# 2024 WAFF U-23 Championship

The 2024 WAFF U-23 Championship was the fifth edition of the WAFF U-23 Championship, the international age-restricted football championship organized by the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) for the men's under-23 national teams of West Asia. Eight teams competed in the tournament, with four WAFF teams and four other invitees.
Iraq were the defending champions, but they were eliminated from the tournament at the group stages. South Korea won their first WAFF title, beating Australia 4–3 on penalties after a 2–2 draw.

## Teams

Eight teams took part in the competition, with four from the WAFF and four other invitees. Iraq participated with its under-19 national team.
| Team | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| Australia (invitee) | 1st | Debut |
| Egypt (invitee) | 1st | Debut |
| Iraq | 3rd | Winners (2023) |
| Jordan | 4th | Winners (2021) |
| Saudi Arabia | 4th | Winners (2022) |
| South Korea (invitee) | 1st | Debut |
| Thailand (invitee) | 1st | Debut |
| United Arab Emirates | 4th | Group stage (2015, 2021, 2023) |

### Draw

The draw for the group stage took place on 3 March 2024 at the WAFF headquarters in Amman, Jordan. Teams from the same group of the upcoming 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup could not be drawn into the same group. Host Saudi Arabia were automatically placed in position A1.
Group A :
| Group A PosTeam A1 Saudi Arabia (H) A2 Jordan | Group B PosTeam B1 South Korea B2 Thailand | Group C PosTeam C1 Egypt C2 United Arab Emirates | Group D PosTeam D1 Australia D2 Iraq |

### Squads
## Venues

| Hofuf | Al-Mubarraz |
| Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium | Al Fateh Stadium |
| Capacity: 19,550 | Capacity: 11,000 |
| HofufAl-Mubarraz ||

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia (H) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Jordan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
* 1 2 Saudi Arabia won 2–1 on penalty shootouts

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Thailand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Egypt | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Iraq | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 23 March – Hofuf | 23 March – Hofuf |
| Australia (p) | 1 (2) |
| Australia (p) | 1 (2) | 26 March – Al Mubarraz | 26 March – Al Mubarraz |
| Egypt | 1 (1) | 26 March – Al Mubarraz | 26 March – Al Mubarraz |
| Egypt | 1 (1) | Australia | 2 (3) |
| 23 March – Al Mubarraz | 23 March – Al Mubarraz | | Australia | 2 (3) |
| 23 March – Al Mubarraz | 23 March – Al Mubarraz | South Korea (p) | 2 (4) |
| South Korea | 1 | South Korea (p) | 2 (4) |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | | |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 26 March – Al Mubarraz | 26 March – Al Mubarraz |
| | | Egypt | 2 (2) |
| | | Saudi Arabia (p) | 2 (4) |

### Final
## Goalscorers

There were 29 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.42 goals per match.
3 goals
* Alou Kuol
2 goals
* Mohannad Abu Taha
* Aref Al-Haj
* Baker Kalbouneh
1 goal
* Louis D'Arrigo
* Garang Kuol
* Hossam Abdelmaguid
* Bilal Mazhar
* Mahmoud Saber
* Halgurd Jaafar
* Ali Sadiq
* Reziq Bani Hani
* Abdulaziz Al-Faraj
* Meshari Al-Nemer
* Marwan Al-Sahafi
* Cho Hyun-taek
* Eom Ji-sung
* Kang Seong-jin
* Lee Young-jun
* Chitsanupong Choti
* Thanadol Kaosaart
* Mohammed Al-Mansoori
1 own goal
* Jake Hollman (against Egypt)
* Reziq Bani Hani (against Iraq)

## Ranking

| Rank | Team | M | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| 1 | South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 |
| 3 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 2 |
| 4 | Egypt | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 |
| 5 | Jordan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 7 |
| 6 | Iraq | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 1 |
| 7 | Thailand | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 3 |
| 8 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 1 |