2016 AFC U-23 Championship

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]

Venues

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

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]

Match officials

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

Referees

• Chris Beath
• Ma Ning
• Alireza Faghani
• Ali Sabah
• Ryuji Sato
• Adham Makhadmeh
• Kim Jong-hyeok
• Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob
• Ahmed Al-Kaf
• Abdulrahman Al-Jassim
• Fahad Al-Mirdasi
• Dmitriy Mashentsev
• Hettikamkanamge Perera
• Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed
• Ilgiz Tantashev

Assistant referees

• Nawaf Moosa
• Wang Dexin
• Reza Sokhandan
• Haruhiro Otsuka
• Ahmed Al Roalle
• Yoon Kwang-yeol
• Mohd Yusri Mohamad
• Abu Bakar Al-Amri
• Taleb Al-Marri
• Saud Al-Maqaleh
• Mohammed Al Abakry
• Abdullah Al-Shalawi
• Ismailzhan Talipzhanov
• Deniye Gedara Palitha Parakkrama Hemathunga
• Yu Hsu Min
• Mohamed Al-Hammadi
• Hasan Al-Mahri
• 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

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Knockout stage

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

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.

Third place play-off

Winner qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.

Awards

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

Statistics

Goalscorers

6 goals

• Ahmed Alaa

5 goals

• Kwon Chang-hoon

4 goals

• Abdelkarim Hassan
• Moon Chang-jin

3 goals

• Liao Lisheng
• Yuya Kubo
• Omar Kharbin

2 goals

• Amir Arsalan Motahari
• Amjad Attwan
• Ali Husni
• Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
• Takuma Asano
• Shoya Nakajima
• Shinya Yajima
• Baha' Faisal
• Kim Yong-il
• Ryu Seung-woo
• Dostonbek Khamdamov^[a]

1 goal

• James Donachie
• Jamie Maclaren
• Chang Feiya
• Ali Karimi
• Milad Mohammadi
• Ehsan Pahlavan
• Mehdi Torabi
• Amjad Waleed
• Ali Faez Atia
• Ayman Hussein
• Mahdi Kamel
• Humam Tariq
• Saad Natiq
• Riki Harakawa
• Yōsuke Ideguchi
• Ryota Oshima
• Musashi Suzuki
• Yuta Toyokawa
• Naomichi Ueda
• Omar Manasrah
• Jang Kuk-chol
• So Kyong-jin
• Yun Il-gwang
• Kim Hyun
• Kim Seung-jun
• Jin Seong-uk
• Akram Afif
• Almoez Ali
• Ali Assad
• Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi
• Fahad Al-Muwallad
• Mohammed Al-Saiari
• Mohamed Kanno
• Abdullah Madu
• Yousef Kalfa
• Mahmoud Al Baher
• Pinyo Inpinit
• Narubadin Weerawatnodom
• Chanathip Songkrasin
• Mohamed Al-Akbari
• Ahmed Al Attas
• Timur Khakimov
• Jaloliddin Masharipov
• Igor Sergeev
• Javokhir Sokhibov
• Đỗ Duy Mạnh
• Nguyễn Công Phượng
• Nguyễn Tuấn Anh
• Ahmed Al-Sarori

1 own goal

• Giancarlo Gallifuoco (playing against United Arab Emirates)
• Alaa Ali Mhawi (playing against United Arab Emirates)
• Thossawat Limwannasathian (playing against North Korea)
• Phạm Hoàng Lâm (playing against United Arab Emirates)

Source: The-AFC.com

Qualified teams for Olympics

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

¹ Italic indicates host for that year. Statistics include all Olympic format (current Olympic under-23 format started in 1992).

Broadcasting rights

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. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". the-afc.com. 28 November 2014.
2. ^ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016". AFC. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017.
3. ^ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD – RIO 2016 – Football". Rio 2016 Official Website. 23 April 2014. Archived from the original 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". AFC. Archived from the original on 8 December 2014.
9. ^ "Participants for AFC U-23 Championship Qatar 2016 confirmed". the-AFC.com. 21 May 2015.
10. ^ "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. ^ "Regulations AFC U-23 Championship 2016". AFC. Archived from the original 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". AFC. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017.
15. ^ "Ahmed Alaa lands U23 Top Scorer award". AFC. 31 January 2016.
16. ^ "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. ^ "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" (in Vietnamese). vtv.vn. 31 December 2015.
23. ^ "VTV6 truyền hình trực tiếp các trận đấu của U23 Việt Nam tại VCK U23 châu Á" (in Vietnamese). vtv.vn. 5 January 2016.
24. ^ "Final Registration Player List". AFC. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
25. ^ Mayeli Kohan: Qatar used overage players

External links

• AFC U-23 Championship, the-AFC.com