2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification

The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification was an international men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.

2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification

Tournament details
Host countries	Kyrgyzstan (Group A) Saudi Arabia (Group B) Qatar (Group C) United Arab Emirates (Group D) Palestine (Group E) Myanmar (Group F) North Korea (Group G) Thailand (Group H) Vietnam (Group I) Cambodia (Group J)
Dates	15–23 July 2017[1]
Teams	40 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	10 (in 10 host cities)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	57
Goals scored	205 (3.6 per match)
Attendance	277,285 (4,865 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Aymen Hussein (6 goals)
← 2016 2020 →

A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including China PR who qualified automatically as hosts.^[2]

Draw

Of the 47 AFC member associations, a total of 40 teams entered the competition. The final tournament hosts China PR decided to participate in qualification despite having automatically qualified for the final tournament.^[3]

The draw was held on 17 March 2017, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[4] The 40 teams were drawn into ten groups of four teams. For the draw, teams were divided into two zones:

• West Zone: 20 teams from West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, to be drawn into five groups of four teams (Groups A–E).
• East Zone: 20 teams from ASEAN and East Asia, to be drawn into five groups of four teams (Groups F–J).

The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification. The following restrictions were also applied:^[5]

• The nine teams which indicated their intention to serve as qualification group hosts prior to the draw were drawn into separate groups.
• As Iran and Saudi Arabia refused to travel to each other's country, they would not be drawn into the same group.
• As Iran, Syria and Lebanon had indicated they would not travel to Palestine, they would not be drawn into the group hosted by Palestine.

	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
West Zone	Iraq  Qatar (H)  United Arab Emirates (H)  Iran  Jordan	Uzbekistan  Syria  Saudi Arabia (H)  Oman  Tajikistan	Palestine (H)  Bahrain  India  Kyrgyzstan (H)  Lebanon	Afghanistan  Bangladesh  Sri Lanka (W)    Nepal  Turkmenistan (unranked)
East Zone	Japan  South Korea  North Korea (H)  Australia  Thailand (H)	China (Q)  Vietnam (H)  Indonesia  Myanmar (H)  Laos	Malaysia  Timor-Leste  Chinese Taipei  Cambodia (H)*  Singapore	Mongolia  Hong Kong  Philippines  Brunei  Macau

Notes

• Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
• (H): Qualification group hosts (* Cambodia chosen as qualification group hosts after the draw)
• (Q): Final tournament hosts, automatically qualified regardless of qualification results
• (W): Withdrew after draw

Did not enter

West Zone	Bhutan  Kuwait (suspended)[6]  Maldives  Pakistan  Yemen
East Zone	Guam  Northern Mariana Islands

Player eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 1995 were eligible to compete in the tournament.^[7]

Format

In each group, teams played each other once at a centralised venue. The ten group winners and the five best runners-up qualified for the final tournament. If the final tournament hosts China PR won their group or were among the five best runners-up, the sixth best runner-up also qualified for the final tournament.^[4]

Tiebreakers

Teams were 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 were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 9.3):^[7]

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.

Groups

The matches were played between 15 and 23 July 2017.

Schedule

Matchday	Dates		Matches
	Group D	Groups A–C, E–J	Groups B–J	Group A
Matchday 1	15 July 2017	19 July 2017	1 v 4, 2 v 3	3 v 1
Matchday 2	17 July 2017	21 July 2017	4 v 2, 3 v 1	2 v 3
Matchday 3	19 July 2017	23 July 2017	1 v 2, 3 v 4	1 v 2

Group A

• All matches were held in Kyrgyzstan.
• Times listed were UTC+6.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Oman	2	2	0	0	7	1	+6	6	Final tournament
2	Iran	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	3
3	Kyrgyzstan (H)	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0
4	Sri Lanka	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Kyrgyzstan	1–2	Iran
Levchenko 11'	Report	Shekari 14' Gholizadeh 42'

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

19:00

Dolen Omurzakov Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Ahmad Yacoub Ibrahim (Jordan)

---

Oman	5–1	Kyrgyzstan
Al-Ghassani 61', 83', 90+1' Al-Aghbari 81' (pen.) Al-Yahmadi 84'	Report	Abdurakhmanov 45+2'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

19:00

Dolen Omurzakov Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Saoud Al-Athbah (Qatar)

---

Iran	0–2	Oman
	Report	Al-Yahmadi 48' Al-Ghassani 71'

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

19:00

Dolen Omurzakov Stadium, Bishkek

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Muhammad Nazmi Nasaruddin (Malaysia)

Group B

• All matches were held in Saudi Arabia.
• Times listed were UTC+3.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iraq	3	3	0	0	12	1	+11	9	Final tournament
2	Saudi Arabia (H)	3	2	0	1	11	3	+8	6
3	Bahrain	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
4	Afghanistan	3	0	0	3	0	18	−18	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Iraq	8–0	Afghanistan
Rasan 13' (pen.) Hussein 39' (pen.), 45', 65', 74', 85' Mhawi 82' Jaffal 86'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

17:55

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh

Attendance: 500

Referee: Sultan Al-Marzooqi (United Arab Emirates)

Saudi Arabia	3–1	Bahrain
Al-Aryani 7' Al-Najei 73' (pen.) Al-Shamsan 88' (o.g.)	Report	Madan 63' (pen.)

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

20:55

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh

Attendance: 500

Referee: Nagor Amir Noor Mohamed (Malaysia)

---

Bahrain	1–2	Iraq
Madan 84'	Report	Attwan 52' Fayyadh 70'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

17:55

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh

Attendance: 200

Referee: Yaqoob Abdul Baki (Oman)

Afghanistan	0–8	Saudi Arabia
	Report	Al-Amri 12', 22' Al-Najei 15' Al-Aryani 18', 45+4' Al-Tambakti 58' Al-Rashidi 72', 81'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

20:55

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh

Attendance: 200

Referee: Dmitry Mashentsev (Kyrgyzstan)

---

Bahrain	2–0	Afghanistan
Abdulrahman 14' Madan 87' (pen.)	Report

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

17:55

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh

Attendance: 70

Referee: Sultan Al-Marzooqi (United Arab Emirates)

Iraq	2–0	Saudi Arabia
Al-Saedi 23' Hussein 45+1'	Report

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

20:55

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh

Attendance: 500

Referee: Yaqoob Abdul Baki (Oman)

Group C

• All matches were held in Qatar.
• Times listed were UTC+3.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Qatar (H)	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7	Final tournament
2	Syria	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5
3	India	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3
4	Turkmenistan	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Syria	2–0	India
Srour 64' Arnaout 88'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

17:00

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 853

Referee: Kim Hee-gon (South Korea)

Qatar	2–0	Turkmenistan
Afif 4', 15'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

20:00

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 1,736

Referee: Suhaizi Shukri (Malaysia)

---

Turkmenistan	0–0	Syria
	Report

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

17:00

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 780

Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

India	0–1	Qatar
	Report	Ali 54'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

20:00

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 2,768

Referee: Chen Hsin-chuan (Chinese Taipei)

---

India	3–1	Turkmenistan
Singh 41' Deory 72' Lalrinzuala 77' (pen.)	Report	Hojovov 13'

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

17:00

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 312

Referee: Kim Hee-gon (South Korea)

Qatar	1–1	Syria
Al-Brake 38'	Report	Muhtadi 60'

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

20:00

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 1,760

Referee: Suhaizi Shukri (Malaysia)

Group D

• All matches were held in United Arab Emirates.
• Times listed were UTC+4.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uzbekistan	3	3	0	0	7	1	+6	9	Final tournament
2	United Arab Emirates (H)	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4	6
3	Lebanon	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3
4	Nepal	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

United Arab Emirates	5–0	Nepal
Al Attas 8' (pen.), 20' Al-Akbari 22' Ba Wazir 33' (pen.) Al-Hammadi 60'	Report

15 July 2017 (2017-07-15)

18:25

Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Al Ain

Attendance: 5,423

Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)

Uzbekistan	3–1	Lebanon
Khamis 20' (o.g.) Abdikholikov 30', 38'	Report	Hammoud 58'

15 July 2017 (2017-07-15)

21:15

Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Al Ain

Attendance: 50

Referee: Takuto Okabe (Japan)

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Nepal	0–2	Uzbekistan
	Report	Tursunov 21' Ganiev 80'

17 July 2017 (2017-07-17)

18:25

Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Al Ain

Attendance: 1,825

Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)

Lebanon	0–1	United Arab Emirates
	Report	Al Attas 84' (pen.)

17 July 2017 (2017-07-17)

21:15

Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Al Ain

Attendance: 570

Referee: Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia)

---

United Arab Emirates	0–2	Uzbekistan
	Report	Kobilov 67' Sidikov 90'

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

18:25

Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Al Ain

Attendance: 1,250

Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)

Lebanon	2–0	Nepal
Kourani 29', 90'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

21:15

Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Al Ain

Attendance: 1,850

Referee: Jameel Abdulhusin (Bahrain)

Group E

• All matches were held in Palestine.
• Times listed were UTC+3.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Palestine (H)	3	2	1	0	8	4	+4	7	Final tournament
2	Jordan	3	2	0	1	11	3	+8	6
3	Tajikistan	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	4
4	Bangladesh	3	0	0	3	1	13	−12	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Jordan	7–0	Bangladesh
Al-Taamari 17', 50' Al-Rawabdeh 37', 63' Al-Reyahi 55', 78' (pen.) Faisal 58'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

16:30

Dora International Stadium, Hebron

Attendance: 50

Referee: Sherzod Kasimov (Uzbekistan)

Tajikistan	2–2	Palestine
Chakalov 33' Babadjanov 75' (pen.)	Report	Fannoun 18' (pen.) Juraboev 51' (o.g.)

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

19:30

Dora International Stadium, Hebron

Attendance: 700

Referee: Mahmood Al-Majarafi (Oman)

---

Bangladesh	1–3	Tajikistan
Mia 33'	Report	Safarov 55' Babadjanov 67' Juraboev 87'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

16:30

Dora International Stadium, Hebron

Attendance: 50

Referee: Çarymyrat Kurbanow (Turkmenistan)

Palestine	3–2	Jordan
Abuhammad 38' Yousef 66' Wridat 76'	Report	Abu Arab 19' Al-Razem 31'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

19:30

Dora International Stadium, Hebron

Attendance: 700

Referee: Pranjal Banerjee (India)

---

Jordan	2–0	Tajikistan
Al-Reyahi 55' Faisal 68'	Report

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

16:30

Dora International Stadium, Hebron

Attendance: 50

Referee: Sherzod Kasimov (Uzbekistan)

Palestine	3–0	Bangladesh
Abu Warda 8', 36', 90+1'	Report

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

19:30

Dora International Stadium, Hebron

Attendance: 500

Referee: Mahmood Al-Majarafi (Oman)

Group F

• All matches were held in Myanmar.
• Times listed were UTC+6:30.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia	3	3	0	0	12	0	+12	9	Final tournament
2	Myanmar (H)	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6
3	Singapore	3	1	0	2	4	10	−6	3
4	Brunei	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Australia	2–0	Brunei
Blackwood 53' (pen.) McGree 85'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

15:00

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan)

Myanmar	2–0	Singapore
Aung Thu 60' Hlaing Bo Bo 90+3'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

18:00

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 13,200

Referee: Khamis Al-Kuwari (Qatar)

---

Singapore	0–7	Australia
	Report	Mauk 8' Blackwood 13', 18' Popovic 39', 60' Clut 68' (pen.) Sotirio 73'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

15:00

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 750

Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain)

Brunei	0–3	Myanmar
	Report	Nyein Chan Aung 20', 61' Naing Lin Tun 44'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

18:00

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 10,260

Referee: Mooud Bonyadifar (Iran)

---

Singapore	4–1	Brunei
Fandi 13', 90+1' Akbar 39' Suparno 86'	Report	Suhaimi 45+1'

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

15:00

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 9,270

Referee: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan)

Australia	3–0	Myanmar
Kamau 6' Aspropotamitis 32' Sotirio 58'	Report

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

18:00

Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain)

Group G

• All matches were held in North Korea.
• Times listed were UTC+8:30.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	North Korea (H)	3	2	1	0	14	2	+12	7	Final tournament
2	Hong Kong	3	1	2	0	6	2	+4	5
3	Laos	3	1	1	1	4	8	−4	4
4	Chinese Taipei	3	0	0	3	2	14	−12	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Laos	3–1	Chinese Taipei
Sonthanalay 26', 42' Khochalern 49'	Report	Jhou Cheng 3'

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

15:00

Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Pyongyang

Attendance: 12,400

Referee: Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam)

North Korea	1–1	Hong Kong
So Jong-hyok 63'	Report	Wu Chun Ming 6'

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

18:00

Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Pyongyang

Attendance: 14,500

Referee: Sivakorn Pu-udom (Thailand)

---

Hong Kong	1–1	Laos
Jordan Lam 75'	Report	Kettavong 73'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

15:00

Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Pyongyang

Attendance: 12,500

Referee: Nguyễn Hiền Triết (Vietnam)

Chinese Taipei	1–7	North Korea
Lee Hsiang-wei 27'	Report	Kim Yu-song 4', 34', 90+3' Ri Un-chol 24' So Jong-hyok 37' Kim Song-sun 64' Kim Kuk-chol 72'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

18:00

Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Pyongyang

Attendance: 13,000

Referee: Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam)

---

Chinese Taipei	0–4	Hong Kong
	Report	Tan Chun Lok 61', 70' Lau Hok Ming 63' Chung Wai Keung 77'

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

15:00

Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Pyongyang

Attendance: 13,000

Referee: Sivakorn Pu-udom (Thailand)

North Korea	6–0	Laos
Kim Kuk-bom 5' So Jong-hyok 14', 33' Ri Hun 21' Kim Yu-song 56' Jon Se-gye 87'	Report

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

18:00

Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Pyongyang

Attendance: 14,000

Referee: Wang Di (China)

Group H

• All matches were held in Thailand.
• Times listed were UTC+7.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Malaysia	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6	Final tournament
2	Thailand (H)	3	1	2	0	4	1	+3	5
3	Indonesia	3	1	1	1	7	3	+4	4
4	Mongolia	3	0	1	2	1	10	−9	1

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Indonesia	0–3	Malaysia
	Report	Syafiq 4' Jafri 20' Thanabalan 30'

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

16:00

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 360

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

Thailand	1–1	Mongolia
Chaiyawat 17'	Report	Munkh-Erdene 89' (pen.)

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

20:10^{[note 1]}

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Rowan Arumughan (India)

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Mongolia	0–7	Indonesia
	Report	Saddil 17', 56' Wanewar 31' Gavin 34', 88' Haay 71' Septian 90'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

16:00

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 296

Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

Malaysia	0–3	Thailand
	Report	Chenrop 25', 45+3' Picha 87'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

19:00

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 3,019

Referee: Hasan Akrami (Iran)

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Malaysia	2–0	Mongolia
Thanabalan 51' S. Andik 86'	Report

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

16:00

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 669

Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

Thailand	0–0	Indonesia
	Report

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

19:00

National Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 4,400

Referee: Rowan Arumughan (India)

Group I

• All matches were held in Vietnam.
• Times listed were UTC+7.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	3	2	1	0	12	1	+11	7	Final tournament
2	Vietnam (H)	3	2	0	1	13	3	+10	6
3	Timor-Leste	3	1	1	1	7	5	+2	4
4	Macau	3	0	0	3	2	25	−23	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

South Korea	10–0	Macau
Cho Young-wook 10', 14', 25', 55' Hwang In-beom 29' Doo Hyeon-seok 48' Park Seong-bu 53' (pen.), 78' Jo Sung-wook 64' Park Jae-woo 90+3'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

16:00

Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)

Vietnam	4–0	Timor-Leste
Hà Đức Chinh 17' Nguyễn Công Phượng 67', 71' (pen.) Nguyễn Tuấn Anh 88'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

19:00

Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City

Attendance: 6,010

Referee: Yu Ming-hsun (Chinese Taipei)

---

Timor-Leste	0–0	South Korea
	Report

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

16:00

Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Khurram Shahzad (Pakistan)

Macau	1–8	Vietnam
Ng Wa Keng 65'	Report	Lê Thanh Bình 4', 20' Nguyễn Văn Toàn 7', 63' Nguyễn Công Phượng 12' (pen.) Lương Xuân Trường 24' (pen.) Hoàng Văn Khánh 26' Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy 49'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

19:00

Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Masoud Tufayelieh (Syria)

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Timor-Leste	7–1	Macau
Cruz 2' Reis 24', 66' (pen.) Portela 31', 76' (pen.) Gama 52' Sarmento 86'	Report	Lo Man Hin 64'

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

16:00

Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City

Attendance: 5,500

Referee: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan)

South Korea	2–1	Vietnam
Lee Sang-heon 19' Hwang In-beom 41'	Report	Nguyễn Công Phượng 33'

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

19:00

Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Masoud Tufayelieh (Syria)

Group J

• All matches were held in Cambodia.
• Times listed were UTC+7.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	China[a]	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7	Final tournament
2	Japan	3	2	0	1	11	2	+9	6
3	Cambodia (H)	3	1	1	1	1	2	−1	4
4	Philippines	3	0	0	3	0	11	−11	0

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

1. China PR, as final tournament hosts, are automatically qualified regardless of qualification results.

Japan	8–0	Philippines
Miyoshi 10' Komatsu 23', 29', 42', 46' Morishima 31' Nakasaka 83' Ito 89'	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

15:30

Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 321

Referee: Payam Heidari (Iran)

China	0–0	Cambodia
	Report

19 July 2017 (2017-07-19)

18:30

Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 7,326

Referee: Kim Dae-yong (South Korea)

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Philippines	0–2	China
	Report	He Chao 15' Zhang Xiuwei 74'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

15:30

Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 4,328

Referee: Timur Faizullin (Kyrgyzstan)

Cambodia	0–2	Japan
	Report	Endo 73' Komatsu 84'

21 July 2017 (2017-07-21)

18:30

Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 15,825

Referee: Sukhbir Singh (Singapore)

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Japan	1–2	China
Endo 54'	Report	Wei Shihao 40' Deng Hanwen 45+1'

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

15:30

Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 6,372

Referee: Payam Heidari (Iran)

Cambodia	1–0	Philippines
Samnang 59'	Report

23 July 2017 (2017-07-23)

18:30

Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh

Attendance: 17,282

Referee: Kim Dae-yong (South Korea)

Ranking of second-placed teams

Due to groups having different number of teams after the withdrawal of Sri Lanka from Group A, the results against the fourth-placed teams in four-team groups were not considered for this ranking.

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	H	Thailand	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3	4	Final tournament
2	C	Syria	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4
3	I	Vietnam	2	1	0	1	5	2	+3	3
4	E	Jordan	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	3
5	J	Japan	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	3
6	B	Saudi Arabia	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3
7	A	Iran	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	3[a]
8	F	Myanmar	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	3[a]
9	D	United Arab Emirates	2	1	0	1	1	2	−1	3
10	G	Hong Kong	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) drawing of lots.
Notes:

1. Ranked by disciplinary points (Iran: 0 pts; Myanmar: 6 pts).

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in AFC U-23 Championship1
China	Hosts	25 November 2016[2]	2 (2013, 2016)
Oman	Group A winners	23 July 2017	1 (2013)
Iraq	Group B winners	23 July 2017	2 (2013, 2016)
Qatar	Group C winners	23 July 2017	1 (2016)
Uzbekistan	Group D winners	19 July 2017	2 (2013, 2016)
Palestine	Group E winners	23 July 2017	0 (debut)
Australia	Group F winners	23 July 2017	2 (2013, 2016)
North Korea	Group G winners	23 July 2017	2 (2013, 2016)
Malaysia	Group H winners	23 July 2017	0 (debut)
South Korea	Group I winners	23 July 2017	2 (2013, 2016)
Thailand	1st best runners-up	23 July 2017	1 (2016)
Syria	2nd best runners-up	23 July 2017	2 (2013, 2016)
Vietnam	3rd best runners-up	23 July 2017	1 (2016)
Jordan	4th best runners-up	23 July 2017	2 (2013, 2016)
Japan	5th best runners-up	23 July 2017	2 (2013, 2016)
Saudi Arabia	6th best runners-up	23 July 2017	2 (2013, 2016)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Goalscorers

There were 205 goals scored in 57 matches, for an average of 3.6 goals per match.

6 goals

• Ayman Hussein

5 goals

• Ren Komatsu

4 goals

• Kim Yu-song
• So Jong-hyok
• Muhsen Al-Ghassani
• Cho Young-wook
• Nguyễn Công Phượng

3 goals

• George Blackwood
• Ali Madan
• Ahmed Al-Reyahi
• Mahmoud Abu Warda
• Abdulaziz Al-Aryani
• Ahmed Al Attas

2 goals

• Milislav Popovic
• Jaushua Sotirio
• Tan Chun Lok
• Gavin Kwan Adsit
• Saddil Ramdani
• Keita Endo
• Nour Al-Rawabdeh
• Musa Al-Taamari
• Baha' Faisal
• Khamphanh Sonthanalay
• Hassan Kourani
• Thanabalan Nadarajah
• Nyein Chan Aung
• Jameel Al-Yahmadi
• Akram Afif
• Abdulelah Al-Amri
• Sami Al-Najei
• Fahad Al-Rashidi
• Ikhsan Fandi
• Hwang In-beom
• Park Seong-bu
• Nozim Babadjanov
• Chenrop Samphaodi
• Kornelis Nahak Portela
• Nataniel de Jesus Reis
• Bobur Abdikholikov
• Lê Thanh Bình
• Nguyễn Văn Toàn

1 goal

• Jonathan Aspropotamitis
• Devante Clut
• Bruce Kamau
• Stefan Mauk
• Riley McGree
• Mohamed Ahmadi Abdulrahman
• Sohel Mia
• Azim Izamuddin Suhaimi
• Sok Samnang
• Deng Hanwen
• He Chao
• Wei Shihao
• Zhang Xiuwei
• Jhou Cheng
• Lee Hsiang-wei
• Chung Wai Keung
• Jordan Lam
• Lau Hok Ming
• Wu Chun Ming
• Alen Deory
• Jerry Lalrinzuala
• Manvir Singh
• Septian David
• Osvaldo Haay
• Marinus Wanewar
• Ali Gholizadeh
• Reza Shekari
• Mohammed Khalid Jaffal Al-Jumaili
• Hussein Ali
• Amjad Attwan
• Mazin Fayyadh
• Alaa Ali Mhawi
• Bashar Rasan
• Hiroki Ito
• Koji Miyoshi
• Tsukasa Morishima
• Yuya Nakasaka
• Yazan Al-Arab
• Mohammad Al-Razem
• Odiljon Abdurakhmanov
• Roman Levchenko
• Armisay Kettavong
• Phoutthasay Khochalern
• Hassan Hammoud
• Lo Man Hin
• Ng Wa Keng
• Jafri Firdaus Chew
• Muhammad Syafiq Ahmad
• Syazwan Andik
• Tuguldur Munkh-Erdene
• Aung Thu
• Hlaing Bo Bo
• Naing Lin Tun
• Jon Se-gye
• Kim Kuk-bom
• Kim Kuk-chol
• Kim Song-sun
• Ri Hun
• Ri Un-chol
• Zahir Al-Aghbari
• Hazem Abuhammad
• Mohanad Fannoun
• Bahaa Wridat
• Mahmoud Yousef
• Sultan Al-Brake
• Almoez Ali
• Hassan Al-Tambakti
• Hanafi Akbar
• Taufik Suparno
• Doo Hyeon-seok
• Jo Sung-wook
• Lee Sang-heon
• Park Jae-woo
• Mohammad Fares Arnaout
• Mohamad Rafat Muhtadi
• Mohammad Rabie Srour
• Firdavs Chakalov
• Zoir Juraboev
• Amirdzhon Safarov
• Chaiyawat Buran
• Picha U-Tra
• Henrique Cruz
• Rufino Gama
• Tomas Sarmento
• Hoshgeldi Hojovov
• Mohamed Al-Akbari
• Mohammed Al-Hammadi
• Khaled Ba Wazir
• Azizjon Ganiev
• Islom Kobilov
• Javokhir Sidikov
• Dostonbek Tursunov
• Hà Đức Chinh
• Hoàng Văn Khánh
• Lương Xuân Trường
• Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy
• Nguyễn Tuấn Anh

1 own goal

• Hamad Al-Shamsan (against Saudi Arabia)
• Khalil Khamis (against Uzbekistan)
• Zoir Juraboev (against Palestine)

Notes

1. The match between Thailand and Mongolia was postponed due to heavy rain from 19:00 to 20:10.