2018 AFC U-23 Championship

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]

2018 AFC U-23 Championship

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 →

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.

Hosts selection

•  China^[3]

Qualification

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]

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)

Notes:

1. 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.

Venues

The competition was played in four venues in four cities, all in the province of Jiangsu.^[6]

Changzhou	Kunshan
Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre	Kunshan Stadium
Capacity: 38,000	Capacity: 25,000
Changzhou Kunshan Jiangyin Changshu
Jiangyin	Changshu
Jiangyin Stadium	Changshu Stadium
Capacity: 32,000	Capacity: 35,000

Draw

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]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
China (hosts)  Japan  South Korea  Iraq	Qatar  North Korea  Jordan  Australia	Uzbekistan  Syria  Saudi Arabia  Thailand	Vietnam  Oman  Malaysia  Palestine

Match officials

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

Squads

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]

Group stage

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]

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. 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;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
8. 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);
9. Drawing of lots.

All times are local, CST (UTC+8).

Schedule

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

Group A

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

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

China	3–0	Oman
Yang Liyu 30' Li Xiaoming 34' Wei Shihao 53'	Live Report Stats Report

9 January 2018 (2018-01-09)

16:00

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 11,800

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

Qatar	1–0	Uzbekistan
Almoez Ali 55'	Live Report Stats Report

9 January 2018 (2018-01-09)

19:30

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 1,100

Referee: Kim Dong-jin (South Korea)

---

Uzbekistan	1–0	China
Alijonov 14'	Live Report Stats Report

12 January 2018 (2018-01-12)

16:00

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 13,800

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

Oman	0–1	Qatar
	Live Report Stats Report	Afif 43'

12 January 2018 (2018-01-12)

19:30

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 820

Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

---

China	1–2	Qatar
Yao Junsheng 3'	Live Report Stats Report	Almoez Ali 44', 77'

15 January 2018 (2018-01-15)

16:00

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 15,600

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

Uzbekistan	1–0	Oman
Tursunov 36'	Live Report Stats Report

15 January 2018 (2018-01-15)

16:00

Jiangyin Stadium, Jiangyin

Attendance: 380

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

Group B

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

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

North Korea	1–0	Thailand
Ri Hun 2'	Live Report Stats Report

10 January 2018 (2018-01-10)

16:00

Jiangyin Stadium, Jiangyin

Attendance: 680

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

Japan	1–0	Palestine
Itakura 20'	Live Report Stats Report

10 January 2018 (2018-01-10)

19:30

Jiangyin Stadium, Jiangyin

Attendance: 360

Referee: Fu Ming (China)

---

Palestine	1–1	North Korea
Dabbagh 16'	Live Report Stats Report	Rashid 74' (o.g.)

13 January 2018 (2018-01-13)

16:00

Jiangyin Stadium, Jiangyin

Attendance: 560

Referee: Peter Green (Australia)

Thailand	0–1	Japan
	Live Report Stats Report	Itakura 90'

13 January 2018 (2018-01-13)

19:30

Jiangyin Stadium, Jiangyin

Attendance: 1,080

Referee: Liu Kwok Man (Hong Kong)

---

Japan	3–1	North Korea
Yanagi 32' Miyoshi 43' Kang Ju-hyok 73' (o.g.)	Live Report Stats Report	Kim Yu-song 52'

16 January 2018 (2018-01-16)

16:00

Jiangyin Stadium, Jiangyin

Attendance: 320

Referee: Fahad Al-Mirdasi (Saudi Arabia)

Thailand	1–5	Palestine
Chenrop 44'	Live Report Stats Report	Fannoun 15' Dabbagh 26' Yousef 30' Darwish 32' Qumbor 88'

16 January 2018 (2018-01-16)

16:00

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 120

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Group C

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

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Iraq	4–1	Malaysia
Jaffal 5' Attwan 28' Mhawi 56' Ali 81'	Live Report Stats Report	Safawi 79'

10 January 2018 (2018-01-10)

16:00

Changshu Stadium, Changshu

Attendance: 230

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Jordan	2–2	Saudi Arabia
Faisal 12', 78'	Live Report Stats Report	Al-Amri 85' Al-Shamlan 90+4' (pen.)

10 January 2018 (2018-01-10)

19:30

Changshu Stadium, Changshu

Attendance: 240

Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)

---

Malaysia	1–1	Jordan
Safawi 43' (pen.)	Live Report Stats Report	Al-Barri 16'

13 January 2018 (2018-01-13)

16:00

Changshu Stadium, Changshu

Attendance: 780

Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

Saudi Arabia	0–0	Iraq
	Live Report Stats Report

13 January 2018 (2018-01-13)

19:30

Changshu Stadium, Changshu

Attendance: 1,010

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

---

Iraq	1–0	Jordan
Resan 49'	Live Report Stats Report

16 January 2018 (2018-01-16)

19:30

Changshu Stadium, Changshu

Attendance: 380

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

Saudi Arabia	0–1	Malaysia
	Live Report Stats Report	Danial 28'

16 January 2018 (2018-01-16)

19:30

Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan

Attendance: 482

Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Group D

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

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Australia	3–1	Syria
Blackwood 8', 77' Kamau 43'	Live Report Stats Report	Deng 53' (o.g.)

11 January 2018 (2018-01-11)

16:00

Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan

Attendance: 1,528

Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

South Korea	2–1	Vietnam
Cho Young-wook 29' Lee Keun-ho 73'	Live Report Stats Report	Nguyễn Quang Hải 17'

11 January 2018 (2018-01-11)

19:30

Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan

Attendance: 766

Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia)

---

Vietnam	1–0	Australia
Nguyễn Quang Hải 72'	Live Report Stats Report

14 January 2018 (2018-01-14)

16:00

Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan

Attendance: 2,362

Referee: Mohanad Qasim Eesee Sarray (Iraq)

Syria	0–0	South Korea
	Live Report Stats Report

14 January 2018 (2018-01-14)

19:30

Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan

Attendance: 685

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

---

South Korea	3–2	Australia
Lee Keun-ho 18', 65' Han Seung-gyu 44'	Live Report Stats Report	Cowburn 72' Buhagiar 76'

17 January 2018 (2018-01-17)

19:30

Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan

Attendance: 678

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

Syria	0–0	Vietnam
	Live Report Stats Report

17 January 2018 (2018-01-17)

19:30

Changshu Stadium, Changshu

Attendance: 400

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Knockout stage

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

Japan	0–4	Uzbekistan
	Live Report Stats Report	Sidikov 31' Khamdamov 34' Yakhshiboev 39', 47'

19 January 2018 (2018-01-19)

16:00

Jiangyin Stadium, Jiangyin

Attendance: 380

Referee: Fu Ming (China)

---

Qatar	3–2	Palestine
Almoez Ali 32', 34' Hashim Ali 53'	Live Report Stats Report	Dabbagh 60' Darwish 87'

19 January 2018 (2018-01-19)

19:30

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 226

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

---

South Korea	2–1	Malaysia
Cho Jae-wan 1' Han Seung-gyu 85'	Live Report Stats Report	Thanabalan 67'

20 January 2018 (2018-01-20)

16:00

Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan

Attendance: 738

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

---

Iraq	3–3 (a.e.t.)	Vietnam
Hussein 29' (pen.), 94' Mhawi 116'	Live Report Stats Report	Nguyễn Công Phượng 12' Phan Văn Đức 108' Hà Đức Chinh 112'
Penalties
Resan Hussein Mhawi Attwan	3–5	Vũ Văn Thanh Nguyễn Quang Hải Lương Xuân Trường Hà Đức Chinh Bùi Tiến Dũng II

20 January 2018 (2018-01-20)

19:30

Changshu Stadium, Changshu

Attendance: 980

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

Semi-finals

Qatar	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Vietnam
Afif 39' (pen.) Almoez Ali 87'	Live Report Stats Report	Nguyễn Quang Hải 69', 88'
Penalties
Afif Moein Al-Shammeri Almoez Ali Al-Brake	3–4	Nguyễn Quang Hải Lương Xuân Trường Hà Đức Chinh Phan Văn Đức Vũ Văn Thanh

23 January 2018 (2018-01-23)

16:00

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 630

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

---

Uzbekistan	4–1 (a.e.t.)	South Korea
Urinboev 33' Ganiev 99' Yakhshiboev 110' Komilov 120+1'	Live Report Stats Report	Hwang Hyun-soo 58'

23 January 2018 (2018-01-23)

19:30

Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan

Attendance: 367

Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia)

Third place match

Qatar	1–0	South Korea
Afif 39'	Live Report Stats Report

26 January 2018 (2018-01-26)

16:00

Kunshan Stadium, Kunshan

Attendance: 168

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

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

Vietnam	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Uzbekistan
Nguyễn Quang Hải 41'	Live Report Stats Report	Ashurmatov 8' Sidorov 120'

27 January 2018 (2018-01-27)

16:00

Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre, Changzhou

Attendance: 6,200

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Winners

2018 AFC U-23 Championship
Uzbekistan First title

Awards

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

Top Goalscorer[11]	Most Valuable Player[12]	Fair Play award[13]
Almoez Ali	Odiljon Hamrobekov	Vietnam

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 82 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.56 goals per match.

6 goals

• Almoez Ali

5 goals

• Nguyễn Quang Hải

3 goals

• Oday Dabbagh
• Akram Afif
• Lee Keun-ho
• Jasurbek Yakhshiboev

2 goals

• George Blackwood
• Ayman Hussein
• Alaa Ali Mhawi
• Ko Itakura
• Baha' Faisal
• Safawi Rasid
• Mohamed Darwish
• Han Seung-gyu

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^[a]
• 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)

Broadcasting rights

•  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)

Notes

1. Fastest goal in the tournament