# 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification

The 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification was an international men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Uzbekistan who qualified automatically as hosts country.
Due to non-compliance to doping regulations, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Indonesia and Thailand from using their national flags in competitions, except during the Olympics. It was reported that Indonesia prepared the flag of its federation, in the event its team was barred from using the national flag.

## Draw

Out of the 47 AFC member associations, a total of 42 teams entered the competition. The final tournament hosts Uzbekistan decided to participate in qualification. Their matches were not taken into account when calculating the group ranking and best second-placed teams among the groups.
The draw was held on 9 July 2021, 12:00 (UTC+5), in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The 42 teams were drawn into nine groups of four teams and two groups of three teams. For the draw, teams were divided into two zones:
* West Zone: 23 teams from West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, to be drawn into five groups of four teams and one group of three teams (Groups A–F).
* East Zone: 19 teams from ASEAN and East Asia, to be drawn into four groups of four teams and one group of three teams (Groups G–K).
The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification (overall ranking shown in parentheses). The eleven teams which indicated their intention to serve as qualification group hosts prior to the draw were drawn into separate groups.
On 29 July, North Korea withdrew from the competition due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, to better balance of the number of teams across all groups, the AFC conducted a draw on 11 August to move one team from Groups G to J, which was Hong Kong, who were placed in Group K. On 11 October, China also withdrew from the competition for the same reason, leaving Group G with only two teams.
| | Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| West Zone | Saudi Arabia (2) Syria (4) Jordan (5) (H) United Arab Emirates (7) (H) Iran (8) Iraq (9) | Qatar (10) (H) Bahrain (13) (H) Tajikistan (16) (H) Oman (17) Palestine (20) Bangladesh (23) | Kuwait (24) (H) Afghanistan (25) (W) Turkmenistan (26) India (27) Lebanon (30) Yemen (33) | Kyrgyzstan (36) (H)* Nepal (37) Maldives (40) Sri Lanka (41) Uzbekistan (Q), (H)* |
| East Zone | South Korea (1) Australia (3) Thailand (6) North Korea (11) (W) Vietnam (12) | Japan (14) (H)* China (15) (W) Malaysia (18) Myanmar (19) Singapore (21) (H) | Hong Kong (22) Indonesia (28) (H) Laos (29) Cambodia (31) Timor-Leste (32) | Chinese Taipei (34) (H) Mongolia (35) (H) Philippines (38) Brunei (39) (W) |

### Notes

* Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
* (H): Qualification group hosts determined before the draw
* (H)*: Qualification group hosts determined after the draw
* (Q): Final tournament hosts, automatically qualified regardless of qualification results
* (W): Withdrew after draw
Did not enter :
| West Zone | Bhutan  Pakistan (X) |
| East Zone | Guam  Macau  Northern Mariana Islands |

### Notes

* (X): Suspended

### Draw result

The draw resulted in following groups.
Group A :
| Group A PosTeam A1 Syria A2 Qatar A3 Yemen A4 Sri Lanka | Group B PosTeam B1 Iran B2 Tajikistan B3 Lebanon B4 Nepal | Group C PosTeam C1 Iraq C2 Bahrain C3 Afghanistan C4 Maldives | Group D PosTeam D1 Saudi Arabia D2 Bangladesh D3 Kuwait D4 Uzbekistan |
| Group E PosTeam E1 United Arab Emirates E2 Oman E3 India E4 Kyrgyzstan | Group F PosTeam F1 Jordan F2 Palestine F3 Turkmenistan | Group G PosTeam G1 Australia G2 China G3 Indonesia G4 Brunei | Group H PosTeam H1 South Korea H2 Singapore H3 Timor-Leste H4 Philippines |
| Group I PosTeam I1 Vietnam I2 Myanmar I3 Chinese Taipei | Group J PosTeam J1 Thailand J2 Malaysia J3 Laos J4 Mongolia | Group K PosTeam K1 Hong Kong K2 Japan K3 Cambodia K4 North Korea |
Bold indicates that the team has qualified for the final tournament.
* 1 2 3 4 Withdrew from the tournament.

## Player eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 1999 were eligible to compete in the 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.
In group G, after the withdrawal of Brunei and China PR, the two teams left (Australia and Indonesia) played each other twice. The winner qualified for the final tournament, with the loser eliminated.

### 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 are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are 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 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

All matches were played between 23 October and 2 November 2021.

### Group A

* All matches were held in Qatar.
* Times listed are UTC+3.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Qatar (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 7 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Syria | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 5 | |
| 3 | Yemen | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Sri Lanka | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 0 | |

### Group B

* All matches were held in Tajikistan.
* Times listed are UTC+5.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Iran | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 9 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Tajikistan (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Lebanon | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Nepal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | −14 | 0 | |

### Group C

* All matches were held in Bahrain.
* Times listed are UTC+3.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Iraq | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Bahrain (H) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | Maldives | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 | |
| 4 | Afghanistan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
* ↑ Afghanistan withdrew from the tournament on 25 October 2021 as they were not able to reach Bahrain before the first match due to absence of timely flights from Kabul as per an official statement.

### Group D

* All matches were held in Uzbekistan.
* Times listed are UTC+5.
* Uzbekistan already qualified to the final tournament as host country, so their matches were not taken into account when calculating the group ranking.
* Originally Kuwait was supposed to host group D; however, the AFC changed host country due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. On 19 October 2021, Uzbekistan was named replacement host.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Kuwait | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 3 | Final tournament |
| 3 | Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 | |

### Group E

* All matches were held in the United Arab Emirates
* Times listed are UTC+4.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United Arab Emirates (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | India | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Kyrgyzstan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Oman | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 | |
* 1 2 Penalty shoot-out: India 4–2 Kyrgyzstan

### Group F

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

### Group G

* Both matches were held in Tajikistan.
* Times listed are UTC+5.
* After the withdrawal of Brunei and China PR, the remaining teams left played each other twice. The winner qualified for the final tournament, with the loser eliminated.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Indonesia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0 | |
| 3 | China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
| 4 | Brunei | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
* ↑ China PR withdrew from the competition on October 11 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
* ↑ Brunei withdrew from the competition on September 3.

### Group H

* All matches were held in Singapore.
* Times listed are UTC+8.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | +13 | 9 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Singapore (H) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 | |
| 3 | Timor-Leste | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 4 | |
| 4 | Philippines | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 | |

### Group I

* All matches were to be held in Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), but AFC determined that the host would be changed, with Kyrgyzstan as the new host.
* Times listed are UTC+6.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vietnam | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Myanmar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | Chinese Taipei | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 | |

### Group J

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

### Group K

* All matches were held in Japan.
* Times listed are UTC+9.
* DPR Korea withdrew from the competition on 29 July. They were replaced by a team initially drawn in Group G–J (excluding host countries and teams from Pot 1), which was determined by a draw on 11 August to be Hong Kong.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Japan (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 6 | Final tournament |
| 2 | Cambodia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 | |
| 3 | Hong Kong | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 0 | |
| 4 | North Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |

### Ranking of second-placed teams

Due to groups having different numbers of teams, the results against the fourth-placed teams in four-team groups were not considered for this ranking.
Exceptions:
* In Group D, the results against the host country Uzbekistan were not considered.
* In Group G, the runners-up results were not considered for this ranking, as the group contained only two teams.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | J | Thailand | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 4 | Final tournament |
| 2 | D | Saudi Arabia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 3 | Final tournament |
| 3 | F | Turkmenistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 | Final tournament |
| 4 | B | Tajikistan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Final tournament |
| 5 | C | Bahrain | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 6 | I | Myanmar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 7 | K | Cambodia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 | |
| 8 | A | Syria | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 9 | E | India | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 1 | |
| 10 | H | Singapore | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 1 | |
* 1 2 Disciplinary points: Tajikistan –1, Bahrain –2.

## Goalscorers

There were 114 individuals who scored at least 1 goal.
There were 146 goals scored in 50 matches, for an average of 2.92 goals per match.
5 goals
* Park Jeong-in
4 goals
* Yasin Salmani
* Hashim Ali
3 goals
* Ulugbek Khoshimov
2 goals
* Patrick Wood
* Sieng Chanthea
* Jordan Lam
* Mehdi Limouchi
* Hossein Nokhodkar
* Wakaa Ramadhan
* Shota Fujio
* Mao Hosoya
* Yousef Ayedh
* Bounphachan Bounkong
* Zein Farran
* Azfar Fikri
* Glenn Kweh
* Choi Jun
* Ali Bashmani
* Vahdat Hanonov
* Jakkit Palapon
* Şamämmet Hydyrow
* Khojimat Erkinov
* Jasurbek Jaloliddinov
1 goal
* Jacob Italiano
* Marc Tokich
* Abbas Al-Asfoor
* Adnan Fawaz
* Mohammed Abdul Qayoom
* Lim Pisoth
* Min Ratanak
* Rahim Ali
* Vikram Pratap Singh
* Taufik Hidayat
* Witan Sulaeman
* Milad Kor
* Hasan Abdulkareem
* Moamel Abdulridha
* Muntadher Mohammed
* Sohaib Raad
* Ahmed Sartip
* Yuta Goke
* Hidemasa Koda
* Kuryu Matsuki
* Jiro Nakamura
* Yazan Al-Naimat
* Ali Olwan
* Abdulaziz Naji
* Amir Japarov
* Arlen Sharshenbekov
* Mohamad Haidar
* Mohamad Nasser
* Baljinnyam Batbold
* Oyunbold Oyuntuya
* Kaung Myat Thu
* Arshad Al-Alawi
* Waleed Al-Musalmi
* Wajdi Mohammed
* Bader Mousa
* Yusuf Abdurisag
* Naif Al-Hadhrami
* Khaled Mohammed
* Ahmed Suhail
* Mohammed Waad
* Saud Abdulhamid
* Firas Al-Buraikan
* Hamed Al-Ghamdi
* Ziyad Al-Johani
* Abdulmohsen Al-Qahtani
* Ayman Yahya
* Nur Adam Abdullah
* Jordan Emaviwe
* Cho Sang-jun
* Go Jae-hyeon
* Kim Chan
* Kim Se-yun
* Lee Kyu-hyuk
* Oh Hyun-gyu
* Mohammad Al-Hallak
* Mohammad Malta
* Muhammadali Azizboev
* Ahmadkhon Emomali
* Shervoni Mabatshoev
* Ehson Panjshanbe
* Rustam Soirov
* Sharafdzhon Solehov
* Islom Zoirov
* Thanawat Suengchitthawon
* Korawich Tasa
* Elias
* Paulo Gali
* Zenivio
* Welmyrat Ballakow
* Khalid Al-Balochi
* Marwan Fahad
* Abdulla Idrees
* Ali Saleh
* Eldorbek Begimov
* Abbosbek Fayzullayev
* Otabek Jurakuziyev
* Alisher Odilov
* Diyorbek Rakhimkulov
* Asliddin Toshtemirov
* Hồ Thanh Minh
* Lê Văn Xuân
* Omar Al-Dahi
* Nasser Al-Gahwashi
* Emad Al-Godaimah
1 own goal
* Phoutthavong Sangvilay (against Mongolia)
* Bat-Orgil Gerelt-Od (against Laos)
* Yusuf Abdurisag (against Syria)
* Bader Munshi (against Kuwait)
* Jacob Mahler (against South Korea)
* Abdul Basith (against Syria)
Source: AFC

## Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous qualifications |
| Uzbekistan | Hosts | 18 March 2021 | 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Qatar | Group A winners | 31 October 2021 | 3 (2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Iran | Group B winners | 31 October 2021 | 3 (2013, 2016, 2020) |
| Iraq | Group C winners | 31 October 2021 | 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Kuwait | Group D winners | 30 October 2021 | 1 (2013) |
| United Arab Emirates | Group E winners | 30 October 2021 | 3 (2013, 2016, 2020) |
| Jordan | Group F winners | 31 October 2021 | 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Australia | Group G winners | 29 October 2021 | 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| South Korea | Group H winners | 31 October 2021 | 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Vietnam | Group I winners | 2 November 2021 | 3 (2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Malaysia | Group J winners | 31 October 2021 | 1 (2018) |
| Japan | Group K winners | 28 October 2021 | 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Thailand | 1st best runners-up | 31 October 2021 | 3 (2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Saudi Arabia | 2nd best runners-up | 2 November 2021 | 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
| Turkmenistan | 3rd best runners-up | 31 October 2021 | 0 (Debut) |
| Tajikistan | 4th best runners-up | 2 November 2021 | 0 (Debut) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.