2016 AFC U-19 Championship

The 2016 AFC U-19 Championship was the 39th edition of the AFC U-19 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-19 national teams of Asia. The tournament was hosted by Bahrain, as announced by the AFC on 3 June 2015,^[1] and was scheduled to be played between 13–30 October 2016.^[2] A total of 16 teams played in the tournament.

2016 AFC U-19 Championship

بطولة آسيا للشباب تحت 19 عاما 2016
Tournament details
Host country	Bahrain
Dates	13–30 October
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Japan (1st title)
Runners-up	Saudi Arabia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	31
Goals scored	84 (2.71 per match)
Attendance	39,304 (1,268 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Sami Al-Najei Abdulrahman Al-Yami (4 goals each)
Best player(s)	Ritsu Dōan
Fair play award	Japan
← 2014 2018 →

Same as previous editions, the tournament acted as the AFC qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The top four teams of the tournament qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea as the AFC representatives, besides South Korea who qualified automatically as hosts. If South Korea were among the top four teams, three play-off matches would be played to decide the fifth-placed team which also qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup; however, this was not necessary as South Korea were eliminated in the group stage.^[3]

Japan conquered the title for the first time after beating Saudi Arabia in the final's penalty shootout, and also set a record in the competition for being the first team to win the tournament without conceding a single goal.

On 25 October 2016, the AFC President, Salman Al-Khalifa, congratulated Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, IR Iran and Japan on qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2017. The four teams will join hosts South Korea to make up Asia's five representatives at the tournament.^[4]

Qualification

Main article: 2016 AFC U-19 Championship qualification

The draw for the qualifiers was held on 5 June 2015.^[5] 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 Bahrain who qualified automatically as hosts but also competed in the qualifying stage.

The qualifiers were played between 28 September – 6 October 2015.^[6]

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.^[7]

Team	Qualified as	Appearance	Previous best performance
Bahrain	Hosts	9th	Runners-up (1986)
Japan	Group J winners	36th	Runners-up (1973, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006)
Iraq	Group F winners	16th	Champions (1975, 1977, 1978, 1988, 2000)
China	Group I winners	17th	Champions (1985)
Vietnam	Group G winners	18th	Quarter-finals (19671, 19691)
Uzbekistan	Group A winners	7th	Runners-up (2008)
South Korea	Group H winners	37th	Champions (1959, 1960, 1963, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2012)
Tajikistan	Group F (1st best) runners-up	3rd	Group stage (2006, 2008)
United Arab Emirates	Group C winners	13th	Champions (2008)
Australia	Group J (2nd best) runners-up	6th	Runners-up (2010)
Qatar	Group D winners	13th	Champions (2014)
Thailand	Group H (3rd best) runners-up	32nd	Champions (1962, 1969)
Saudi Arabia	Group B winners	13th	Champions (1986, 1992)
North Korea	Group I (4th best) runners-up	12th	Champions (1976, 2006, 2010)
Iran	Group E winners	20th	Champions (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)
Yemen	Group B (5th best) runners-up	6th	Group stage (1978, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2014)

¹ As South Vietnam

Venues

The tournament is played in two venues:

Riffa	Riffa Isa Town 2016 AFC U-19 Championship (Bahrain)
Bahrain National Stadium
Capacity: 30,000
Isa Town
Khalifa Sports City Stadium
Capacity: 20,000

Draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 30 April 2016, 19:00 AST (UTC+3), in Manama.^[8] The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams.^[3] The teams were seeded according to their performance in the previous edition in 2014.

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

Squads

Main article: 2016 AFC U-19 Championship squads

Players born on or after 1 January 1997 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team can register a maximum of 23 players (minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers).^[9]

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:^[9]

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 are local, AST (UTC+3).^[10]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bahrain (H)	3	2	0	1	7	6	+1	6[a]	Knockout stage
2	Saudi Arabia	3	2	0	1	8	4	+4	6[a]
3	South Korea	3	2	0	1	6	4	+2	6[a]
4	Thailand	3	0	0	3	3	10	−7	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Head-to-head results: Bahrain 3–2 Saudi Arabia, South Korea 2–1 Bahrain, South Korea 1–2 Saudi Arabia. Head-to-head standings:

   • Bahrain: 3 pts, 0 GD, 4 GF
   • Saudi Arabia: 3 pts, 0 GD, 4 GF
   • South Korea: 3 pts, 0 GD, 3 GF

   South Korea are ranked third on head-to-head goals scored. Bahrain are ranked ahead of Saudi Arabia on their own head-to-head result.

13 October 2016 (2016-10-13)

16:30

Thailand	1–3	South Korea
Anon 76'	Report	Jeong Tae-wook 13' Han Chan-hee 41' Kang Ji-hoon 90+3'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 200

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

13 October 2016 (2016-10-13)

19:30

Bahrain	3–2	Saudi Arabia
Marhoon 41' Al-Hardan 49' (pen.) Mohamed 90+4'	Report	Al-Shamlan 56' Al-Najei 80' (pen.)

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Ammar Al-Jeneibi (United Arab Emirates)

---

16 October 2016 (2016-10-16)

16:30

Saudi Arabia	4–0	Thailand
Al-Shamlan 43' Al-Muwallad 60' Al-Khulaif 68' Ghareeb 90+3'	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 185

Referee: Timur Faizullin (Kyrgyzstan)

16 October 2016 (2016-10-16)

19:30

South Korea	2–1	Bahrain
Cho Young-wook 84', 90+2'	Report	Ebrahim 56'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 6,677

Referee: Mohammad Abu Loum (Jordan)

---

19 October 2016 (2016-10-19)

19:30

Bahrain	3–2	Thailand
Al-Hardan 12' (pen.) Bughammar 47' Al-Naar 51'	Report	Sittichok 30' Supachai 84'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 8,650

Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)

19 October 2016 (2016-10-19)

19:30

South Korea	1–2	Saudi Arabia
Kim Geon-ung 32'	Report	Al-Najei 38' Al-Amri 64'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 210

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iraq	3	2	1	0	5	0	+5	7	Knockout stage
2	Vietnam	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	5
3	United Arab Emirates	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
4	North Korea	3	0	0	3	2	9	−7	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

14 October 2016 (2016-10-14)

16:30

North Korea	1–2	Vietnam
Ryang Hyon-ju 90+2'	Report	Hà Đức Chinh 71' Đoàn Văn Hậu 90+1'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 100

Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

14 October 2016 (2016-10-14)

19:30

United Arab Emirates	0–1	Iraq
	Report	Kareem 26'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 250

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

---

17 October 2016 (2016-10-17)

16:30

Vietnam	1–1	United Arab Emirates
Hồ Minh Dĩ 21'	Report	Omar 58' (pen.)

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 50

Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)

17 October 2016 (2016-10-17)

19:30

Iraq	4–0	North Korea
Fayyadh 54' (pen.) Kareem 63', 65' Abbas 79'	Report

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 156

Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia)

---

20 October 2016 (2016-10-20)

19:30

North Korea	1–3	United Arab Emirates
Han Kwang-song 8'	Report	Rashed 31' Al-Matroushi 52' Yaqoub 77'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 155

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

20 October 2016 (2016-10-20)

19:30

Iraq	0–0	Vietnam
	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 263

Referee: Fu Ming (China)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan	3	2	1	0	6	0	+6	7	Knockout stage
2	Iran	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
3	Qatar	3	1	1	1	2	4	−2	4
4	Yemen	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

14 October 2016 (2016-10-14)

16:30

Japan	3–0	Yemen
Ogawa 47' Iwasaki 79' Hara 88'	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 500

Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)

14 October 2016 (2016-10-14)

19:30

Qatar	1–1	Iran
Razzaghpour 38' (o.g.)	Report	Razzaghpour 58'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Fu Ming (China)

---

17 October 2016 (2016-10-17)

16:30

Iran	0–0	Japan
	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 225

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

17 October 2016 (2016-10-17)

19:30

Yemen	0–1	Qatar
	Report	Umaru 84'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 525

Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

---

20 October 2016 (2016-10-20)

16:30

Qatar	0–3	Japan
	Report	Iwasaki 14' Miyoshi 45' Tomiyasu 62'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 120

Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia)

20 October 2016 (2016-10-20)

16:30

Yemen	0–1	Iran
	Report	Razzaghpour 45'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 535

Referee: Timur Faizullin (Kyrgyzstan)

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uzbekistan	3	2	1	0	5	3	+2	7	Knockout stage
2	Tajikistan	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
3	Australia	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	China	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

15 October 2016 (2016-10-15)

16:30

Uzbekistan	2–1	Tajikistan
Davlatjonov 67' Yakhshiboev 72'	Report	Saidov 20'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 100

Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

15 October 2016 (2016-10-15)

19:30

China	0–1	Australia
	Report	Shabow 46'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 370

Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)

---

18 October 2016 (2016-10-18)

16:30

Tajikistan	2–0	China
Panjshanbe 3' Hamroqulov 65'	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 82

Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)

18 October 2016 (2016-10-18)

19:30

Australia	2–3	Uzbekistan
Youlley 63' (pen.) Blackwood 90+3' (pen.)	Report	Abdukhalikov 29' Ibrokhimov 40', 46'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 58

Referee: Ammar Al-Jeneibi (United Arab Emirates)

---

21 October 2016 (2016-10-21)

19:30

Uzbekistan	0–0	China
	Report

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 135

Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)

21 October 2016 (2016-10-21)

19:30

Australia	0–0	Tajikistan
	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 165

Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.^[9]

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	23 October – Riffa
	Bahrain	0
					27 October – Riffa
	Vietnam	1
					Vietnam	0
	24 October – Riffa
					Japan	3
	Japan	4
									30 October – Riffa
	Tajikistan	0
									Japan (p)	0 (5)
	23 October – Isa Town
									Saudi Arabia	0 (3)
	Iraq	2 (5)
					27 October – Isa Town
	Saudi Arabia (p)	2 (6)
					Saudi Arabia	6
	24 October – Isa Town
					Iran	5
	Uzbekistan	0
	Iran	2

Quarter-finals

Winners qualified for 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

23 October 2016 (2016-10-23)

16:15

Iraq	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Saudi Arabia
Hussein 75' Fayyadh 79'	Report	Al-Shamlan 65' A. Al-Yami 69'
Penalties
Habeeb M. Kareem Hussein Fayyadh Jalal Abdulnabi Hadi	5–6	Al-Dawsari Ghareeb A. Al-Yami Al-Amri Al-Najei Zabani Al-Saluli

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 338

Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)

---

23 October 2016 (2016-10-23)

19:15

Bahrain	0–1	Vietnam
	Report	Trần Thành 72'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 10,610

Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

---

24 October 2016 (2016-10-24)

16:15

Japan	4–0	Tajikistan
Ogawa 8', 73' Dōan 19' Iwasaki 88'	Report

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 135

Referee: Fu Ming (China)

---

24 October 2016 (2016-10-24)

19:15

Uzbekistan	0–2	Iran
	Report	Jafari 14', 47'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 160

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

Semi-finals

27 October 2016 (2016-10-27)

16:15

Saudi Arabia	6–5	Iran
Al-Najei 18' (pen.), 51' Al-Khulaif 42' A. Al-Yami 45+1', 64', 76'	Report	Jafari 45' Aghasi 45+3' Shekari 62' Mehdikhani 75' Karamolachaab 83'

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Attendance: 1,200

Referee: Fu Ming (China)

---

27 October 2016 (2016-10-27)

19:15

Vietnam	0–3	Japan
	Report	Kishimoto 6' Nakamura 10', 51'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 190

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

Final

30 October 2016 (2016-10-30)

17:30

Japan	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Saudi Arabia
	Report
Penalties
Sakai Dōan Endo Nakayama Ogawa	5–3	Al-Dawsari Kariri A. Al-Yami Magrashi

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 3,460

Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

Winners

AFC U-19 Championship 2016 winners
Japan First title

Awards

Most Valuable Player

• Ritsu Dōan^[11]

Top Scorer

• Sami Al-Najei^[12]

Fair Play

•  Japan

Goalscorers

4 goals

• Sami Al-Najei
• Abdulrahman Al-Yami

3 goals

• Reza Jafari
• Waleed Kareem Ali
• Yuto Iwasaki
• Koki Ogawa
• Rakan Al-Shamlan

2 goals

• Mohammed Al-Hardan
• Abolfazl Razzaghpour
• Mazin Fayyadh
• Shunta Nakamura
• Ayman Al-Khulaif
• Cho Young-wook
• Doston Ibrokhimov

1 goal

• George Blackwood
• Mario Shabow
• Liam Youlley
• Ahemd Bughammar
• Sayed Ebrahim
• Mohamed Marhoon
• Ahmed Mohamed
• Talal Al Naar
• Aref Aghasi
• Reza Karamolachaab
• Mehdi Mehdikhani
• Reza Shekari
• Sajad Hussein
• Alaa Abbas Abdulnabi
• Ritsu Dōan
• Teruki Hara
• Takeru Kishimoto
• Koji Miyoshi
• Takehiro Tomiyasu
• Han Kwang-song
• Ryang Hyon-ju
• Abdulrasheed Umaru
• Abdulelah Al-Amri
• Abdulrahman Ghareeb
• Mansour Al-Muwallad
• Han Chan-hee
• Jeong Tae-wook
• Kang Ji-hoon
• Kim Geon-ung
• Nuriddin Hamroqulov
• Ehson Panjshanbe
• Karomatullo Saidov
• Anon Amornlerdsak
• Supachai Jaided
• Sittichok Phaso
• Faisal Al Matroushi
• Husain Abdulla Omar
• Ahmed Rashed
• Jassem Yaqoub
• Bobur Abdukhalikov
• Sayidjamol Davlatjonov
• Jasurbek Yakhshiboev
• Hà Đức Chinh
• Hồ Minh Dĩ
• Đoàn Văn Hậu
• Trần Thành

1 own goal

• Abolfazl Razzaghpour (against Qatar)

Source: the-afc.com