U-23 soccer Asian Cup 2016

U-23 Asian Football Championship AFC U-23 Championship 2016
Number of nations	16 (of 44 applicants)
Asian champion	Japan Japan (1st title)
venue	Qatar Qatar
Opening game	January 12, 2016
Endgame	January 30, 2016
Games	32
Gates	103 (⌀: 3.22 per game)
spectator	92,447 (⌀: 2,889 per game)
Top scorer	Qatar Ahmed Alaa (6 goals)
Best player	Japan Shoya Nakajima
yellow cards	107 (⌀: 3.34 per game)
Yellow-red cards	1 (⌀: 0.03 per game)
Red cards	4 (⌀: 0.13 per game)

The 2016 U-23 Asian Football Championship (officially: AFC U-23 Championship 2016 ) was the second edition of the tournament and took place in Qatar from January 12 to 30, 2016 . The tournament served as the Asian qualification for the soccer competition of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro . The first three teams qualified for it.

Japan won the tournament by beating South Korea 3-2 in the final . In the match for third place, the defending champions Iraq prevailed with a 2-1 win after extra time against the hosts . The top scorer was Ahmed Alaa from Qatar, who scored six goals.

Eligible players were born on or after January 1, 1993.

Attendees

qualification

Of the 47 member associations of the AFC, 44 registered to take part. The group draw took place on December 4, 2014 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 and Australia. The western region consisted of three groups with five teams and two groups with four teams and the eastern region of five groups with four teams.

The games of groups A and C to J were played between March 23 and 31, 2015. Group B was initially postponed due to bomb attacks and civil unrest in the intended city. It took place from May 16 to 24, 2015. The ten group winners and the five best runners-up qualified for the finals.

draw

The group draw took place on September 12, 2015 in the Qatari capital Doha . The teams were divided into four different pots according to their placements at the last event in January 2014 and drawn into four different groups with four teams each. Host Qatar was already set as the group head of group A.

Lottery pot 1 : Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan
Lottery pot 2 : South Korea, Syria, Australia, Japan
Lottery pot 3 : Ver. Arab. Emirates, Iran, North Korea, Uzbekistan
Lottery pot 4 : China, Yemen, Thailand, Vietnam

The draw resulted in the following group allocation:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Qatar Qatar	Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia	Iraq Iraq	Jordan Jordan
Syria Syria	Japan Japan	Korea South South Korea	Australia Australia
Iran Iran	Korea North North Korea	Uzbekistan Uzbekistan	United Arab Emirates Ver. Arab. Emirates
China People's Republic China	Thailand Thailand	Yemen Yemen	Vietnam Vietnam

Squad

Each team consisted of a maximum of 23 players, at least three of whom had to be goalkeepers . Eligible players were born on or after January 1, 1993. Since the U-23 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

The four stages of the tournament were announced together with the group draw on September 12, 2015. They were all in or around the Qatari capital Doha. The two largest, each with 15,000 seats, were the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium and the Qatar SC Stadium . The Grand Hamad Stadium had a seating capacity of 13,000 and the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium one of 12,000.

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:

Number of points in direct comparison
Goal difference in direct comparison
Number of goals in direct comparison
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.
Goal difference from all group matches
Number of goals in all group matches
If it had only been about two teams and these two were on the pitch, there would have been a penalty shoot-out between them .
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)
Drawing lots

Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Qatar Qatar	3	3	0	009: 400	+5	09
2.	Iran Iran	3	2	1	006: 400	+2	06th
3.	Syria Syria	3	1	2	005: 700	−2	03
4th	China People's Republic China	3	0	3	004: 900	−5	00

January 12, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET ) at Bin Hamad Stadium
Syria	-	Iran	0: 2 (0: 0)
January 12, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at Khalifa Stadium
Qatar	-	China	3: 1 (0: 1)
January 15, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET) at Khalifa Stadium
China	-	Syria	1: 3 (1: 1)
January 15, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at Bin Hamad Stadium
Iran	-	Qatar	1: 2 (0: 1)
January 18, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at Bin Hamad Stadium
Qatar	-	Syria	4: 2 (3: 1)
January 18, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at Khalifa Stadium
Iran	-	China	3: 2 (2: 1)

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Japan Japan	3	3	0	0	007: 100	+6	09
2.	Korea North North Korea	3	0	2	1	005: 600	−1	02
3.	Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia	3	0	2	1	005: 600	−1	02
4th	Thailand Thailand	3	0	2	1	003: 700	−4	02

January 13, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET ) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
Japan	-	North Korea	1: 0 (1: 0)
January 13, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
Saudi Arabia	-	Thailand	1: 1 (0: 0)
January 16, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
Thailand	-	Japan	0: 4 (0: 1)
January 16, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
North Korea	-	Saudi Arabia	3: 3 (1: 1)
January 19, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET) at the Qatar SC Stadium
Saudi Arabia	-	Japan	1: 2 (0: 1)
January 19, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
North Korea	-	Thailand	2: 2 (2: 1)

Group C

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Korea South South Korea	3	2	1	0	008: 200	+6	07th
2.	Iraq Iraq	3	2	1	0	006: 300	+3	07th
3.	Uzbekistan Uzbekistan	3	1	0	2	006: 600	± 0	03
4th	Yemen Yemen	3	0	0	3	001:100	−9	00

January 13, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET ) at the Qatar SC Stadium
Iraq	-	Yemen	2: 0 (2: 0)
January 13, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at the Qatar SC Stadium
South Korea	-	Uzbekistan	2: 1 (1: 0)
January 16, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET) at the Qatar SC Stadium
Yemen	-	South Korea	0: 5 (0: 3)
January 16, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at the Qatar SC Stadium
Uzbekistan	-	Iraq	2: 3 (1: 2)
January 19, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
Iraq	-	South Korea	1: 1 (0: 1)
January 19, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at the Qatar SC Stadium
Uzbekistan	-	Yemen	3: 1 (1: 0)

Group D

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	United Arab Emirates Ver. Arab. Emirates	3	2	1	0	004: 200	+2	07th
2.	Jordan Jordan	3	1	2	0	003: 100	+2	05
3.	Australia Australia	3	1	1	1	002: 100	+1	04th
4th	Vietnam Vietnam	3	0	0	3	003: 800	−5	00

January 14, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET ) at the Qatar SC Stadium
Jordan	-	Vietnam	3: 1 (1: 0)
January 14, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
Australia	-	Ver. Arab. Emirates	0: 1 (0: 0)
January 17, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
Vietnam	-	Australia	0: 2 (0: 1)
January 17, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at the Qatar SC Stadium
Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Jordan	0-0
January 20, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at the Qatar SC Stadium
Jordan	-	Australia	0-0
January 20, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Vietnam	3: 2 (0: 1)

Final round

In the quarter and semi-finals, in the game for third place and in the final, the knockout system was used . If the games in the final round were tied after the regular playing time of 90 minutes, there was an extension of 15 minutes twice and possibly (if there was still no winner) a penalty shoot-out .

game schedule

Quarter finals		Semifinals		final



Qatar Qatar	¹2 ¹

Korea North North Korea	1
		Qatar Qatar	1

		Korea South South Korea	3
Korea South South Korea	1

Jordan Jordan	0
				Korea South South Korea	2

				Japan Japan	3
Japan Japan	¹3 ¹

Iran Iran	0
		Japan Japan	2	Game for third place

		Iraq Iraq	1
United Arab Emirates Ver. Arab. Emirates	1			Qatar Qatar	1

Iraq Iraq	¹3 ¹			Iraq Iraq	¹2 ¹

¹ win after extra time

Quarter finals

January 22, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET ) at Khalifa Stadium
Japan Japan	-	Iran Iran	3: 0 a.d.
January 22, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at Bin Hamad Stadium
Qatar Qatar	-	Korea North North Korea	2: 1 n.V. (1: 0, 1: 1)
January 23, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET) at the Qatar SC Stadium
Korea South South Korea	-	Jordan Jordan	1: 0 (1: 0)
January 23, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) in the Grand Hamad Stadium
United Arab Emirates Ver. Arab. Emirates	-	Iraq Iraq	1: 3 n.V. (0: 0, 1: 1)

Semifinals

January 26, 2016, 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. CET ) at Khalifa Stadium
Japan Japan	-	Iraq Iraq	2: 1 (1: 1)
January 26, 2016, 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. CET) at Bin Hamad Stadium
Qatar Qatar	-	Korea South South Korea	1: 3 (0: 0)

3rd place match

January 29, 2016, 5:45 p.m. (3:45 p.m. CET ) at Bin Hamad Stadium
Qatar Qatar	-	Iraq Iraq	1: 2 n.V. (1: 0, 1: 1)

final

January 30, 2016, 5:45 p.m. (3:45 p.m. CET ) at Khalifa Stadium
Korea South South Korea	-	Japan Japan	2: 3 (1: 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.

space	player	Gates
01	Qatar Ahmed Alaa	6th
02	Korea South Kwon Chang-hoon	5
03	Qatar Abdelkarim Hassan	4th
	Korea South Moon Chang-jin	4th
05	China People's Republic Liao Lisheng	3
	Japan Yūya Kubo	3
	Syria Omar Khribin	3

In addition to these top scorers with at least three goals, there are eleven more with two goals each and 49 others with one goal each. There are also four own goals .

Web links

Official website of the U-23 Asian Football Championship

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b AFC U-23 Championship 2016 Regulations (PDF) In: The-AFC.com . P. 24. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
↑ AFC U-23 Championship 2016 Qualifiers draw on Thursday . In: The-AFC.com . December 3, 2014. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved on December 3, 2014.
↑ Holders Iraq face stern test in AFC U-23 C'ship qualifiers . In: The-AFC.com . December 4, 2014. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved on December 4, 2014.
^ AFC announces postponement of AFC U-23 Group B qualifiers . In: The-AFC.com . March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved on April 4, 2015.
^ U-23 Group B Qualifiers to be held in UAE . In: The-AFC.com . April 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved on April 4, 2015.
↑ AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 draw concluded in Doha . In: The-AFC.com . September 13, 2015. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved on September 19, 2015.
↑ U-23 Asian Cup 2016: List of goalscorers . In: The-AFC.com . Retrieved September 30, 2016.

[Regulations-1] AFC U-23 Championship 2016 Regulations (PDF) In: The-AFC.com . P. 24. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

[2] AFC U-23 Championship 2016 Qualifiers draw on Thursday . In: The-AFC.com . December 3, 2014. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved on December 3, 2014.

[3] Holders Iraq face stern test in AFC U-23 C'ship qualifiers . In: The-AFC.com . December 4, 2014. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved on December 4, 2014.

[4] AFC announces postponement of AFC U-23 Group B qualifiers . In: The-AFC.com . March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved on April 4, 2015.

[5] U-23 Group B Qualifiers to be held in UAE . In: The-AFC.com . April 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved on April 4, 2015.

[6] AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 draw concluded in Doha . In: The-AFC.com . September 13, 2015. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved on September 19, 2015.

[7] U-23 Asian Cup 2016: List of goalscorers . In: The-AFC.com . Retrieved September 30, 2016.