2016 AFC U-23 Championship

2016 AFC U-23 Championship
بطولة آسيا تحت 23 سنة لكرة القدم 2016
Tournament details
Host country	Qatar
Dates	12–30 January 2016
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	4 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Japan (1st title)
Runners-up	South Korea
Third place	Iraq
Fourth place	Qatar
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	103 (3.22 per match)
Attendance	93,639 (2,926 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ahmed Alaa; (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Shoya Nakajima
Fair play award	Japan

The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2016 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the 2nd 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]

Team	Qualified as	Appearance	Previous best performance
Qatar	Hosts	1st	Debut
Iraq	Group A winners	2nd	Champions (2013)
Jordan	Group B winners	2nd	Third place (2013)
Saudi Arabia	Group C winners	2nd	Runners-up (2013)
United Arab Emirates	Group D winners	2nd	Quarter-finals (2013)
Syria	Group E winners	2nd	Quarter-finals (2013)
Australia	Group F winners	2nd	Quarter-finals (2013)
North Korea	Group G winners	2nd	Group stage (2013)
South Korea	Group H winners	2nd	Fourth place (2013)
Japan	Group I winners	2nd	Quarter-finals (2013)
China PR	Group J winners	2nd	Group stage (2013)
Thailand	1st best runners-up (Group G)	1st	Debut
Iran	2nd best runners-up (Group C)	2nd	Group stage (2013)
Vietnam	3rd best runners-up (Group I)	1st	Debut
Yemen	4th best runners-up (Group D)	2nd	Group stage (2013)
Uzbekistan	5th best runners-up (Group E)	2nd	Group stage (2013)

Venues

The tournament was hosted in four stadiums, all located in Doha.[10]

Doha
Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium (Lekhwiya Stadium)	Grand Hamad Stadium (Al-Arabi Stadium)
Capacity: 12,000	Capacity: 18,000

Doha 2016 AFC U-23 Championship (Qatar)
Doha
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium (Al-Sadd Stadium)	Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium (Qatar SC Stadium)
Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 15,000

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]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Qatar (hosts; position A1) Iraq Saudi Arabia Jordan	South Korea Syria Australia Japan	United Arab Emirates Iran North Korea Uzbekistan	China PR Yemen Thailand Vietnam

Match officials

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

Referees

Adham Makhadmeh
Kim Jong-hyeok
Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob
Ahmed Al-Kaf
Abdulrahman Al-Jassim

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]

Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
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;
Goal difference in all the group matches;
Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
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);
Drawing of lots.

All times were local, AST (UTC+3).[14]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Qatar (H)	3	3	0	9	4	+5	9	Knockout stage
2	Iran	3	2	1	6	4	+2	6	Knockout stage
3	Syria	3	1	2	5	7	−2	3
4	China PR	3	0	3	4	9	−5	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host.

12 January 2016

16:30

Syria	0–2	Iran
	Report	Motahari 64' Mi. Mohammadi 72'

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 1,133

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

12 January 2016