U-16 soccer Asian Cup 2018

U-16 soccer Asian Cup 2018
2018 AFC U-16 Championship
Logo of the U-16 soccer championship
Number of nations	16  (of 45 applicants)
Asian champion	Japan (3rd title)
venue	Malaysia
Opening game	20th September 2018
Endgame	October 7, 2018
Games	31
Gates	97  (⌀: 3.13 per game)
spectator	62,582  (⌀: 2,019 per game)
Top scorer	Luqman Hakim (5 goals)
Best player	Jun Nishikawa
yellow cards	80  (⌀: 2.58 per game)
Yellow-red cards	3  (⌀: 0.1 per game)
Red cards	3  (⌀: 0.1 per game)

The 18th U-16 Asian Football Championship (officially: 2018 AFC U-16 Championship ) took place in Malaysia from September 20 to October 7, 2018 . 16 teams competed against each other first in the group stage in four groups and then in the knockout system . The tournament served as Asian qualification for the U-17 World Cup in Brazil in 2019 . The best four teams qualified for it.

Japan won the tournament by beating Tajikistan 1-0 in the final . The two had prevailed in the semifinals against Australia and South Korea . Defending champion was Iraq , which was eliminated in the group stage. The top scorer was Luqman Hakim from Malaysia, who scored five goals. The Japanese Jun Nishikawa was named the best player of the tournament.

Attendees

qualification

Of the 47 member associations of the AFC , 46 originally registered to participate. Since Pakistan withdrew, there were only 45 participants. The group draw took place on April 21, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur . The teams were divided according to their geographical location into the western region, consisting of West , Central and South Asia , and the eastern region, consisting of Southeast and East Asia . The western region consisted of three groups with five and two groups with four teams each and the eastern region with two groups with five and three groups with four teams each.

The groups were held as mini-tournaments from September 16 to 29, 2017, in which one of the participants acted as the host of a group. The only exception was Group J, which was played in neutral Indonesia. Each team played once against each other in their group. The ten group winners and the six best runners-up qualified for the final round. The hosts from Malaysia also took part in qualifying but were automatically seeded for the finals.

Japan qualified for the final round for the 15th time and remains the record participant. Close behind is the neighbor South Korea with 14 and with 11 each Iran , North Korea and Thailand . For Indonesia , Tajikistan and Jordan it is the first participation since 2010 and for Afghanistan it is even the first participation at all. On the other hand, four participants from 2016 - Saudi Arabia , Uzbekistan , the United Arab Emirates and Kyrgyzstan - did not qualify.

draw

The group draw took place on April 26, 2018 in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur . The teams were divided into four pots according to their placements at the last event in September 2016 and drawn into four groups of four teams each. Host Malaysia was already set as the group head of group A.

• Lottery pot 1 : Malaysia, Iraq, Iran, North Korea
• Lottery pot 2 : Japan, Oman, Vietnam, South Korea
• Lottery pot 3 : Yemen, India, Thailand, Australia
• Lottery pot 4 : Tajikistan, Jordan, Afghanistan, Indonesia

The draw resulted in the following group allocation:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Malaysia	North Korea	Iran	Iraq
Japan	Oman	Vietnam	South Korea
Thailand	Yemen	India	Australia
Tajikistan	Jordan	Indonesia	Afghanistan

Squad

Each team consisted of a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 23 players, of which at least three must be goalkeepers . Eligible players were born on or after January 1, 2002. Since the U-16 Asian Cup took place outside of the FIFA calendar for international matches, the clubs were not obliged to release their players for the tournament.

Venues

Kuala Lumpur Petaling Jaya

Venues for the 2018 U-16 Asian Cup

When the exact schedule was announced in May 2018, the AFC named the two cities of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya as venues, both of which are located in the Malaysian state of Selangor . The three stadiums in the two cities were also named. In the Bukit Jalil National Stadium , both the opening took place and the final as well.

The largest planned stadium is the National Stadium with a capacity of over 87,000 spectators, while the smallest stadium, the UM Arena Stadium on the campus of the University of Malaya , only offered space for around 1,000 spectators.

Kuala Lumpur		Petaling Jaya
Bukit Jalil National Stadium Capacity: 87,411	UM Arena Stadium Capacity: 1,000	Petaling Jaya Stadium Capacity: 25,000

Group stage

The group winners and runners-up qualified for the quarter-finals, while those placed third and fourth were eliminated from the competition. If two or more teams were tied, the placement was determined by the following criteria:

1. Number of points in direct comparison
2. Goal difference in direct comparison
3. Number of goals in direct comparison
4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3, several teams still occupied the same place in the table, criteria 1 to 3 were reapplied, but only for the direct encounters between the teams in question. Should this also not lead to a definitive placement, criteria 5 to 9 were applied.
5. Goal difference from all group matches
6. Number of goals in all group matches
7. If it was only about two teams and these two are on the field, there would be a penalty shoot-out between them .
8. Lower number of points through yellow and red cards (yellow card 1 point, yellow-red and red card 3 points, yellow card followed by a direct red card 4 points)
9. Drawing lots

Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Japan	3	2	1	0	007: 200	+5	07th
2.	Tajikistan	3	1	1	1	004: 700	−3	04th
3.	Thailand	3	1	0	2	007: 900	−2	03
4th	Malaysia	3	1	0	2	008: 800	± 0	03

September 20, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST ) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Malaysia	-	Tajikistan	6: 2 (3: 0)
September 20, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Arena)
Japan	-	Thailand	5: 2 (4: 2)
September 23, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Thailand	-	Malaysia	4: 2 (2: 1)
September 23, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Arena)
Tajikistan	-	Japan	0-0
September 27, 2018, 11:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Malaysia	-	Japan	0: 2 (0: 1)
September 27, 2018, 11:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Arena)
Thailand	-	Tajikistan	1: 2 (0: 1)

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	North Korea	3	2	1	0	006: 300	+3	07th
2.	Oman	3	1	1	1	005: 500	± 0	04th
3.	Yemen	3	1	0	2	005: 400	+1	03
4th	Jordan	3	0	2	1	005: 900	−4	02

September 21, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST ) in Petaling Jaya
Oman	-	Yemen	2: 0 (2: 0)
September 21, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
North Korea	-	Jordan	2: 2 (2: 1)
September 24, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
Jordan	-	Oman	2: 2 (0: 0)
September 24, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
Yemen	-	North Korea	0: 1 (0: 1)
September 27, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
North Korea	-	Oman	3: 1 (3: 0)
September 27, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Yemen	-	Jordan	5: 1 (4: 0)

Group C

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Indonesia	3	1	2	0	003: 100	+2	05
2.	India	3	1	2	0	001-000	+1	05
3.	Iran	3	1	1	1	005: 200	+3	04th
4th	Vietnam	3	0	1	2	001: 700	−6	01

September 21, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST ) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Iran	-	Indonesia	0: 2 (0: 1)
September 21, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Arena)
Vietnam	-	India	0: 1 (0: 0)
September 24, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
India	-	Iran	0-0
September 24, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Indonesia	-	Vietnam	1: 1 (0: 1)
September 27, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Arena)
Iran	-	Vietnam	5: 0 (4: 0)
September 27, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
India	-	Indonesia	0-0

Group D

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	South Korea	3	3	0	0	012: 000	+12	09
2.	Australia	3	2	0	1	006: 400	+2	06th
3.	Iraq	3	1	0	2	003: 500	−2	03
4th	Afghanistan	3	0	0	3	001:130	−12	00

September 22, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST ) in Kuala Lumpur (Arena)
Iraq	-	Afghanistan	2: 1 (2: 1)
September 22, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
South Korea	-	Australia	3: 0 (1: 0)
September 25, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Arena)
Australia	-	Iraq	2: 1 (0: 0)
September 25, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
Afghanistan	-	South Korea	0: 7 (0: 3)
September 28, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Arena)
Iraq	-	South Korea	0: 2 (0: 1)
September 28, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
Australia	-	Afghanistan	4: 0 (3: 0)

Final round

In the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final, the knockout system was used . If the games of the final round were tied after the regular playing time of 90 minutes, there was immediately a penalty shoot-out . An extension of 15 minutes twice was not played out.

game schedule

	Quarter finals					Semifinals					final
	Japan		2
	Oman		1
						Japan		3
						Australia		1
	Indonesia		2
	Australia		3
											Japan		1
											Tajikistan		0
	North Korea		1 (2)
	Tajikistan		01 (4) 1
						Tajikistan		01 (7) 1
						South Korea		1 (6)
	South Korea		1
	India		0

¹ win on penalties

Quarter finals

September 30, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST ) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Japan	-	Oman	2: 1 (1: 1)
September 30, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
North Korea	-	Tajikistan	1: 1 (0: 1), 2: 4 i. E.
October 1, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Indonesia	-	Australia	2: 3 (1: 0)
October 1, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
South Korea	-	India	1: 0 (0: 0)

Semifinals

October 4, 2018, 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. CEST ) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Japan	-	Australia	3: 1 (0: 1)
October 4, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST) in Petaling Jaya
Tajikistan	-	South Korea	1: 1 (1: 1), 7: 6 i. E.

final

October 7, 2018, 8:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. CEST ) in Kuala Lumpur (Jalil)
Japan	-	Tajikistan	1: 0 (0: 0)

List of goalscorers

Below are the top scorers of the tournament. If the number of goals is the same, the players are sorted alphabetically.

rank	Nat	player	Gates
01		Noah Botic	5
		Luqman Hakim	5
		Shoji Toyama	5
04th		Suphanat Mueanta	4th
05		Qusai al-Jaradi	3
		Jeong Sang-bin	3
		Kim Kang song	3

In addition to these top scorers with at least three goals, there are 16 more with two goals each and 34 others with one goal each. There are also three own goals .

Web links

• Official website of the U-16 soccer Asian Cup

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Japan's Nishikawa named MVP . In: The-AFC.com . October 7, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
2. ↑ Record number entries received for youth qualifiers . In: The-AFC.com . February 26, 2017. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
3. ↑ Draw for AFC U-16 Championship 2018 qualifiers finalized . In: The-AFC.com . April 21, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
4. ↑ Asia's future stars to shine in Malaysia 2018 . In: The-AFC.com . April 26, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
5. ↑ ^{a b} AFC U-16 Championship 2018 Regulations (PDF) In: The-AFC.com . Retrieved September 20, 2018.