# 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification

The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification was an international men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.
A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including China PR who qualified automatically as hosts.

## Draw

Of the 47 AFC member associations, a total of 40 teams entered the competition. The final tournament hosts China PR decided to participate in qualification despite having automatically qualified for the final tournament.
The draw was held on 17 March 2017, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 40 teams were drawn into ten groups of four teams. For the draw, teams were divided into two zones:
* West Zone: 20 teams from West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, to be drawn into five groups of four teams (Groups A–E).
* East Zone: 20 teams from ASEAN and East Asia, to be drawn into five groups of four teams (Groups F–J).
The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification. The following restrictions were also applied:
* The nine teams which indicated their intention to serve as qualification group hosts prior to the draw were drawn into separate groups.
* As Iran and Saudi Arabia refused to travel to each other's country, they would not be drawn into the same group.
* As Iran, Syria and Lebanon had indicated they would not travel to Palestine, they would not be drawn into the group hosted by Palestine.
| | Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| West Zone | Iraq Qatar (H) United Arab Emirates (H) Iran Jordan | Uzbekistan Syria Saudi Arabia (H) Oman Tajikistan | Palestine (H) Bahrain India Kyrgyzstan (H) Lebanon | Afghanistan Bangladesh Sri Lanka (W) Nepal Turkmenistan (unranked) |
| East Zone | Japan South Korea North Korea (H) Australia Thailand (H) | China (Q) Vietnam (H) Indonesia Myanmar (H) Laos | Malaysia Timor-Leste Chinese Taipei Cambodia (H)* Singapore | Mongolia Hong Kong Philippines Brunei Macau |

### Notes

* Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
* (H): Qualification group hosts (* Cambodia chosen as qualification group hosts after the draw)
* (Q): Final tournament hosts, automatically qualified regardless of qualification results
* (W): Withdrew after draw

## Player eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 1995 were eligible to compete in the tournament.

## Format

In each group, teams played each other once at a centralised venue. The ten group winners and the five best runners-up qualified for the final tournament. If the final tournament hosts China PR won their group or were among the five best runners-up, the sixth best runner-up also 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 (Regulations Article 9.3):
* 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 are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are 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 are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
* 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

The matches were played between 15 and 23 July 2017.

### Group A

* All matches were held in Kyrgyzstan.
* Times listed were UTC+6.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Oman | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Iran | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Kyrgyzstan (H) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 | |
| 4 | Sri Lanka | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |

### Group B

* All matches were held in Saudi Arabia.
* Times listed were UTC+3.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Iraq | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 9 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Bahrain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Afghanistan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 18 | −18 | 0 | |

### Group C

* All matches were held in Qatar.
* Times listed were UTC+3.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Qatar (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Syria | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 5 | Final tournament |
| 3 | India | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Turkmenistan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 1 | |

### Group D

* All matches were held in United Arab Emirates.
* Times listed were UTC+4.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 9 | Final tournament |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 6 | |
| 3 | Lebanon | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Nepal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | |

### Group E

* All matches were held in Palestine.
* Times listed were UTC+3.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Palestine (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Jordan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Tajikistan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Bangladesh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 13 | −12 | 0 | |

### Group F

* All matches were held in Myanmar.
* Times listed were UTC+6:30.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | +12 | 9 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Myanmar (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Singapore | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 3 | |
| 4 | Brunei | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 0 | |

### Group G

* All matches were held in North Korea.
* Times listed were UTC+8:30.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | North Korea (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Hong Kong | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5 | |
| 3 | Laos | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 4 | |
| 4 | Chinese Taipei | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 14 | −12 | 0 | |

### Group H

* All matches were held in Thailand.
* Times listed were UTC+7.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Malaysia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Thailand (H) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 5 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Indonesia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 4 | |
| 4 | Mongolia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | −9 | 1 | |

### Group I

* All matches were held in Vietnam.
* Times listed were UTC+7.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Vietnam (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Timor-Leste | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 4 | |
| 4 | Macau | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 25 | −23 | 0 | |

### Group J

* All matches were held in Cambodia.
* Times listed were UTC+7.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | China | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Japan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Cambodia (H) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Philippines | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | −11 | 0 | |
* ↑ China PR, as final tournament hosts, are automatically qualified regardless of qualification results.

## Ranking of second-placed teams

Due to groups having different number of teams after the withdrawal of Sri Lanka from Group A, the results against the fourth-placed teams in four-team groups were not considered for this ranking.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | H | Thailand | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 2 | C | Syria | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 3 | I | Vietnam | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 3 | Final tournament |
| 4 | E | Jordan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | Final tournament |
| 5 | J | Japan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 | Final tournament |
| 6 | B | Saudi Arabia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Final tournament |
| 7 | A | Iran | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | |
| 8 | F | Myanmar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | |
| 9 | D | United Arab Emirates | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 3 | |
| 10 | G | Hong Kong | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
* 1 2 Ranked by disciplinary points (Iran: 0 pts; Myanmar: 6 pts).

## Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in AFC U-23 Championship |
| China | Hosts | 25 November 2016 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
| Oman | Group A winners | 23 July 2017 | 1 (2013) |
| Iraq | Group B winners | 23 July 2017 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
| Qatar | Group C winners | 23 July 2017 | 1 (2016) |
| Uzbekistan | Group D winners | 19 July 2017 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
| Palestine | Group E winners | 23 July 2017 | 0 (debut) |
| Australia | Group F winners | 23 July 2017 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
| North Korea | Group G winners | 23 July 2017 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
| Malaysia | Group H winners | 23 July 2017 | 0 (debut) |
| South Korea | Group I winners | 23 July 2017 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
| Thailand | 1st best runners-up | 23 July 2017 | 1 (2016) |
| Syria | 2nd best runners-up | 23 July 2017 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
| Vietnam | 3rd best runners-up | 23 July 2017 | 1 (2016) |
| Jordan | 4th best runners-up | 23 July 2017 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
| Japan | 5th best runners-up | 23 July 2017 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
| Saudi Arabia | 6th best runners-up | 23 July 2017 | 2 (2013, 2016) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

## Goalscorers

There were 205 goals scored in 57 matches, for an average of 3.6 goals per match.
6 goals
* Ayman Hussein
5 goals
* Ren Komatsu
4 goals
* Kim Yu-song
* So Jong-hyok
* Muhsen Al-Ghassani
* Cho Young-wook
* Nguyễn Công Phượng
3 goals
* George Blackwood
* Ali Madan
* Ahmed Al-Reyahi
* Mahmoud Abu Warda
* Abdulaziz Al-Aryani
* Ahmed Al Attas
2 goals
* Milislav Popovic
* Jaushua Sotirio
* Tan Chun Lok
* Gavin Kwan Adsit
* Saddil Ramdani
* Keita Endo
* Nour Al-Rawabdeh
* Musa Al-Taamari
* Baha' Faisal
* Khamphanh Sonthanalay
* Hassan Kourani
* Thanabalan Nadarajah
* Nyein Chan Aung
* Jameel Al-Yahmadi
* Akram Afif
* Abdulelah Al-Amri
* Sami Al-Najei
* Fahad Al-Rashidi
* Ikhsan Fandi
* Hwang In-beom
* Park Seong-bu
* Nozim Babadjanov
* Chenrop Samphaodi
* Kornelis Nahak Portela
* Nataniel de Jesus Reis
* Bobur Abdikholikov
* Lê Thanh Bình
* Nguyễn Văn Toàn
1 goal
* Jonathan Aspropotamitis
* Devante Clut
* Bruce Kamau
* Stefan Mauk
* Riley McGree
* Mohamed Ahmadi Abdulrahman
* Sohel Mia
* Azim Izamuddin Suhaimi
* Sok Samnang
* Deng Hanwen
* He Chao
* Wei Shihao
* Zhang Xiuwei
* Jhou Cheng
* Lee Hsiang-wei
* Chung Wai Keung
* Jordan Lam
* Lau Hok Ming
* Wu Chun Ming
* Alen Deory
* Jerry Lalrinzuala
* Manvir Singh
* Septian David
* Osvaldo Haay
* Marinus Wanewar
* Ali Gholizadeh
* Reza Shekari
* Mohammed Khalid Jaffal Al-Jumaili
* Hussein Ali
* Amjad Attwan
* Mazin Fayyadh
* Alaa Ali Mhawi
* Bashar Rasan
* Hiroki Ito
* Koji Miyoshi
* Tsukasa Morishima
* Yuya Nakasaka
* Yazan Al-Arab
* Mohammad Al-Razem
* Odiljon Abdurakhmanov
* Roman Levchenko
* Armisay Kettavong
* Phoutthasay Khochalern
* Hassan Hammoud
* Lo Man Hin
* Ng Wa Keng
* Jafri Firdaus Chew
* Muhammad Syafiq Ahmad
* Syazwan Andik
* Tuguldur Munkh-Erdene
* Aung Thu
* Hlaing Bo Bo
* Naing Lin Tun
* Jon Se-gye
* Kim Kuk-bom
* Kim Kuk-chol
* Kim Song-sun
* Ri Hun
* Ri Un-chol
* Zahir Al-Aghbari
* Hazem Abuhammad
* Mohanad Fannoun
* Bahaa Wridat
* Mahmoud Yousef
* Sultan Al-Brake
* Almoez Ali
* Hassan Al-Tambakti
* Hanafi Akbar
* Taufik Suparno
* Doo Hyeon-seok
* Jo Sung-wook
* Lee Sang-heon
* Park Jae-woo
* Mohammad Fares Arnaout
* Mohamad Rafat Muhtadi
* Mohammad Rabie Srour
* Firdavs Chakalov
* Zoir Juraboev
* Amirdzhon Safarov
* Chaiyawat Buran
* Picha U-Tra
* Henrique Cruz
* Rufino Gama
* Tomas Sarmento
* Hoshgeldi Hojovov
* Mohamed Al-Akbari
* Mohammed Al-Hammadi
* Khaled Ba Wazir
* Azizjon Ganiev
* Islom Kobilov
* Javokhir Sidikov
* Dostonbek Tursunov
* Hà Đức Chinh
* Hoàng Văn Khánh
* Lương Xuân Trường
* Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy
* Nguyễn Tuấn Anh
1 own goal
* Hamad Al-Shamsan (against Saudi Arabia)
* Khalil Khamis (against Uzbekistan)
* Zoir Juraboev (against Palestine)