2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

The 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup was the 19th edition of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC U-16 Championship and AFC U-17 Championship), the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-17 national teams of Asia. This edition was the first since 2006 to be played as an under-17 tournament, as the AFC proposed to switch the tournament from under-16 to under-17 starting from 2023.[1] Moreover, the tournament was also rebranded from the "AFC U-16 Championship" to the "AFC U-17 Asian Cup".[2]

2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup
ฟุตบอลชิงแชมป์เอเชีย รุ่นอายุไม่เกิน 17 ปี 2023
Tournament details
Host countryThailand
Dates15 June – 2 July
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)4 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Japan (4th title)
Runners-up South Korea
Tournament statistics
Matches played31
Goals scored99 (3.19 per match)
Top scorer(s)Japan Gaku Nawata
(5 goals)
Best player(s)Japan Gaku Nawata
Best goalkeeperJapan Wataru Goto
Fair play award Japan
2025

On 25 January 2021, the AFC announced that Bahrain would retain hosting rights for the 2023 edition after the cancellation of the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4] However, Bahrain decided to withdraw the rights to host the competition on 16 June 2022, requiring a new host to be chosen at a later date.[5] On 23 December 2022, Thailand were chosen to host the tournament by the AFC Executive Committee.[6]

A total of 16 teams played in the tournament. The top four teams of the tournament qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia as the AFC representatives besides Indonesia who qualified automatically as the new host.

Japan were the title holders, having won the title in 2018, and managed to defend their title.

Qualification

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Qualification matches were played between 1–9 October 2022.[7]

Qualified teams

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A total of 16 teams including hosts qualified for the final tournament. Bahrain, Indonesia, Oman, United Arab Emirates and North Korea (the latter of which did not enter qualifying) all missed out on this edition after initially qualifying for the previous edition. Furthermore, Afghanistan, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam all qualified for this edition after initially missing out.

Team Qualified as Appearance Previous best performance
  Japan Group A winners 16th Champions (1994, 2006, 2018)
  Malaysia Group B winners 6th Quarter-finals (2014)
  Qatar Group C winners 11th Champions (1990)
  Saudi Arabia Group D winners 11th Champions (1985, 1988)
  Yemen Group E winners 6th Runners-up (2002)
  Vietnam Group F winners 8th Fourth place (2000)
  Australia Group G winners 7th Semi-finals (2010, 2014, 2018)
  Tajikistan Group H winners 4th Runners-up (2018)
  Iran Group I winners 12th Champions (2008)
  Uzbekistan Group J winners 10th Champions (2012)
  South Korea Best runners-up 15th Champions (1986, 2002)
  China 2nd best runners-up 15th Champions (1992, 2004)
  Afghanistan 3rd best runners-up 2nd Group stage (2018)
  India 4th best runners-up 9th Quarter-finals (2002, 2018)
  Thailand 5th best runners-up and hosts 12th Champions (1998)
  Laos 6th best runners-up 3rd Group stage (2004, 2012)

Venues

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The competition was played in four venues across three cities/provinces.

Bangkok Pathum Thani
Rajamangala Stadium Pathum Thani Stadium
Capacity: 51,552 Capacity: 10,114
   
Pathum Thani Chonburi
Thammasat Stadium Chonburi Stadium
Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 8,680
   

Match officials

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Referees

Assistant referees

  •   Saleh Janahi
  •   Mohammed Manir Dhali
  •   Zhang Cheng
  •   Sulchan Nurhadi
  •   Arman Assadi
  •   Ahmed Al-Baghdadi
  •   Ayman Obeidat
  •   Ismailzhan Talipzhanov
  •   Hamed Al-Ghafri
  •   Park Kyun-yong
  •   Omar Al-Jamal
  •   Fadi Mahmoud
  •   Akmal Buriev
  •   Pattarapong Kijsathit
  •   Jasem Al-Ali
  •   Alisher Usmanov

(): working as both referee and assistant referee.

Draw

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The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams, with the teams seeded according to their performance in the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship final tournament and qualification, with the hosts Thailand automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw. The draw took place and the match schedule was confirmed on 30 March 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand.[8]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
  1.   Australia
  2.   India
  3.   Iran
  4.   Yemen
  1.   China
  2.   Uzbekistan
  3.   Qatar
  4.   Laos

Squads

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Players born between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2008 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team should register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers.[9]

Group stage

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The group winners and runners-up advance to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers

Teams are to be 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 tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:[9]

  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 were 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 match times are in local time, ICT (UTC+7).

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Thailand (H) 3 3 0 0 6 1 +5 9 Knockout stage
2   Yemen 3 2 0 1 6 2 +4 6
3   Malaysia 3 1 0 2 2 8 −6 3
4   Laos 3 0 0 3 3 6 −3 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Yemen  4–0  Malaysia
Report
Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 129
Referee: Payam Heidari (Iran)
Thailand  2–1  Laos
Report

Laos  1–2  Yemen
Report
Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 122
Referee: Rustam Lutfullin (Uzbekistan)
Malaysia  0–3  Thailand
Report
Pathum Thani Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 1,515
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)

Thailand  1–0  Yemen
Report
Pathum Thani Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 1,370
Referee: Banerjee Pranjal (India)
Malaysia  2–1  Laos
Report
Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 135
Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Iran 3 2 1 0 8 1 +7 7 Knockout stage
2   South Korea 3 2 0 1 10 3 +7 6
3   Afghanistan 3 1 0 2 3 11 −8 3
4   Qatar 3 0 1 2 2 8 −6 1
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
South Korea  6–1  Qatar
Report
Pathum Thani Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 111
Referee: Shen Yinhao (China)
Iran  6–1  Afghanistan
Report
Attendance: 73
Referee: Ali Reda (Lebanon)

Afghanistan  0–4  South Korea
Report
Pathum Thani Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 170
Qatar  0–0  Iran
Report
Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok
Attendance: 83
Referee: Omar Al-Yaqoubi (Oman)

South Korea  0–2  Iran
Report
Pathum Thani Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 264
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)
Afghanistan  2–1  Qatar
Report
Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok
Attendance: 78
Referee: Ali Reda (Lebanon)

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Saudi Arabia 3 3 0 0 7 0 +7 9 Knockout stage
2   Australia 3 2 0 1 7 5 +2 6
3   Tajikistan 3 0 1 2 1 5 −4 1
4   China 3 0 1 2 4 9 −5 1
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Australia  0–2  Saudi Arabia
Report
Attendance: 95
Referee: Omar Al-Yaqoubi (Oman)
Tajikistan  1–1  China
Gafurov   36' Report Wang Yudong   6'
Chonburi Stadium, Chonburi
Attendance: 373

China  3–5  Australia
Report
Chonburi Stadium, Chonburi
Attendance: 215
Referee: Ahmed Eisa Darwish (United Arab Emirates)
Saudi Arabia  2–0  Tajikistan
Report
Chonburi Stadium, Chonburi
Attendance: 72

Tajikistan  0–2  Australia
Report
Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok
Attendance: 128
Saudi Arabia  3–0  China
Report
Chonburi Stadium, Chonburi
Attendance: 233
Referee: Mongkolchai Pechsri (Thailand)

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Japan 3 2 1 0 13 5 +8 7 Knockout stage
2   Uzbekistan 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7
3   India 3 0 1 2 5 10 −5 1
4   Vietnam 3 0 1 2 1 6 −5 1
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Japan  1–1  Uzbekistan
Report
Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok
Attendance: 421
Referee: Mongkolchai Pechsri (Thailand)
India  1–1  Vietnam
Report
Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 108
Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)

Vietnam  0–4  Japan
Report
Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok
Attendance: 294
Referee: Ali Reda (Lebanon)
Uzbekistan  1–0  India
Report
Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 98
Referee: Shen Yinhao (China)

Japan  8–4  India
Report
Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok
Attendance: 274
Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)
Vietnam  0–1  Uzbekistan
Report
Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani
Attendance: 149

Knockout stage

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The schedule for the knockout stage was released in 2023. The top 4 teams in the knockout stage will qualify for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup as AFC representatives.

Bracket

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Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
25 June – Pathum Thani
 
 
  Thailand1
 
29 June – Pathum Thani
 
  South Korea4
 
  South Korea1
 
26 June – Thammasat
 
  Uzbekistan0
 
  Saudi Arabia0
 
2 July – Pathum Thani
 
  Uzbekistan2
 
  South Korea0
 
25 June – Thammasat
 
  Japan3
 
  Iran (p)0 (4)
 
29 June – Thammasat
 
  Yemen0 (2)
 
  Iran0
 
26 June – Pathum Thani
 
  Japan 3
 
  Japan3
 
 
  Australia1
 

Quarter-finals

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Winners were qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Iran  0–0  Yemen
Report
Penalties
4–2

Thailand  1–4  South Korea
Report

Japan  3–1  Australia
Report
Attendance: 457
Referee: Mongkolchai Pechsri (Thailand)

Saudi Arabia  0–2  Uzbekistan
Report
Attendance: 170
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)

Semi-finals

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Iran  0–3  Japan
Report
Attendance: 298
Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)

South Korea  1–0  Uzbekistan
Report
Attendance: 496
Referee: Banerjee Pranjal (India)

Final

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South Korea  0–3  Japan
Report
Attendance: 2,660
Referee: Mongkolchai Pechsri (Thailand)

Winners

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 2023 AFC U-17 Championship Champions 
 
Japan
Fourth title

Awards

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

Top Goalscorer[10] Most Valuable Player[10] Best Goalkeeper[11] Fair Play award
  Gaku Nawata   Gaku Nawata   Wataru Goto   Japan

Goalscorers

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There were 99 goals scored in 31 matches, for an average of 3.19 goals per match.

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

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The following five teams from AFC qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup, including Indonesia who qualified automatically as host.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1
  Indonesia 23 June 2023 0 (debut)
  Iran 25 June 2023 4 (2001, 2009, 2013, 2017)
  South Korea 25 June 2023 6 (1987, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2019)
  Japan 26 June 2023 9 (1993, 1995, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019)
  Uzbekistan 26 June 2023 2 (2011, 2013)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee recommends changes to youth competitions". AFC. 26 November 2018.
  2. ^ "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Latest update on AFC Competitions in 2021". AFC. 25 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Latest update on AFC Competitions in 2021". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 25 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Bahrain withdraws from hosting 2023 AFC U-17 Cup". Bahrain News Agency. 17 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Thailand recommended as host of the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023". the-afc.com. AFC. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  7. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2022". AFC. 24 February 2021.
  8. ^ "#AFCU17 Thailand 2023 Groups Finalised". Asian Football Confederation. 30 March 2023.
  9. ^ a b "AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Nawata takes MVP, Cremo Top Goalscorer Awards". AFC. 2 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Goto crowned Best Goalkeeper". AFC. 2 July 2023.
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