2018_AFC_U-23_Championship
2018 AFC U-23 Championship
International football competition
The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2018 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the third 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. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament. It took place between 9–27 January 2018,[1] and was hosted by China.[2]
Quick Facts Tournament details, Host country ...
| 2018年亚足联U-23锦标赛 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | China |
| Dates | 9–27 January |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Uzbekistan (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Vietnam |
| Third place |  Qatar |
| Fourth place |  South Korea |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 82 (2.56 per match) |
| Attendance | 65,850 (2,058 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Almoez Ali (6 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Odiljon Hamrobekov |
| Fair play award | Vietnam |
← 2016 2020 → | |
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Uzbekistan defeated Vietnam in the final to win their first title. Japan were the defending champions, but failed to defend the title after losing to Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals.
Main article: 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification
The qualifiers were held from 15 to 23 July 2017.[4] China also participated in the qualifiers, even though they had already qualified automatically as hosts.[2]
Qualified teams
The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.[5]
More information Team, Qualified as ...
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
 China | Hosts | 3rd | Group stage (2013, 2016) |
 Oman | Group A winners | 2nd | Group stage (2013) |
 Iraq | Group B winners | 3rd | Champions (2013) |
| Qatar | Group C winners | 2nd | Fourth place (2016) |
| Uzbekistan | Group D winners | 3rd | Group stage (2013, 2016) |
 Palestine | Group E winners | 1st | Debut |
 Australia | Group F winners | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2013) |
 North Korea | Group G winners | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2016) |
 Malaysia | Group H winners | 1st | Debut |
| South Korea | Group I winners | 3rd | Runners-up (2016) |
 Thailand | Group H runners-up[note 1] | 2nd | Group stage (2016) |
 Syria | Group C runners-up[note 1] | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2013) |
| Vietnam | Group I runners-up[note 1] | 2nd | Group stage (2016) |
 Jordan | Group E runners-up[note 1] | 3rd | Third place (2013) |
 Japan | Group J runners-up[note 1] | 3rd | Champions (2016) |
 Saudi Arabia | Group B runners-up[note 1] | 3rd | Runners-up (2013) |
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Notes:
- As China (Group J winners) had already automatically qualified for the final tournament as hosts, the six best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.
The competition was played in four venues in four cities, all in the province of Jiangsu.[6]
More information Changzhou, Kunshan ...
| Changzhou | Kunshan | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre | Kunshan Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 38,000 | Capacity: 25,000 | ||
| Jiangyin | Changshu | ||
| Jiangyin Stadium | Changshu Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 32,000 | Capacity: 35,000 | ||
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The draw of the final tournament was held on 24 October 2017, 16:00 CST (UTC+8), at the Traders Fudu Hotel in Changzhou.[7] The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams.[6] The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification, with the hosts China automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.[8]
More information Pot 1, Pot 2 ...
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
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The following referees were chosen for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship. Additional assistant referees were used in this tournament.[9]
- Referees
Chris Beath- Peter Green
Nawaf Shukralla
Fu Ming- Ma Ning
Liu Kwok Man
Alireza Faghani
Ali Sabah- Mohanad Qasim Eesee Sarray
Ryuji Sato- Jumpei Iida
Adham Makhadmeh
Kim Dong-jin- Ko Hyung-jin
Ahmed Al-Kaf
Abdulrahman Al-Jassim- Khamis Al-Marri
Fahad Al-Mirdasi- Turki Al-Khudhayr
Muhammad Taqi
Hettikamkanamge Perera
Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed
Ravshan Irmatov- Valentin Kovalenko
- Assistant referees
- Matthew Cream
- Ebrahim Saleh
- Yaser Tulefat
- Cao Yi
- Huo Weiming
- Mohammadreza Mansouri
- Reza Sokhandan
- Yagi Akane
- Toru Sagara
- Ahmad Al-Roalle
- Yoon Kwang-yeol
Sergei Grishchenko
Mohd Yusri Mohamad- Abu Bakar Al-Amri
- Saud Al-Maqaleh
- Taleb Al-Marri
- Mohammed Al-Abakry
- Abdullah Al-Shalawi
- Ronnie Koh Min Kiat
- Palitha Hemathunga
- Mohamed Al-Hammadi
- Hasan Al-Mahri
- Abdukhamidullo Rasulov
- Jakhongir Saidov
- Support referees
- Minoru Tōjō
- Ilgiz Tantashev
- Support assistant referees
Ahmad Ali
Nguyễn Trung Hậu
Main article: 2018 AFC U-23 Championship squads
Players born on or after 1 January 1995 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team must register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers (Regulations Articles 24.1 and 24.2).[10]
The top two teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals.
- Tiebreakers
Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 9.3):[10]
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
- Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
- Drawing of lots.
All times are local, CST (UTC+8).
More information Matchday, Dates ...
| Matchday | Dates | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | 9–11 January 2018 | 1 v 4, 2 v 3 |
| Matchday 2 | 12–14 January 2018 | 4 v 2, 3 v 1 |
| Matchday 3 | 15–17 January 2018 | 1 v 2, 3 v 4 |
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Group A
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qatar |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Uzbekistan |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | China (H) |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Oman |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 |
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More information China, 3–0 ...
| China | 3–0 | Oman |
|---|---|---|
|
Live Report Stats Report |
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More information Uzbekistan, 1–0 ...
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More information China, 1–2 ...
| China | 1–2 | Qatar |
|---|---|---|
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Group B
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Palestine |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 4 | |
| 3 | North Korea |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Thailand |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 |
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More information North Korea, 1–0 ...
| North Korea | 1–0 | Thailand |
|---|---|---|
|
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More information Palestine, 1–1 ...
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More information Japan, 3–1 ...
| Japan | 3–1 | North Korea |
|---|---|---|
|
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Group C
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iraq |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Malaysia |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 4 | |
| 3 | Jordan |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 |
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More information Jordan, 2–2 ...
| Jordan | 2–2 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
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Attendance: 380
More information Saudi Arabia, 0–1 ...
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Group D
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Vietnam |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Australia |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Syria |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 |
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More information South Korea, 2–1 ...
| South Korea | 2–1 | Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
|
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More information Vietnam, 1–0 ...
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More information South Korea, 3–2 ...
| South Korea | 3–2 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
|
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In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Articles 12.1 and 12.2).[10]
Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 19 January – Changzhou | ||||||||||
| Qatar | 3 | |||||||||
| 23 January – Changzhou | ||||||||||
| Palestine | 2 | |||||||||
| Qatar | 2 (3) | |||||||||
| 20 January – Changshu | ||||||||||
| Vietnam (p) | 2 (4) | |||||||||
| Iraq | 3 (3) | |||||||||
| 27 January – Changzhou | ||||||||||
| Vietnam (p) | 3 (5) | |||||||||
| Vietnam | 1 | |||||||||
| 19 January – Jiangyin | ||||||||||
| Uzbekistan (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||
| Japan | 0 | |||||||||
| 23 January – Kunshan | ||||||||||
| Uzbekistan | 4 | |||||||||
| Uzbekistan (a.e.t.) | 4 | |||||||||
| 20 January – Kunshan | ||||||||||
| South Korea | 1 | Third place match | ||||||||
| South Korea | 2 | |||||||||
| 26 January – Kunshan | ||||||||||
| Malaysia | 1 | |||||||||
| Qatar | 1 | |||||||||
| South Korea | 0 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
More information Japan, 0–4 ...
| Japan | 0–4 | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
| Live Report Stats Report |
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More information Qatar, 3–2 ...
| Qatar | 3–2 | Palestine |
|---|---|---|
|
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Attendance: 226
Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)
More information South Korea, 2–1 ...
| South Korea | 2–1 | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|
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More information Iraq, 3–3 (a.e.t.) ...
| Iraq | 3–3 (a.e.t.) | Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| Live Report Stats Report |
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| Penalties | ||
| 3–5 | ||
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Semi-finals
More information Qatar, 2–2 (a.e.t.) ...
| Qatar | 2–2 (a.e.t.) | Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
|
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| Penalties | ||
| 3–4 | ||
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More information Uzbekistan, 4–1 (a.e.t.) ...
| Uzbekistan | 4–1 (a.e.t.) | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
|
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Third place match
Final
This was the first time ever that Vietnam and Uzbekistan met together in final. For Vietnam, this was their first appearance in an AFC final at any level.
Main article: 2018 AFC U-23 Championship Final
More information Vietnam, 1–2 (a.e.t.) ...
| Vietnam | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
|
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| 2018 AFC U-23 Championship |
|---|
 Uzbekistan First title |
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
More information Top Goalscorer, Most Valuable Player ...
| Top Goalscorer[11] | Most Valuable Player[12] | Fair Play award[13] |
|---|---|---|
| Almoez Ali |
Odiljon Hamrobekov |
Vietnam |
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Goalscorers
There were 82 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.56 goals per match.
6 goals
5 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
- Trent Buhagiar
- Nick Cowburn
- Bruce Kamau
- Li Xiaoming
- Wei Shihao
- Yang Liyu
- Yao Junsheng
- Hussein Ali
- Amjad Attwan
- Mohammed Jaffal
- Bashar Resan
- Koji Miyoshi
- Takahiro Yanagi
- Ward Al-Barri
- Danial Amier Norhisham
- Thanabalan Nadarajah
Kim Yu-song- Ri Hun
Mohanad Fannoun- Shehab Qumbor
- Mahmoud Yousef
- Hashim Ali
- Abdulelah Al-Amri
- Rakan Al-Shamlan
- Cho Jae-wan[lower-alpha 1]
- Cho Young-wook
- Hwang Hyun-soo
Chenrop Samphaodi- Khojiakbar Alijonov
- Rustam Ashurmatov
- Azizjon Ganiev
- Dostonbek Khamdamov
- Akramjon Komilov
- Javokhir Sidikov
- Andrey Sidorov
- Dostonbek Tursunov
- Zabikhillo Urinboev
- Hà Đức Chinh
- Nguyễn Công Phượng
- Phan Văn Đức
1 own goal
- Thomas Deng (against Syria)
- Kang Ju-hyok (against Japan)
- Mohammed Rashid (against North Korea)
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.
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uzbekistan |
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 3 | +9 | 15 | Champions |
| 2 | Vietnam |
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 6 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Qatar |
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 16 | Third place |
| 4 | South Korea |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 10 | Fourth place |
| 5 | Japan |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 6 | Iraq |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 8 | |
| 7 | Palestine |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 4 | |
| 8 | Malaysia |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 | |
| 9 | North Korea |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 10 | China (H) |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | |
| 11 | Australia |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 12 | Jordan |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | |
| 13 | Saudi Arabia |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | |
| 14 | Syria |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 | |
| 15 | Oman |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 | |
| 16 | Thailand |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 |
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Arab League: beIN Sports (MENA), Alkaas Sports Channels- Australia: Fox Sports Australia[14]
- China: CCTV,[15][16] PPTV,[17] Guangdong Sports[18]
ASEAN: Fox Sports Asia[19]- South Korea: JTBC3 Fox Sports[20][21]
- Vietnam: VTV[22] (shared by Fox Sports Asia)
- "AFC Competitions Calendar 2018". AFC. 11 January 2018. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018.
- "Stage Set For AFC U-23 Championship 2018 Qualifiers Draw". AFC. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- "关于承办2018年亚足联U-23锦标赛决赛的意见征求函" (in Chinese). Chinese Football Association. 28 April 2016. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2017 (UPDATED) Updated as of 12 April 2016" (PDF). The-AFC.com. 12 April 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2017.
- "2018 AFC U-23 Championship: Stage set for enticing Finals". AFC. 24 July 2017.
- "AFC U-23 Championship China 2018 groups revealed in Changzhou". AFC. 24 October 2017.
- "Groups to be revealed as China readies for AFC U-23 Championship Draw". AFC. 23 October 2017.
- "2018 AFC U-23 Championship Draw". YouTube. 24 October 2017.
- "Refereeing Technical Report". Archived from the original on 15 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- "Regulations AFC U-23 Championship 2018" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2018.
- "Almoez Ali lands Top Scorer award". AFC. 27 January 2018.
- "Xamrobekov dedicates award to squad, fans". AFC. 27 January 2018.
- "[Football] Lễ Trao Giải U23 VN - Uzbekistan, AFC U23 Championship". Youtube. 27 January 2018.
- "CCTV-5 Schedule" (in Chinese). CCTV. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- "CCTV-5+ Schedule" (in Chinese). CCTV. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- "PP Sport Schedule" (in Chinese). PPTV. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
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- "The Official TV Listings for FOX Sports, FOX Sports 2, FOX Sports 3". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- "JTBC3 Fox Sports Programs" (in Korean). JTBC3 Fox Sports. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- "AFC joins forces with Korean cable broadcaster JTBC". the-AFC. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
- "Lịch TRỰC TIẾP VCK U23 châu Á 2018 trên VTV" (in Vietnamese). VTV. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- AFC U-23 Championship, the-AFC.com
- AFC U-23 Championship 2018, stats.the-AFC.com