# 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification

The 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification was an international men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Qatar who qualified automatically as hosts.

## Format changes

The AFC Executive Committee had approved several strategic recommendations put forward by the AFC Competitions Committee, one of which was the removal of zone restrictions in AFC youth competitions.

## Draw

Forty-three of the 47 AFC member associations, including the final tournament hosts Qatar, submitted their interest to compete in the qualifiers. The draw took place on 25 May 2023 at 15:00 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup final tournament and qualification. The nations chosen as group hosts were announced on 17 May and were drawn into separate groups at the beginning of the draw. As Qatar already qualified for the final tournament as hosts and their fixtures will be considered as friendly matches, they were seeded as an unranked team for the draw and placed in Pot 4.
| | Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Host Pot | Saudi Arabia (1) (H) Uzbekistan (2) (H) South Korea (5) (H) Vietnam (7) (H) Thailand (9) (H) Jordan (10) (H) | Kuwait (14) (H) Tajikistan (16) (H) Bahrain (17) (H) Indonesia (23) (H) | | China (NR) (H) |
| Remaining Teams | Japan (3) Australia (4) Iraq (6) Turkmenistan (8) United Arab Emirates (11) | Iran (12) Malaysia (15) Myanmar (18) Cambodia (19) Syria (20) India (21) Singapore (22) | Kyrgyzstan (24) Palestine (25) Yemen (26) Timor-Leste (27) Chinese Taipei (28) Lebanon (29) Laos (30) Bangladesh (31) Hong Kong (32) Maldives (33) (W) Oman (34) | Mongolia (35) Philippines (36) Afghanistan (NR) Brunei (NR) North Korea (NR) (W) Guam (NR) Macau (NR) (N) Pakistan (NR) Qatar (13) (Q) |

### Notes

* Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
* (H): Qualification group hosts determined before the draw
* (Q): Final tournament hosts, automatically qualified regardless of qualification results
* (W): Withdrew after draw
Did not enter :
* Bhutan
* Nepal
* Northern Mariana Islands (N)
* Sri Lanka (X)

### Notes

* (N): Not a member of the International Olympic Committee, ineligible for Olympics
* (X): Suspended

### Draw result

The draw resulted in following groups.
Group A :
| Group A PosTeam A1 Jordan A2 Syria A3 Oman A4 Brunei | Group B PosTeam B1 South Korea B2 Myanmar B3 Kyrgyzstan B4 Qatar | Group C PosTeam C1 Vietnam C2 Singapore C3 Yemen C4 Guam | Group D PosTeam D1 Japan D2 Bahrain D3 Palestine D4 Pakistan |
| Group E PosTeam E1 Uzbekistan E2 Iran E3 Hong Kong E4 Afghanistan | Group F PosTeam F1 Iraq F2 Kuwait F3 Timor-Leste F4 Macau | Group G PosTeam G1 United Arab Emirates G2 India G3 Maldives G4 China | Group H PosTeam H1 Thailand H2 Malaysia H3 Bangladesh H4 Philippines |
| Group I PosTeam I1 Australia I2 Tajikistan I3 Laos I4 North Korea | Group J PosTeam J1 Saudi Arabia J2 Cambodia J3 Lebanon J4 Mongolia | Group K PosTeam K1 Turkmenistan K2 Indonesia K3 Chinese Taipei |
Bold indicates that the team has qualified for the final tournament.

## Format

In each group, teams played each other once at a centralized venue. The eleven group winners and the four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.

### Tiebreakers

Teams were 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 were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:
* Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Goals scored in all group matches;
* Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group;
* Lower 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);
* Drawing of lots.

## Groups

All matches were played between 6 September and 12 September 2023.

### Group A

* All matches were held in Jordan.
* Times listed are UTC+3.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Jordan (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | +12 | 9 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Oman | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 | |
| 3 | Syria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 3 | |
| 4 | Brunei | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 23 | −23 | 0 | |

### Group B

* All matches were held in South Korea.
* Times listed are UTC+9.
* Qatar already qualified to the final tournament as host country, so their matches will not be taken into account when calculating the group ranking.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Kyrgyzstan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Myanmar | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 | |

### Group C

* All matches were held in Vietnam.
* Times listed are UTC+7.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vietnam (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Yemen | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 6 | |
| 3 | Singapore | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 2 | |
| 4 | Guam | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 1 | |

### Group D

* All matches were held in Bahrain.
* Times listed are UTC+3.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | Japan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Palestine | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Bahrain (H) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Pakistan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 0 | |

### Group E

* All matches were held in Uzbekistan.
* Times listed are UTC+5.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Uzbekistan (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | +18 | 9 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Iran | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 6 | |
| 3 | Afghanistan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 12 | −11 | 1 | |
| 4 | Hong Kong | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 1 | |

### Group F

* All matches were held in Kuwait.
* Times listed are UTC+3.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Iraq | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 2 | +19 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Kuwait (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Timor-Leste | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 3 | |
| 4 | Macau | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 | −21 | 0 | |

### Group G

* All matches were held in China.
* Times listed are UTC+8.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United Arab Emirates | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 2 | China (H) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 3 | India | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | |

### Group H

* All matches were held in Thailand.
* Times listed are UTC+7.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Thailand (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 9 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Malaysia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Philippines | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 3 | |
| 4 | Bangladesh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 | |

### Group I

* All matches were held in Tajikistan.
* Times listed are UTC+5.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Tajikistan (H) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Laos | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 0 | |

### Group J

* All matches were held in Saudi Arabia.
* Times listed are UTC+3.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 9 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Cambodia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 4 | |
| 3 | Lebanon | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 2 | |
| 4 | Mongolia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 1 | |

### Group K

* All matches were held in Indonesia.
* Times listed are UTC+7
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Indonesia (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | +11 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Turkmenistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 3 | |
| 3 | Chinese Taipei | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 0 | |

## Ranking of runners-up

* The four best-ranked runners-up also qualified for the final tournament.
* Due to groups being different sizes, results against fourth-place teams were not used to calculate the ranking; Group B matches against Qatar were treated as friendlies and were not used to determine group standing.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | F | Kuwait | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 2 | I | Tajikistan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 3 | G | China | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 4 | H | Malaysia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 3 | Final tournament |
| 5 | E | Iran | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 3 | |
| 6 | K | Turkmenistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 3 | |
| 7 | C | Yemen | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 | |
| 8 | A | Oman | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 | |
| 9 | D | Palestine | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 10 | B | Kyrgyzstan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 1 | |
| 11 | J | Cambodia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 1 | |
* 1 2 Disciplinary points: Malaysia –4, Iran –7.

## Goalscorers

There were 152 individuals who scored at least 1 goal.
There were 215 goals scored in 57 matches, for an average of 3.77 goals per match.
6 goals
* Khusayin Norchaev
5 goals
* Hussein Lawend
4 goals
* Ridha Fadhil
* Salman Al Awadi
* Abdullah Radif
3 goals
* Ali Jasim
* Waseem Al-Riyalat
* Tameem Al-Abdullah
* Mohamad Rihanieh
* Mustafa Abdullatif
* Purachet Thodsanit
* Samammet Hydyrow
* Ulugbek Khoshimov
* Ahmed Maher
2 goals
* Nishan Velupillay
* Noah Botic
* Sayed Jawad Haider
* Sa Ty
* Sor Rotana
* Marselino Ferdinan
* Pratama Arhan
* Allahyar Sayyadmanesh
* Mohammad Ghorbani
* Alexander Aoraha
* Dhulfiqar Younis Al-Imari
* Mao Hosoya
* Shunsuke Mito
* Amin Al-Shanaineh
* Reziq Bani Hani
* T. Saravanan
* Khaled Al-Nabris
* Ahmed Al-Rawi
* Lotfi Madjer
* Ahmed Al-Ghamdi
* Mohammed Maran
* Musab Al-Juwayr
* Yotsakorn Burapha
* Abbosbek Fayzullaev
* Alisher Odilov
* Jasurbek Jaloliddinov
* Bùi Vĩ Hào
1 goal
* Omid Musawi
* Alou Kuol
* Cameron Peupion
* Lachlan Brook
* Louis D'Arrigo
* Hussein Abdulkarim
* Tao Qianglong
* Nebijan Muhmet
* Micah Thomas
* Riku Meyar
* Elkan Baggott
* Hokky Caraka
* Ivar Jenner
* Rafael Struick
* Ramadhan Sananta
* Rio Fahmi
* Witan Sulaeman
* Amin Hazbavi
* Hossein Goodarzi
* Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad
* Blnd Hassan
* Muntadher Abdulameer
* Muntadher Mohammed
* Mustafa Saadoon
* Zaid Tahseen
* Joel Chima Fujita
* Ryuya Nishio
* Shota Fujio
* Mo Abualnadi
* Mohannad Abu Taha
* Seif Darwish
* Bandar Al Salamah
* Hamad Al Taweel
* Mohsen Falah
* Salman Al Bous
* Talal Al Qaisi
* Khristiyan Brauzman
* Chanthavixay Khounthoumphone
* Damoth Thongkhamsavath
* Karim Mekkaoui
* Mohammad Nasser
* Mohammad Sami Haidar
* Aliff Izwan
* Fergus Tierney
* Harith Haiqal
* Mukhairi Ajmal
* Bat-Orgil Gerelt-Od
* Filip Andersson
* Temuulen Uuganbat
* Kaung Htet Paing
* Ahed Al-Mashaiki
* Mamoon Said Al-Araimi
* Nasser Al-Rawahi
* Nibras Al-Maashari
* Salem Al-Abdulsalam
* Alamgir Ghazi
* Harun Hamid
* Zaid Qunbar
* Gavin Muens
* Ilyes Brimil
* Mohamed Khaled Hassan
* Mohammed Waheeb Al-Shamat
* Saad Al-Nasser
* Farhan Zulkifli
* Zikos Chua
* Hong Yun-sang
* Jeon Byung-kwan
* Oh Jae-hyeok
* Paik Sang-hoon
* Ahmad Hatem
* Almekdad Ahmad
* Hozan Osman
* Mahmoud Nayef
* Oliver Kass Kawo
* Ruslan Khailoev
* Rustam Soirov
* Sodiqjon Qurbonov
* Airfan Doloh
* Anan Yodsangwal
* Chatmongkol Rueangthanarot
* Teerasak Poeiphimai
* Cristevão Fernandes
* Luis Berdila da Silva
* Mouzinho de Lima
* Ricardo Rorinh Bianco
* Zenivio Mota
* Nurmyrat Rozyyev
* Eisa Khalfan
* Mohammed Abbas Al Baloushi
* Sultan Adil Al Ameeri
* Alibek Davronov
* Mukhammadkodir Khamraliev
* Umarali Rakhmonaliev
* Hoàng Văn Toản
* Hồ Văn Cường
* Lê Văn Đô
* Nguyễn Đình Bắc
* Nguyễn Hữu Nam
* Nguyễn Thanh Nhàn
* Nguyễn Văn Tùng
* Gassem Al-Sharafi
* Hamzah Hanash
* Hamzah Mahross
* Mohammed Al-Qashmi
* Saqr Ebrahim Al-Harbi
1 own goal
* Nazhan Zulkifle (against Jordan)
* Wafiq Danish (against Jordan)
* Hu Hetao (against India)
* Yip Cheuk Man (against Uzbekistan)
* Ibrahim Chami (against Cambodia)
* Nguyễn Hồng Phúc (against Singapore)

## Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous qualifications |
| Qatar | Hosts | 30 September 2022 | 4 (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| Jordan | Group A winners | 12 September 2023 | 5 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| South Korea | Group B winners | 12 September 2023 | 5 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| Vietnam | Group C winners | 9 September 2023 | 4 (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| Japan | Group D winners | 12 September 2023 | 5 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| Uzbekistan | Group E winners | 12 September 2023 | 5 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| Iraq | Group F winners | 12 September 2023 | 5 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| United Arab Emirates | Group G winners | 12 September 2023 | 4 (2013, 2016, 2020, 2022) |
| Thailand | Group H winners | 12 September 2023 | 4 (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| Australia | Group I winners | 12 September 2023 | 5 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| Saudi Arabia | Group J winners | 12 September 2023 | 5 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022) |
| Indonesia | Group K winners | 12 September 2023 | 0 (debut) |
| Kuwait | Best runners-up | 12 September 2023 | 2 (2013, 2022) |
| Tajikistan | 2nd Best runners-up | 12 September 2023 | 1 (2022) |
| China | 3rd Best runners-up | 12 September 2023 | 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Malaysia | 4th Best runners-up | 12 September 2023 | 2 (2018, 2022) |
Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.