2020_AFC_U-23_Championship
2020 AFC U-23 Championship
International football championship
The 2020 AFC U-23 Championship was the fourth edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted men's football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for under-23 national teams. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament. It took place between 8–26 January 2020 in Thailand.
| ฟุตบอลชิงชนะเลิศแห่งเอเชีย รุ่นอายุไม่เกิน 23 ปี 2020 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Thailand |
| Dates | 8–26 January[1] |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  South Korea (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Saudi Arabia |
| Third place |  Australia |
| Fourth place |  Uzbekistan |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 69 (2.16 per match) |
| Attendance | 107,402 (3,356 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Nicholas D'Agostino Mohammed Nassif Jaroensak Wonggorn Zaid Al-Ameri Islom Kobilov (3 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Won Du-jae |
| Best goalkeeper | Song Bum-keun |
| Fair play award | Saudi Arabia |
← 2018 2022 → | |
The tournament acted as the AFC qualifiers for the 2020 Summer Olympics men's football tournament. The top three teams of the tournament would qualify for the Olympics in Japan as the AFC representatives.[2] As Japan had already qualified as the hosts, had they reached the semi-finals, the other semi-finalists were guaranteed qualification even before the phase would have commenced.[3]
Uzbekistan were the defending champions,[4] but were eliminated in the semi-finals. South Korea became the fourth different country to win the tournament, beating Saudi Arabia in the final,[5] while Australia defeated Uzbekistan in the third place game 1–0.[6]
Several nations expressed interest to host the tournament, including Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.[7][8] Thailand were selected as host of the competition at an AFC Competition Committee's meeting in Tokyo in August 2018.[9]
The qualifiers were held from 18 to 26 March 2019, during the FIFA International Match Calendar.[10]
Qualified teams
Thirteen of the sixteen teams (including hosts Thailand) that qualified for 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualified again for the 2020 final tournament. The 2013 champions Iraq, 2016 champions Japan, 2018 champions Uzbekistan all qualified for the 2020 final tournament. The teams: Iraq, Japan, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, South Korea, China PR, Australia qualified for all editions of AFC U-23 Championship till 2020.
Iran, United Arab Emirates come back after missing out in 2018, with Bahrain making their debut at the tournament finals.
The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.[11]
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thailand | Hosts | 3rd | Group stage (2016, 2018) |
 Qatar | Group A winners | 3rd | Third place (2018) |
 Bahrain | Group B winners | 1st | Debut |
| Iraq | Group C winners | 4th | Champions (2013) |
| United Arab Emirates | Group D winners | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2013, 2016) |
 Jordan | Group E winners | 4th | Third place (2013) |
| Uzbekistan | Group F winners | 4th | Champions (2018) |
 North Korea | Group G winners | 4th | Quarter-finals (2016) |
| South Korea | Group H winners | 4th | Runners-up (2016) |
 Japan | Group I winners | 4th | Champions (2016) |
 China | Group J winners | 4th | Group stage (2013, 2016, 2018) |
 Vietnam | Group K winners | 3rd | Runners-up (2018) |
| Australia | Group H runners-up[note 1] | 4th | Quarter-finals (2013) |
 Iran | Group C runners-up[note 1] | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2016) |
 Syria | Group E runners-up[note 1] | 4th | Quarter-finals (2013) |
| Saudi Arabia | Group D runners-up[note 1] | 4th | Runners-up (2013) |
The competition was played in four venues across four cities/provinces.
| Bangkok | Buriram | |
|---|---|---|
| Rajamangala Stadium | Buriram Stadium | |
| Capacity: 49,722 | Capacity: 32,600 | |
| Songkhla | Pathum Thani | |
| Tinsulanon Stadium | Thammasat Stadium | |
| Capacity: 45,000 | Capacity: 25,000 | |
The draw of the final tournament was held on 26 September 2019, 15:00 ICT (UTC+7), at the Swissotel Bangkok Ratchada in Bangkok.[12][13][14] The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification, with the hosts Thailand automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.[15]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
On 3 January 2020, the AFC announced the list of referees chosen for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship. 34 referees, 26 assistant referees and 2 support assistant referees were appointed for the tournament. Video assistant referees will be used in this tournament.[16][17]
- Referees
Chris Beath- Shaun Evans
Nawaf Shukralla
Fu Ming- Ma Ning
Liu Kwok Man
Alireza Faghani
Ali Sabah- Mohanad Qasim Sarray
Jumpei Iida- Hiroyuki Kimura
- Ryuji Sato
- Minoru Tōjō
Adham Makhadmeh- Ahmad Faisal Al-Ali
Kim Hee-gon- Kim Jong-hyeok
- Ko Hyung-jin
Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob
Ahmed Al-Kaf
Abdulla Al-Marri- Abdulrahman Al-Jassim
- Khamis Al-Kuwari
- Khamis Al-Marri
Turki Al-Khudhayr
Muhammad Taqi
Hettikamkanamge Perera
Hanna Hattab
Sivakorn Pu-udom
Ammar Al-Jeneibi- Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed
- Omar Mohamed Al-Ali
Valentin Kovalenko- Ilgiz Tantashev
- Assistant referees
- Anton Shchetinin
- Ashley Beecham
- Mohamed Salman
- Abdulla Al-Rowaimi
- Cao Yi
- Shi Xiang
- Mohammadreza Abolfazl
- Mohammadreza Mansouri
- Ahmad Al-Roalle
- Mohammad Al-Kalaf
- Jun Mihara
- Hiroshi Yamauchi
- Park Sang-jun
- Yoon Kwang-yeol
- Abu Bakar Al-Amri
- Rashid Al-Ghaithi
- Saud Al-Maqaleh
- Taleb Al-Marri
- Mohammed Al-Abakri
- Khalaf Al-Shammari
- Ronnie Koh Min Kiat
- Palitha Hemathunga
- Mohammed Al-Hammadi
- Hasan Al-Mahri
- Timur Gaynullin
- Andrey Tsapenko
- Support assistant referees
- Mohd Yusri Muhamad
- Rawut Nakarit
Players born on or after 1 January 1997 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team had to register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must have been goalkeepers (Regulations Articles 24.1 and 24.2).[3]
The top two teams of each group advanced 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):[3]
- 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, ICT (UTC+7).[18]
| Matchday | Dates | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | 8–10 January 2020 | 1 v 4, 2 v 3 |
| Matchday 2 | 11–13 January 2020 | 4 v 2, 3 v 1 |
| Matchday 3 | 14–16 January 2020 | 1 v 2, 3 v 4 |
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Thailand (H) |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 4 | |
| 3 | Iraq |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Bahrain |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 |
| Iraq | 1–1 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
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| Bahrain | 2–2 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
| Live Report Stats Report |
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| Australia | 2–1 | Thailand |
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| Australia | 1–1 | Bahrain |
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Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saudi Arabia |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Syria |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Qatar |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Japan |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 |
| Qatar | 2–2 | Syria |
|---|---|---|
| Live Report Stats Report |
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| Japan | 1–2 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
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| Syria | 2–1 | Japan |
|---|---|---|
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Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Uzbekistan |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Iran |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | China |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 |
| South Korea | 1–0 | China |
|---|---|---|
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| Iran | 1–2 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
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| China | 0–2 | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
| Live Report Stats Report |
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| Uzbekistan | 1–2 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
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Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Arab Emirates |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 5 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Jordan |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 | North Korea |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Vietnam |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
| Vietnam | 1–2 | North Korea |
|---|---|---|
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| Jordan | 1–1 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
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In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Articles 12.1 and 12.2).[3]
Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 18 January – Bangkok | ||||||||||
| Australia (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||||||
| 22 January – Pathum Thani | ||||||||||
| Syria | 0 | |||||||||
| Australia | 0 | |||||||||
| 19 January – Pathum Thani | ||||||||||
| South Korea | 2 | |||||||||
| South Korea | 2 | |||||||||
| 26 January – Bangkok | ||||||||||
| Jordan | 1 | |||||||||
| South Korea (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||||||
| 18 January – Pathum Thani | ||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | |||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | |||||||||
| 22 January – Bangkok | ||||||||||
| Thailand | 0 | |||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | |||||||||
| 19 January – Bangkok | ||||||||||
| Uzbekistan | 0 | Third place match | ||||||||
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | |||||||||
| 25 January – Bangkok | ||||||||||
| Uzbekistan | 5 | |||||||||
| Australia | 1 | |||||||||
| Uzbekistan | 0 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| Australia | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | Syria |
|---|---|---|
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Live Report Stats Report |
| South Korea | 2–1 | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
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| United Arab Emirates | 1–5 | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
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Semi-finals
The winners qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Third place match
The winner qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Final
| 2020 AFC U-23 Championship |
|---|
 South Korea First title |
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Top scorer[19] | Most Valuable Player[20] | Best Goalkeeper[19] | Fair Play award[19] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaroensak Wonggorn[note 2] |
Won Du-jae |
Song Bum-keun |
Saudi Arabia |
There were 69 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.16 goals per match.
3 goals
- Nicholas D'Agostino
- Mohammed Nassif
- Jaroensak Wonggorn
- Zaid Al-Ameri
- Islom Kobilov
2 goals
- Mohamed Marhoon
- Cho Gue-sung
- Lee Dong-gyeong
- Lee Dong-jun
- Oh Se-hun
- Abd Al-Rahman Barakat
- Alaa Aldin Dali
- Suphanat Mueanta
- Nurillo Tukhtasinov
1 goal
- Ramy Najjarine
- Reno Piscopo
- Al Hassan Toure
- Sayed Hashim Isa
- Reza Dehghani
- Omid Noorafkan
- Reza Shekari
- Amir Al-Ammari
- Ryotaro Meshino
- Koki Ogawa
- Yuki Soma
- Ihab Al-Khawaldeh
- Yazan Al-Naimat
- Mohammad Bani Atieh
- Omar Hani
Ri Chung-gyu- Ryang Hyon-ju
- Yusuf Abdurisag
- Abdullah Al-Ahrak
- Firas Al-Buraikan
- Abdullah Al-Hamdan
- Ayman Al-Khulaif
- Nasser Al Omran
- Abdulrahman Ghareeb
- Jeong Tae-wook
- Kim Dae-won
- Anon Amornlerdsak
- Supachok Sarachat
- Khalifa Al-Hammadi
- Bobur Abdikholikov
- Ilkhom Alijanov
- Oybek Bozorov
- Jasurbek Yakhshiboev
Nguyễn Tiến Linh
1 own goal
- Yosief Mohammad (against Qatar)
- Bùi Tiến Dũng II (against North Korea)
Tournament team rankings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea |
6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 18 | Champions |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 13 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Australia |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 11 | Third place |
| 4 | Uzbekistan |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 7 | Fourth place |
| 5 | Jordan |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 6 | United Arab Emirates |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 5 | |
| 7 | Thailand (H) |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 4 | |
| 8 | Syria |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | |
| 9 | Iran |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 10 | North Korea |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 | |
| 11 | Iraq |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 12 | Qatar |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 13 | Vietnam |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 | |
| 14 | Bahrain |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | |
| 15 | Japan |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 | |
| 16 | China |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 |
The following four teams from the AFC qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympic men's football tournament, including Japan which qualified as the hosts.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in the Summer Olympics1 |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 7 September 2013 | 10 (1936, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) |
| South Korea | 22 January 2020[21] | 10 (1948, 1964, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) |
| Saudi Arabia | 22 January 2020[21] | 2 (1984, 1996) |
| Australia | 25 January 2020[22] | 72 (1956, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
- 1 Italic indicates hosts for that year.
- 2 Australia qualified as a member of the OFC for six tournaments between 1956 and 2004.
- The four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.
- Playing fewer minutes than the other players scoring 3 goals, Wonggorn won the Top Scorer Award
- "AFC Competitions Calendar 2020". AFC. 28 February 2018. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018.
- "OC for FIFA Competitions approves procedures for the Final Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup". FIFA.com. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017.
- "Competition Regulations AFC U-23 Championship 2020". Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018.
- "Sidorov the hero as Uzbekistan emerge champions". AFC. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
- "Jeong Tae-wook header seals Korea Republic title". AFC. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- "D'Agostino strike sends Australia to the Olympics". AFC. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- "Việt Nam plans to host U23 champs in 2020". Việt Nam News. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
- Rosdi, Aziman (6 February 2018). "Malaysia to bid for the 2020 AFC Under-23 Championship". New Straits Times. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "FA Thailand proposed as 2020 AFC U-23 Championship host". AFC. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
- "AFC Competitions Calendar 2019". 28 February 2018. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018.
- "Cast for 2020 Finals confirmed". AFC. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- "AFC issues RFP for EMC service for AFC U23 Championship 2020 Final Draw Ceremony". AFC. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- "Stars of tomorrow set for Thailand 2020 draw". AFC. 25 September 2019.
- "Thailand 2020: Draw produces exciting groups". AFC. 26 September 2019.
- "#AFCU23 Thailand 2020 - Preview Show (Pre Draw)". YouTube. 25 September 2019.
- "Match officials for Thailand 2020 appointed". the-afc.com. 3 January 2020.
- "Match officials". the-afc.com. 3 January 2020. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020.
- "Match Schedule: AFC U-23 Championship Thailand 2020". AFC. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019.
- "Korea Republic's Song named Best Goalkeeper, Thailand's Wonggorn wins Top Scorer Award". AFC. 26 January 2020.
- "Korea Republic's Won named Thailand 2020 MVP". AFC. 26 January 2020.
- "Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia secure Tokyo 2020 qualification". FIFA.com. 22 January 2020. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020.
- "Australia book final Asian ticket to Tokyo 2020". FIFA.com. 25 January 2020. Archived from the original on January 25, 2020.
- AFC U-23 Championship, the-AFC.com
- AFC U-23 Championship 2020, stats.the-AFC.com