The competition consisted of a qualifying round played in the championship mode with home and return matches, as well as the final round played in a group phase and the finals.
In the final round, the sixteen participants formed four preliminary round groups with four teams each, of which the first two qualify for the quarter-finals. In the group stage, each team played against every other team in its group according to the championship mode, with three points being awarded for a win and one point for a draw. If several teams were tied in the group games, first the goal difference, then the number of goals scored from the direct encounters, decided on the placement. Then the goal difference and the number of goals scored in all group matches were used.
From the quarter-finals, the tournament continued in the semi-finals and finals in the knockout system , with the winner of a game qualifying for the next round. If a game ended in a draw after the end of normal playing time, it was extended by 15 minutes twice. If no decision was made after extra time, the winner of the match was determined on penalties. The four best teams in the tournament also qualified for the 2009 U-20 World Cup .
Attendees
Final round draw
The draw for the final round took place on April 6, 2008 in Dammam .
For the draw, the qualified teams were divided into four pots.
Lot 1: North Korea, Japan, South Korea and Jordan
Lottery pot 2: China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Australia
Lottery pot 3: Iran, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Tajikistan
Lot 4: Syria, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Lebanon
The draw resulted in the following group allocation:
United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia
Kensuke Nagai Ahmed Khalil Al-Junaibi (both 4 goals)
North Korea
South Korea
Jordan
People's Republic of China
Iraq
Australia
Iran
Thailand
Tajikistan
Syria
Uzbekistan
Yemen
Lebanon