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) Qatar Ahmed Alaa
(6 goals)
Best player Japan Shoya Nakajima
Fair play award  Japan

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 quadrennial 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
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

Assistant referees

  • Bahrain Nawaf Moosa
  • China Wang Dexin
  • Iran Reza Sokhandan
  • Japan Haruhiro Otsuka
  • Jordan Ahmed Al Roalle
  • South Korea Yoon Kwang-yeol
  • Malaysia Mohd Yusri Mohamad
  • Oman Abu Bakar Al-Amri
  • Qatar Taleb Al-Marri
  • Qatar Saud Al-Maqaleh
  • Saudi Arabia Mohammed Al Abakry
  • Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Shalawi
  • Kyrgyzstan Ismailzhan Talipzhanov
  • Sri Lanka Deniye Gedara Palitha Parakkrama Hemathunga
  • Chinese Taipei Yu Hsu Min
  • United Arab Emirates Mohamed Al-Hammadi
  • United Arab Emirates Hasan Al-Mahri
  • Uzbekistan 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

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Qatar (H) 3 3 0 0 9 4 +5 9 Knockout stage
2  Iran 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
3  Syria 3 1 0 2 5 7 −2 3
4  China PR 3 0 0 3 4 9 −5 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host.

12 January 2016 (2016-01-12)
16:30
Syria  0–2  Iran
Report Motahari  64'
Mi. Mohammadi  72'

12 January 2016 (2016-01-12)
19:30
Qatar  3–1  China PR
A. Hassan  65', 72'
A. Alaa  82' 		Report Liao Lisheng  43'

15 January 2016 (2016-01-15)
16:30
China PR  1–3  Syria
Liao Lisheng  21' Report Khribin  43' (pen.), 53'
Al Baher  83'

15 January 2016 (2016-01-15)
19:30
Iran  1–2  Qatar
A. Karimi  90+1' Report A. Alaa  35'
A. Hassan  56'

18 January 2016 (2016-01-18)
19:30
Qatar  4–2  Syria
A. Hassan  10'
A. Alaa  24', 82'
A. Ali  28' 		Report Kalfa  4'
Khribin  81' (pen.)
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 9,255
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

18 January 2016 (2016-01-18)
19:30
Iran  3–2  China PR
Motahari  38'
Pahlavan  40'
Torabi  48' 		Report Chang Feiya  40'
Liao Lisheng  70' (pen.)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Japan 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9 Knockout stage
2  North Korea 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2[lower-alpha 1]
3  Saudi Arabia 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2[lower-alpha 1]
4  Thailand 3 0 2 1 3 7 −4 2[lower-alpha 1]
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 3 Head-to-head: North Korea (0 GD, 5 GF), Saudi Arabia (0 GD, 4 GF), Thailand (0 GD, 3 GF)

13 January 2016 (2016-01-13)
16:30
Japan  1–0  North Korea
Ueda  5' Report
Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 1,531
Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

13 January 2016 (2016-01-13)
19:30
Saudi Arabia  1–1  Thailand
Al-Saiari  71' Report Pinyo  84'

16 January 2016 (2016-01-16)
16:30
Thailand  0–4  Japan
Report Suzuki  27'
Yajima  49'
Kubo  75', 84' (pen.)

16 January 2016 (2016-01-16)
19:30
North Korea  3–3  Saudi Arabia
Kim Yong-il  27'
Yun Il-gwang  52'
Jang Kuk-chol  85' 		Report Kanno  40'
Al-Muwallad  62'
Al-Ghamdi  69'
Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 1,674
Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

19 January 2016 (2016-01-19)
16:30
Saudi Arabia  1–2  Japan
Madu  57' (pen.) Report Oshima  32'
Ideguchi  53'

19 January 2016 (2016-01-19)
16:30
North Korea  2–2  Thailand
Kim Yong-il  17'
Thossawat  45' (o.g.) 		Report Narubadin  30'
Chanathip  78'

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  South Korea 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 7 Knockout stage
2  Iraq 3 2 1 0 6 3 +3 7
3  Uzbekistan 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
4  Yemen 3 0 0 3 1 10 −9 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

13 January 2016 (2016-01-13)
16:30
Iraq  2–0  Yemen
Ali F.  36' (pen.)
Ali H.  39' 		Report
Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 803
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

13 January 2016 (2016-01-13)
19:30
South Korea  2–1  Uzbekistan
Moon Chang-jin  20' (pen.), 48' Report Khamdamov  57'

16 January 2016 (2016-01-16)
16:30
Yemen  0–5  South Korea
Report Kwon Chang-hoon  14', 31', 41'
Ryu Seung-woo  72'
Kim Seung-jun  76'

16 January 2016 (2016-01-16)
19:30
Uzbekistan  2–3  Iraq
Khamdamov  1'
Khakimov  79' 		Report Amjad A.  38'
Mahdi K.  43'
Humam T.  84'

19 January 2016 (2016-01-19)
19:30
Iraq  1–1  South Korea
Amjad W.  90+2' Report Kim Hyun  22'
Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 1,086
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

19 January 2016 (2016-01-19)
19:30
Uzbekistan  3–1  Yemen
Sokhibov  18'
Sergeev  68'
Masharipov  90+3' 		Report A. Al-Sarori  82'
Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 227
Referee: Ma Ning (China)

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  United Arab Emirates 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7 Knockout stage
2  Jordan 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2 5
3  Australia 3 1 1 1 2 1 +1 4
4  Vietnam 3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

14 January 2016 (2016-01-14)
16:30
Jordan  3–1  Vietnam
Faisal  38', 72'
Al-Manasrah  68' 		Report Đỗ Duy Mạnh  87'
Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 1,392
Referee: Ma Ning (China)

14 January 2016 (2016-01-14)
19:30
Australia  0–1  United Arab Emirates
Report Gallifuoco  86' (o.g.)
Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 307
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

17 January 2016 (2016-01-17)
16:30
Vietnam  0–2  Australia
Report Donachie  2'
Maclaren  61'
Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 539
Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

17 January 2016 (2016-01-17)
19:30
United Arab Emirates  0–0  Jordan
Report

20 January 2016 (2016-01-20)
19:30
Jordan  0–0  Australia
Report
Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 2,338
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Knockout stage

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

Bracket

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
22 January – Doha
 
 
 Qatar (a.e.t.)2
 
26 January – Doha
 
 North Korea1
 
 Qatar1
 
23 January – Doha
 
 South Korea3
 
 South Korea1
 
30 January – Doha
 
 Jordan0
 
 South Korea2
 
22 January – Doha
 
 Japan3
 
 Japan (a.e.t.)3
 
26 January – Doha
 
 Iran0
 
 Japan2
 
23 January – Doha
 
 Iraq1 Third Place
 
 United Arab Emirates1
 
29 January – Doha
 
 Iraq (a.e.t.)3
 
 Qatar1
 
 
 Iraq (a.e.t.)2
 

Quarter-finals

22 January 2016 (2016-01-22)
16:30
Japan  3–0 (a.e.t.)  Iran
Toyokawa  95'
Nakajima  108', 110' 		Report

22 January 2016 (2016-01-22)
19:30
Qatar  2–1 (a.e.t.)  North Korea
A. Afif  6' (pen.)
A. Assad  92' 		Report So Kyong-jin  90+1'

23 January 2016 (2016-01-23)
16:30
South Korea  1–0  Jordan
Moon Chang-jin  23' Report

23 January 2016 (2016-01-23)
19:30
United Arab Emirates  1–3 (a.e.t.)  Iraq
Alaa A.  75' (o.g.) Report Ali H.  77'
Mohannad A.  103'
Amjad A.  120+3'
Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 1,030
Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.

26 January 2016 (2016-01-26)
16:30
Japan  2–1  Iraq
Kubo  26'
Harakawa  90+3' 		Report Saad N.  43'

26 January 2016 (2016-01-26)
19:30
Qatar  1–3  South Korea
A. Alaa  79' Report Ryu Seung-woo  48'
Kwon Chang-hoon  89'
Moon Chang-jin  90+5'

Third place play-off

Winner qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.

29 January 2016 (2016-01-29)
17:45
Qatar  1–2 (a.e.t.)  Iraq
A. Alaa  27' Report Mohannad A.  86'
Ayman H.  109'
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 10,049
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Final

30 January 2016 (2016-01-30)
17:45
South Korea  2–3  Japan
Kwon Chang-hoon  20'
Jin Seong-uk  47' 		Report Asano  66', 81'
Yajima  68'
Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 5,394
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

Winners

2016 AFC U-23 Championship
Japan
Japan
First title

Awards

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

Top Goalscorer[15] Most Valuable Player[16] Fair Play award[16]
Qatar Ahmed Alaa Japan Shoya Nakajima Japan Japan

Statistics

Goalscorers

6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Source: The-AFC.com

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.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1st  Japan 6 6 0 0 15 4 +11 18 Champions
2nd  South Korea 6 4 1 1 14 6 +8 13 Runners-up
3rd  Iraq 6 4 1 1 12 7 +5 13 Third place
4  Qatar (H) 6 4 0 2 13 10 +3 12 Fourth place
5  United Arab Emirates 4 2 1 1 5 5 0 7 Eliminated in
quarter-finals
6  Iran 4 2 0 2 6 7 −1 6
7  Jordan 4 1 2 1 3 2 +1 5
8  North Korea 4 0 2 2 6 8 −2 2
9  Australia 3 1 1 1 2 1 +1 4 Eliminated in
group stage
10  Uzbekistan 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
11  Syria 3 1 0 2 5 7 −2 3
12  Saudi Arabia 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2
13  Thailand 3 0 2 1 3 7 −4 2
14  China PR 3 0 0 3 4 9 −5 0
15  Vietnam 3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0
16  Yemen 3 0 0 3 1 10 −9 0
Source: AFC
(H) Host.

Qualified teams for Olympics

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

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament1
 Japan 26 January 2016 9 (1936, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
 South Korea 26 January 2016 9 (1948, 1964, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
 Iraq 29 January 2016 4 (1980, 1984, 1988, 2004)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year. Statistics include all Olympic format (current Olympic under-23 format started in 1992).

Broadcasting rights

Territory Channel Ref
Arab world beIN Sports
Al-Kass Sports		 [17][18]
 Australia Fox Sports [19]
 China CCTV [19]
Europe Eurosport [19]
 Hong Kong Now TV [19]
 Iran IRIB [19]
 Japan NHK [19]
Latin America Fox Sports [19]
 New Zealand Sky Sports [19]
 South Africa SABC [19]
 South Korea KBS [19]
 Thailand BBTV CH7 [20]
 United States ONE World Sports [21]
 Uzbekistan Sport-UZ [19]
 Vietnam VTV6 [22][23]

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]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". the-afc.com. 28 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016" (PDF). AFC.
  3. ↑ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD – RIO 2016 – Football" (pdf). Rio 2016 Official Website. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Iraq clinch Asia's final Rio spot". FIFA.com. 29 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" (PDF). AFC.
  9. ↑ "Participants for AFC U-23 Championship Qatar 2016 confirmed". the-AFC.com. 21 May 2015.
  10. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 "Regulations AFC U-23 Championship 2016" (PDF). AFC.
  13. ↑ "Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh to miss Olympic qualifiers". persianfootball.com. 1 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 Match Schedule" (PDF). AFC.
  15. ↑ "Ahmed Alaa lands U23 Top Scorer award". AFC. 31 January 2016.
  16. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "AFC U23 Championship 2016 Schedule,Teams,Venues,Live Broadcaster info". sportsmanch.com. 29 December 2015.
  20. ↑ "AFC U23 CHAMPIONSHIP QATAR 2016". BBTV CH7. 12 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "AFC U23 Championship: Full Daily Schedule". One World Sports. 4 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "CHÍNH THỨC: VTV sở hữu bản quyền phát sóng VCK U23 châu Á 2016". vtv.vn (in Vietnamese). 31 December 2015.
  23. ↑ "VTV6 truyền hình trực tiếp các trận đấu của U23 Việt Nam tại VCK U23 châu Á". vtv.vn (in Vietnamese). 5 January 2016.
  24. ↑ "Final Registration Player List" (PDF). AFC. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  25. ↑ Mayeli Kohan: Qatar used overage players

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.