AFC U-23 Championship
| Founded | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Region | Asia (AFC) |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Current champions |
 Japan (1st title) |
| Most successful team(s) |
Japan  Iraq (1 title each) |
 2016 AFC U-23 Championship | |
The AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the AFC U-23 Asian Cup[1]) 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.[2][3]
The tournament is planned to be held every two years. The 2016 tournament will double as the 2016 Olympic qualifiers, where the top 3 teams will qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[2] The 2016 edition is scheduled to take place in January 2016.[4][5] The tournament was also renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship".[6]
Format
The overview of the competition format in the 2016 tournament is as follows:[7]
- Sixteen teams will compete in the final tournament, including the hosts which will be automatically qualified.
- Teams are seeded by the result of 2013 AFC U-22 Championship.
- The tournament will be held in 18 days.
- Three or four stadiums in at most two cities will be needed to host the tournament.
The host country will be rotated by regions: the region for the first tournament will be decided by draw.[7]
In addition, players participated in a higher age group competition (this tournament and/or AFC U-19 Championship) are to be ineligible for participating in AFC U-16 Championship.[7]
Results
| Year | Host | Final | Third place match | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-Up | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place | ||||
| 2013 Details |
 Oman |
Iraq |
1–0 |  Saudi Arabia |
 Jordan |
0–0 (3–2) on penalties |
 South Korea | ||
| 2016 Details |
 Qatar |
Japan |
3–2 | South Korea |
Iraq |
2–1 | Qatar | ||
Teams reaching the top four
| Team | Champions | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iraq |
1 (2013) | – | 1 (2016) | – |
| Japan |
1 (2016) | – | – | – |
| South Korea |
– | 1 (2016) | – | 1 (2013) |
| Saudi Arabia |
– | 1 (2013) | – | – |
| Jordan |
– | – | 1 (2013) | – |
| Qatar |
– | – | – | 1 (2016) |
Participating countries
| Teams | 2013 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|
 Australia |
QF | GS |
 China PR |
GS | GS |
| Iraq |
1st | 3rd |
 Iran |
GS | QF |
| Japan |
QF | 1st |
| Jordan |
3rd | QF |
 North Korea |
GS | QF |
| South Korea |
4th | 2nd |
 Kuwait |
GS | |
 Myanmar |
GS | |
| Oman |
GS | |
| Qatar |
4th | |
| Saudi Arabia |
2nd | GS |
 Syria |
QF | GS |
 Thailand |
GS | |
 United Arab Emirates |
QF | QF |
 Uzbekistan |
GS | GS |
 Vietnam |
GS | |
 Yemen |
GS | GS |
| Total | 16 | 16 |
- Legend
|
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See also
References
- ↑ "Fifteen sides storm to U-22 finals". Asian Football Confederation. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
- 1 2 "Call to improve AFC competitions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. July 27, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ↑ "Competitions Committee takes key decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. March 22, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
- ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016 (AC2019-Jan-version)" (PDF). AFC.
- ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016 (AC2019-June/July-version)" (PDF). AFC.
- ↑ "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". the-afc.com. 28 November 2014.
- 1 2 3 "AFC announces key competition decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. August 2, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
External links
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