | GS | GS | × | • | • | • | 2 | |
Total | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
|
|
|
Nation |
2016 |
2020 |
2024 |
2028 |
2032 |
Years |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | – | 12 | – | Q | 2 | |
Iraq | 12 | – | Q | 2 | ||
Japan | 10 | 4 | Q | 3 | ||
Saudi Arabia | – | 15 | – | 1 | ||
South Korea | 5 | 5 | – | 2 | ||
Uzbekistan | – | – | Q | 1 |
Tournament | Most Valuable Player | Top goalscorer(s) | Goals | Best goalkeeper | Fair play award |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amjad Kalaf | Kaveh Rezaei | 5 | Not awarded | South Korea | |
Shoya Nakajima | Ahmed Alaa | 6 | Japan | ||
Odiljon Hamrobekov | Almoez Ali | Vietnam | |||
Won Du-jae | Jaroensak Wonggorn | 3 | Song Bum-keun | Saudi Arabia | |
Ayman Yahya | Cho Young-wook | Nawaf Al-Aqidi | |||
Joel Chima Fujita | Ali Jasim | 4 | Abduvohid Nematov | Uzbekistan |
Year | Team | Coach |
---|---|---|
2013 | Iraq | Hakeem Shaker |
2016 | Japan | Makoto Teguramori |
2018 | Uzbekistan | Ravshan Khaydarov |
2020 | South Korea | Kim Hak-bum |
2022 | Saudi Arabia | Saad Al-Shehri |
2024 | Japan | Go Oiwa |
— Hosts are from this federation
2013 (16) |
2016 (16) |
2018 (16) |
2020 (16) |
2022 (16) |
2024 (16) |
2026 (16) |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 21 | |
Top 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
Top 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
Top 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
1st | 0 | |||||||
2nd | 1 | |||||||
3rd | 1 | |||||||
4th | 2 |
2013 (16) |
2016 (16) |
2018 (16) |
2020 (16) |
2022 (16) |
2024 (16) |
2026 (16) |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 13 | |
Top 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |
Top 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
Top 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
1st | 1 | |||||||
2nd | 2 | |||||||
3rd | 0 | |||||||
4th | 1 |
2013 (16) |
2016 (16) |
2018 (16) |
2020 (16) |
2022 (16) |
2024 (16) |
2026 (16) |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 21 | |
Top 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 12 | |
Top 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
Top 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
1st | 3 | |||||||
2nd | 1 | |||||||
3rd | 1 | |||||||
4th | 2 |
2013 (16) |
2016 (16) |
2018 (16) |
2020 (16) |
2022 (16) |
2024 (16) |
2026 (16) |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Top 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Top 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Top 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
1st | 0 | |||||||
2nd | 0 | |||||||
3rd | 0 | |||||||
4th | 0 |
2013 (16) |
2016 (16) |
2018 (16) |
2020 (16) |
2022 (16) |
2024 (16) |
2026 (16) |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 41 | |
Top 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 21 | |
Top 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
Top 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
1st | 2 | |||||||
2nd | 2 | |||||||
3rd | 4 | |||||||
4th | 1 |