2020 AFC U-23 Championship

The 2020 AFC U-23 Championship was the fourth edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted men's football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for under-23 national teams. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament. It took place between 8–26 January 2020 in Thailand.

2020 AFC U-23 Championship

ฟุตบอลชิงชนะเลิศแห่งเอเชีย รุ่นอายุไม่เกิน 23 ปี 2020
Tournament details
Host country	Thailand
Dates	8–26 January[1]
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	South Korea (1st title)
Runners-up	Saudi Arabia
Third place	Australia
Fourth place	Uzbekistan
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	69 (2.16 per match)
Attendance	107,402 (3,356 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Nicholas D'Agostino Mohammed Nassif Jaroensak Wonggorn Zaid Al-Ameri Islom Kobilov (3 goals each)
Best player(s)	Won Du-jae
Best goalkeeper	Song Bum-keun
Fair play award	Saudi Arabia
← 2018 2022 →

The tournament acted as the AFC qualifiers for the 2020 Summer Olympics men's football tournament. The top three teams of the tournament would qualify for the Olympics in Japan as the AFC representatives.^[2] As Japan had already qualified as the hosts, had they reached the semi-finals, the other semi-finalists were guaranteed qualification even before the phase would have commenced.^[3]

Uzbekistan were the defending champions,^[4] but were eliminated in the semi-finals. South Korea became the fourth different country to win the tournament, beating Saudi Arabia in the final,^[5] while Australia defeated Uzbekistan in the third place game 1–0.^[6]

Host selection

Several nations expressed interest to host the tournament, including Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.^[7][8] Thailand were selected as host of the competition at an AFC Competition Committee's meeting in Tokyo in August 2018.^[9]

Qualification

  Qualified for AFC U23 Championship

  Failed to qualify

  Withdrew or did not participate

  Not an AFC member

Main article: 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification

The qualifiers were held from 18 to 26 March 2019, during the FIFA International Match Calendar.^[10]

Qualified teams

Thirteen of the sixteen teams (including hosts Thailand) that qualified for 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualified again for the 2020 final tournament. The 2013 champions Iraq, 2016 champions Japan, 2018 champions Uzbekistan all qualified for the 2020 final tournament. The teams: Iraq, Japan, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, South Korea, China PR, Australia qualified for all editions of AFC U-23 Championship till 2020.

Iran, United Arab Emirates come back after missing out in 2018, with Bahrain making their debut at the tournament finals.

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.^[11]

Team	Qualified as	Appearance	Previous best performance
Thailand	Hosts	3rd	Group stage (2016, 2018)
Qatar	Group A winners	3rd	Third place (2018)
Bahrain	Group B winners	1st	Debut
Iraq	Group C winners	4th	Champions (2013)
United Arab Emirates	Group D winners	3rd	Quarter-finals (2013, 2016)
Jordan	Group E winners	4th	Third place (2013)
Uzbekistan	Group F winners	4th	Champions (2018)
North Korea	Group G winners	4th	Quarter-finals (2016)
South Korea	Group H winners	4th	Runners-up (2016)
Japan	Group I winners	4th	Champions (2016)
China	Group J winners	4th	Group stage (2013, 2016, 2018)
Vietnam	Group K winners	3rd	Runners-up (2018)
Australia	Group H runners-up[note 1]	4th	Quarter-finals (2013)
Iran	Group C runners-up[note 1]	3rd	Quarter-finals (2016)
Syria	Group E runners-up[note 1]	4th	Quarter-finals (2013)
Saudi Arabia	Group D runners-up[note 1]	4th	Runners-up (2013)

Venues

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

Bangkok	Bangkok Buriram Songkhla Pathum Thani	Buriram
Rajamangala Stadium		Buriram Stadium
Capacity: 49,722		Capacity: 32,600
Songkhla		Pathum Thani
Tinsulanon Stadium		Thammasat Stadium
Capacity: 45,000		Capacity: 25,000

Draw

The draw of the final tournament was held on 26 September 2019, 15:00 ICT (UTC+7), at the Swissotel Bangkok Ratchada in Bangkok.^[12][13][14] The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification, with the hosts Thailand automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.^[15]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Thailand (hosts)  Uzbekistan  Vietnam  Qatar	South Korea  Iraq  Japan  North Korea	China  Australia  Jordan  Saudi Arabia	Syria  Iran  United Arab Emirates  Bahrain

Match officials

On 3 January 2020, the AFC announced the list of referees chosen for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship. 34 referees, 26 assistant referees and 2 support assistant referees were appointed for the tournament. Video assistant referees will be used in this tournament.^[16][17]

Referees

• Chris Beath
• Shaun Evans
• Nawaf Shukralla
• Fu Ming
• Ma Ning
• Liu Kwok Man
• Alireza Faghani
• Ali Sabah
• Mohanad Qasim Sarray
• Jumpei Iida
• Hiroyuki Kimura
• Ryuji Sato
• Minoru Tōjō
• Adham Makhadmeh
• Ahmad Faisal Al-Ali
• Kim Hee-gon
• Kim Jong-hyeok
• Ko Hyung-jin
• Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob
• Ahmed Al-Kaf
• Abdulla Al-Marri
• Abdulrahman Al-Jassim
• Khamis Al-Kuwari
• Khamis Al-Marri
• Turki Al-Khudhayr
• Muhammad Taqi
• Hettikamkanamge Perera
• Hanna Hattab
• Sivakorn Pu-udom
• Ammar Al-Jeneibi
• Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed
• Omar Mohamed Al-Ali
• Valentin Kovalenko
• Ilgiz Tantashev

Assistant referees

• Anton Shchetinin
• Ashley Beecham
• Mohamed Salman
• Abdulla Al-Rowaimi
• Cao Yi
• Shi Xiang
• Mohammadreza Abolfazl
• Mohammadreza Mansouri
• Ahmad Al-Roalle
• Mohammad Al-Kalaf
• Jun Mihara
• Hiroshi Yamauchi
• Park Sang-jun
• Yoon Kwang-yeol
• Abu Bakar Al-Amri
• Rashid Al-Ghaithi
• Saud Al-Maqaleh
• Taleb Al-Marri
• Mohammed Al-Abakri
• Khalaf Al-Shammari
• Ronnie Koh Min Kiat
• Palitha Hemathunga
• Mohammed Al-Hammadi
• Hasan Al-Mahri
• Timur Gaynullin
• Andrey Tsapenko

Support assistant referees

• Mohd Yusri Muhamad
• Rawut Nakarit

Squads

Main article: 2020 AFC U-23 Championship squads

Players born on or after 1 January 1997 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team had to register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must have been goalkeepers (Regulations Articles 24.1 and 24.2).^[3]

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced 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):^[3]

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, ICT (UTC+7).^[18]

Schedule

Matchday	Dates	Matches
Matchday 1	8–10 January 2020	1 v 4, 2 v 3
Matchday 2	11–13 January 2020	4 v 2, 3 v 1
Matchday 3	14–16 January 2020	1 v 2, 3 v 4

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5	Knockout stage
2	Thailand (H)	3	1	1	1	7	3	+4	4
3	Iraq	3	0	3	0	4	4	0	3
4	Bahrain	3	0	2	1	3	8	−5	2

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

Iraq	1–1	Australia
Nassif 77'	Live Report Stats Report	Piscopo 62'

8 January 2020 (2020-1-8)

17:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 106

Referee: Fu Ming (China PR)

Thailand	5–0	Bahrain
Suphanat 12', 79' Supachok 47' Jaroensak 89', 90+2'	Live Report Stats Report

8 January 2020 (2020-1-8)

20:15

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 7,076

Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

---

Bahrain	2–2	Iraq
Isa 44' Marhoon 86'	Live Report Stats Report	Al-Ammari 65' Nassif 90+2'

11 January 2020 (2020-1-11)

17:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 112

Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

Australia	2–1	Thailand
D'Agostino 43', 76'	Live Report Stats Report	Anon 24'

11 January 2020 (2020-1-11)

20:15

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 22,352

Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia)

---

Thailand	1–1	Iraq
Jaroensak 6' (pen.)	Live Report Stats Report	Nassif 49'

14 January 2020 (2020-1-14)

20:15

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 15,342

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

Australia	1–1	Bahrain
Najjarine 34'	Live Report Stats Report	Marhoon 45+3'

14 January 2020 (2020-1-14)

20:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 123

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

Group B

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

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Qatar	2–2	Syria
Abdurisag 1' Yousef 22' (o.g.)	Live Report Stats Report	Barakat 31' Dali 90+4'

9 January 2020 (2020-1-9)

17:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 750

Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)

Japan	1–2	Saudi Arabia
Meshino 56'	Live Report Stats Report	Al-Khulaif 48' Ghareeb 88' (pen.)

9 January 2020 (2020-1-9)

20:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 1,433

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

---

Saudi Arabia	0–0	Qatar
	Live Report Stats Report

12 January 2020 (2020-1-12)

17:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 150

Referee: Ma Ning (China PR)

Syria	2–1	Japan
Barakat 9' (pen.) Dali 88'	Live Report Stats Report	Soma 30'

12 January 2020 (2020-1-12)

20:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 1,509

Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

---

Qatar	1–1	Japan
Al-Ahrak 79' (pen.)	Live Report Stats Report	Ogawa 73'

15 January 2020 (2020-1-15)

20:15

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 1,362

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

Saudi Arabia	1–0	Syria
Al-Buraikan 80'	Live Report Stats Report

15 January 2020 (2020-1-15)

20:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 87

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	3	3	0	0	5	2	+3	9	Knockout stage
2	Uzbekistan	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
3	Iran	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	China	3	0	0	3	0	4	−4	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Uzbekistan	1–1	Iran
Kobilov 40' (pen.)	Live Report Stats Report	Dehghani 58'

9 January 2020 (2020-1-9)

17:15

Tinsulanon Stadium, Songkhla

Attendance: 4,180

Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

South Korea	1–0	China
Lee Dong-jun 90+3'	Live Report Stats Report

9 January 2020 (2020-1-9)

20:15

Tinsulanon Stadium, Songkhla

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

---

Iran	1–2	South Korea
Shekari 54'	Live Report Stats Report	Lee Dong-jun 22' Cho Gue-sung 35'

12 January 2020 (2020-1-12)

17:15

Tinsulanon Stadium, Songkhla

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

China	0–2	Uzbekistan
	Live Report Stats Report	Kobilov 45+3' (pen.) Tukhtasinov 80'

12 January 2020 (2020-1-12)

20:15

Tinsulanon Stadium, Songkhla

Attendance: 6,683

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

---

Uzbekistan	1–2	South Korea
Abdikholikov 21'	Live Report Stats Report	Oh Se-hun 5', 71'

15 January 2020 (2020-1-15)

17:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 606

Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

China	0–1	Iran
	Live Report Stats Report	Noorafkan 87' (pen.)

15 January 2020 (2020-1-15)

17:15

Tinsulanon Stadium, Songkhla

Attendance: 3,567

Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)

Group D

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

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Vietnam	0–0	United Arab Emirates
	Live Report Stats Report

10 January 2020 (2020-1-10)

17:15

Buriram Stadium, Buriram

Attendance: 3,967

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

North Korea	1–2	Jordan
Ryang Hyon-ju 90+1'	Live Report Stats Report	Bani Atieh 45+1' (pen.) Hani 74'

10 January 2020 (2020-1-10)

20:15

Buriram Stadium, Buriram

Attendance: 305

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

---

United Arab Emirates	2–0	North Korea
K. Al-Hammadi 17' Z. Al-Ameri 30'	Live Report Stats Report

13 January 2020 (2020-1-13)

17:15

Buriram Stadium, Buriram

Attendance: 1,867

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Jordan	0–0	Vietnam
	Live Report Stats Report

13 January 2020 (2020-1-13)

20:15

Buriram Stadium, Buriram

Attendance: 1,089

Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

---

Vietnam	1–2	North Korea
Nguyễn Tiến Linh 16'	Live Report Stats Report	Kang Kuk-chol 27' Ri Chung-gyu 90' (pen.)

16 January 2020 (2020-1-16)

20:15

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 1,932

Referee: Mohanad Qasim Sarray (Iraq)

Jordan	1–1	United Arab Emirates
Al-Khawaldeh 79'	Live Report Stats Report	Z. Al-Ameri 41'

16 January 2020 (2020-1-16)

20:15

Buriram Stadium, Buriram

Attendance: 205

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Articles 12.1 and 12.2).^[3]

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	18 January – Bangkok
	Australia (a.e.t.)	1
					22 January – Pathum Thani
	Syria	0
					Australia	0
	19 January – Pathum Thani
					South Korea	2
	South Korea	2
									26 January – Bangkok
	Jordan	1
									South Korea (a.e.t.)	1
	18 January – Pathum Thani
									Saudi Arabia	0
	Saudi Arabia	1
					22 January – Bangkok
	Thailand	0
					Saudi Arabia	1
	19 January – Bangkok
					Uzbekistan	0			Third place match
	United Arab Emirates	1
									25 January – Bangkok
	Uzbekistan	5
									Australia	1
									Uzbekistan	0

Quarter-finals

Saudi Arabia	1–0	Thailand
Al-Hamdan 78' (pen.)	Live Report Stats Report

18 January 2020 (2020-1-18)

17:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 14,958

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

---

Australia	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Syria
Toure 103'	Live Report Stats Report

18 January 2020 (2020-1-18)

20:15

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 214

Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

---

South Korea	2–1	Jordan
Cho Gue-sung 16' Lee Dong-gyeong 90+5'	Live Report Stats Report	Al-Naimat 75'

19 January 2020 (2020-1-19)

17:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 596

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

---

United Arab Emirates	1–5	Uzbekistan
Z. Al-Ameri 13'	Live Report Stats Report	Alijanov 16' Kobilov 26' (pen.) Bozorov 41' Yakhshiboev 84' Tukhtasinov 90+3'

19 January 2020 (2020-1-19)

20:15

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 244

Referee: Fu Ming (China PR)

Semi-finals

The winners qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Saudi Arabia	1–0	Uzbekistan
Al Omran 87'	Live Report Stats Report

22 January 2020 (2020-1-22)

17:15

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 329

Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

---

Australia	0–2	South Korea
	Live Report Stats Report	Kim Dae-won 56' Lee Dong-gyeong 76'

22 January 2020 (2020-1-22)

20:15

Thammasat Stadium, Pathum Thani

Attendance: 789

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Third place match

The winner qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Australia	1–0	Uzbekistan
D'Agostino 47'	Live Report Stats Report

25 January 2020 (2020-1-25)

19:30

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 590

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

Final

Main article: 2020 AFC U-23 Championship Final

South Korea	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Saudi Arabia
Jeong Tae-wook 113'	Live Report Stats Report

26 January 2020 (2020-1-26)

19:30

Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok

Attendance: 2,879

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

Winners

2020 AFC U-23 Championship
South Korea First title

Awards

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

Top scorer[19]	Most Valuable Player[20]	Best Goalkeeper[19]	Fair Play award[19]
Jaroensak Wonggorn[note 2]	Won Du-jae	Song Bum-keun	Saudi Arabia

Goalscorers

There were 69 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.16 goals per match.

3 goals

• Nicholas D'Agostino
• Mohammed Nassif
• Jaroensak Wonggorn
• Zaid Al-Ameri
• Islom Kobilov

2 goals

• Mohamed Marhoon
• Cho Gue-sung
• Lee Dong-gyeong
• Lee Dong-jun
• Oh Se-hun
• Abd Al-Rahman Barakat
• Alaa Al Dali
• Suphanat Mueanta
• Nurillo Tukhtasinov

1 goal

• Ramy Najjarine
• Reno Piscopo
• Al Hassan Toure
• Sayed Hashim Isa
• Reza Dehghani
• Omid Noorafkan
• Reza Shekari
• Amir Al-Ammari
• Ryotaro Meshino
• Koki Ogawa
• Yuki Soma
• Ihab Al-Khawaldeh
• Yazan Al-Naimat
• Mohammad Bani Atieh
• Omar Hani
• Kang Kuk-chol
• Ri Chung-gyu
• Ryang Hyon-ju
• Yusuf Abdurisag
• Abdullah Al-Ahrak
• Firas Al-Buraikan
• Abdullah Al-Hamdan
• Ayman Al-Khulaif
• Nasser Al Omran
• Abdulrahman Ghareeb
• Jeong Tae-wook
• Kim Dae-won
• Anon Amornlerdsak
• Supachok Sarachat
• Khalifa Al-Hammadi
• Bobur Abdikholikov
• Ilkhom Alijanov
• Oybek Bozorov
• Jasurbek Yakhshiboev
• Nguyễn Tiến Linh

1 own goal

• Yosief Mohammad (against Qatar)

Qualified teams for the Summer Olympics

The following four teams from the AFC qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympic men's football tournament, including Japan which qualified as the hosts.

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in the Summer Olympics1
Japan	7 September 2013	10 (1936, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
South Korea	22 January 2020[21]	10 (1948, 1964, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016)
Saudi Arabia	22 January 2020[21]	2 (1984, 1996)
Australia	25 January 2020[22]	72 (1956, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)

¹ Italic indicates hosts for that year.

² Australia qualified as a member of the OFC for six tournaments between 1956 and 2004.

Notes

1. The four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.
2. Playing fewer minutes than the other players scoring 3 goals, Wonggorn won the Top Scorer Award