# 2020 AFC U-23 Championship

The 2020 AFC U-23 Championship was the fourth edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted men's football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for under-23 national teams. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament. It took place between 8–26 January 2020 in Thailand.
The tournament acted as the AFC qualifiers for the 2020 Summer Olympics men's football tournament. The top three teams of the tournament would qualify for the Olympics in Japan as the AFC representatives. As Japan had already qualified as the hosts, had they reached the semi-finals, the other semi-finalists were guaranteed qualification even before the phase would have commenced.
Uzbekistan were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the semi-finals. South Korea became the fourth different country to win the tournament, beating Saudi Arabia in the final, while Australia defeated Uzbekistan in the third place game 1–0.

## Host selection

Several nations expressed interest to host the tournament, including Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Thailand were selected as host of the competition at an AFC Competition Committee's meeting in Tokyo in August 2018.

## Qualification

The qualifiers were held from 18 to 26 March 2019, during the FIFA International Match Calendar.

### Qualified teams

Thirteen of the sixteen teams (including hosts Thailand) that qualified for 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualified again for the 2020 final tournament. The 2013 champions Iraq, 2016 champions Japan, 2018 champions Uzbekistan all qualified for the 2020 final tournament. The teams: Iraq, Japan, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, South Korea, China PR, Australia qualified for all editions of AFC U-23 Championship till 2020.
Iran, United Arab Emirates come back after missing out in 2018, with Bahrain making their debut at the tournament finals.
The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| Thailand | Hosts | 3rd | Group stage (2016, 2018) |
| Qatar | Group A winners | 3rd | Third place (2018) |
| Bahrain | Group B winners | 1st | Debut |
| Iraq | Group C winners | 4th | Champions (2013) |
| United Arab Emirates | Group D winners | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2013, 2016) |
| Jordan | Group E winners | 4th | Third place (2013) |
| Uzbekistan | Group F winners | 4th | Champions (2018) |
| North Korea | Group G winners | 4th | Quarter-finals (2016) |
| South Korea | Group H winners | 4th | Runners-up (2016) |
| Japan | Group I winners | 4th | Champions (2016) |
| China | Group J winners | 4th | Group stage (2013, 2016, 2018) |
| Vietnam | Group K winners | 3rd | Runners-up (2018) |
| Australia | Group H runners-up | 4th | Quarter-finals (2013) |
| Iran | Group C runners-up | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2016) |
| Syria | Group E runners-up | 4th | Quarter-finals (2013) |
| Saudi Arabia | Group D runners-up | 4th | Runners-up (2013) |

## Venues

The competition was played in four venues across four cities/provinces.
| Bangkok | BangkokBuriramSongkhlaPathum Thani | Buriram |
| Rajamangala Stadium | BangkokBuriramSongkhlaPathum Thani | Buriram Stadium |
| Capacity: 49,722 | BangkokBuriramSongkhlaPathum Thani | Capacity: 32,600 |
| Songkhla | BangkokBuriramSongkhlaPathum Thani | Pathum Thani |
| Tinsulanon Stadium | BangkokBuriramSongkhlaPathum Thani | Thammasat Stadium |
| Capacity: 45,000 | BangkokBuriramSongkhlaPathum Thani | Capacity: 25,000 |

## Draw

The draw of the final tournament was held on 26 September 2019, 15:00 ICT (UTC+7), at the Swissotel Bangkok Ratchada in Bangkok. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification, with the hosts Thailand automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Thailand (hosts) Uzbekistan Vietnam Qatar | South Korea Iraq Japan North Korea | China Australia Jordan Saudi Arabia | Syria Iran United Arab Emirates Bahrain |

## Match officials

On 3 January 2020, the AFC announced the list of referees chosen for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship. 34 referees, 26 assistant referees and 2 support assistant referees were appointed for the tournament. Video assistant referees will be used in this tournament.

### Referees

* Chris Beath
* Shaun Evans
* Nawaf Shukralla
* Fu Ming
* Ma Ning
* Liu Kwok Man
* Alireza Faghani
* Ali Sabah
* Mohanad Qasim Sarray
* Jumpei Iida
* Hiroyuki Kimura
* Ryuji Sato
* Minoru Tōjō
* Adham Makhadmeh
* Ahmad Faisal Al-Ali
* Kim Hee-gon
* Kim Jong-hyeok
* Ko Hyung-jin
* Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob
* Ahmed Al-Kaf
* Abdulla Al-Marri
* Abdulrahman Al-Jassim
* Khamis Al-Kuwari
* Khamis Al-Marri
* Turki Al-Khudhayr
* Muhammad Taqi
* Hettikamkanamge Perera
* Hanna Hattab
* Sivakorn Pu-udom
* Ammar Al-Jeneibi
* Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed
* Omar Mohamed Al-Ali
* Valentin Kovalenko
* Ilgiz Tantashev

### Assistant referees

* Anton Shchetinin
* Ashley Beecham
* Mohamed Salman
* Abdulla Al-Rowaimi
* Cao Yi
* Shi Xiang
* Mohammadreza Abolfazl
* Mohammadreza Mansouri
* Ahmad Al-Roalle
* Mohammad Al-Kalaf
* Jun Mihara
* Hiroshi Yamauchi
* Park Sang-jun
* Yoon Kwang-yeol
* Abu Bakar Al-Amri
* Rashid Al-Ghaithi
* Saud Al-Maqaleh
* Taleb Al-Marri
* Mohammed Al-Abakri
* Khalaf Al-Shammari
* Ronnie Koh Min Kiat
* Palitha Hemathunga
* Mohammed Al-Hammadi
* Hasan Al-Mahri
* Timur Gaynullin
* Andrey Tsapenko

### Support assistant referees

* Mohd Yusri Muhamad
* Rawut Nakarit

## Squads

Players born on or after 1 January 1997 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team had to register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must have been goalkeepers (Regulations Articles 24.1 and 24.2).

## Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

### Tiebreakers

Teams are 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 are 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.
All times are local, ICT (UTC+7).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Thailand (H) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Iraq | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Bahrain | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Syria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Qatar | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Japan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Uzbekistan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Iran | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | China | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 | |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 5 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Jordan | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | North Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Vietnam | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 | |

## Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Articles 12.1 and 12.2).

### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| 18 January – Bangkok | 18 January – Bangkok | | | |
| Australia (a.e.t.) | 1 | | | |
| Australia (a.e.t.) | 1 | 22 January – Pathum Thani | 22 January – Pathum Thani | | |
| Syria | 0 | 22 January – Pathum Thani | 22 January – Pathum Thani | |
| Syria | 0 | Australia | 0 | |
| 19 January – Pathum Thani | 19 January – Pathum Thani | | Australia | 0 | |
| 19 January – Pathum Thani | 19 January – Pathum Thani | South Korea | 2 | |
| South Korea | 2 | South Korea | 2 | |
| South Korea | 2 | | | | 26 January – Bangkok | 26 January – Bangkok |
| Jordan | 1 | | | | 26 January – Bangkok | 26 January – Bangkok |
| Jordan | 1 | | | | South Korea (a.e.t.) | 1 |
| 18 January – Pathum Thani | 18 January – Pathum Thani | | | | | South Korea (a.e.t.) | 1 |
| 18 January – Pathum Thani | 18 January – Pathum Thani | | | | Saudi Arabia | 0 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | | | | Saudi Arabia | 0 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | 22 January – Bangkok | 22 January – Bangkok | | | |
| Thailand | 0 | 22 January – Bangkok | 22 January – Bangkok | | | |
| Thailand | 0 | Saudi Arabia | 1 | | | |
| 19 January – Bangkok | 19 January – Bangkok | | Saudi Arabia | 1 | | | |
| 19 January – Bangkok | 19 January – Bangkok | Uzbekistan | 0 | | Third place match | Third place match |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | Uzbekistan | 0 | | Third place match | Third place match |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | | | | 25 January – Bangkok | 25 January – Bangkok |
| Uzbekistan | 5 | | | | 25 January – Bangkok | 25 January – Bangkok |
| Uzbekistan | 5 | | | | Australia | 1 |
| | | | | | Uzbekistan | 0 |

### Semi-finals

The winners qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

### Third place match

The winner qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

### Final
## Winners

* 2020 AFC U-23 Championship
* South Korea First title

## Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Top scorer | Most Valuable Player | Best Goalkeeper | Fair Play award |
| Jaroensak Wonggorn | Won Du-jae | Song Bum-keun | Saudi Arabia |

## Goalscorers

There were 69 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.16 goals per match.
3 goals
* Nicholas D'Agostino
* Mohammed Nassif
* Jaroensak Wonggorn
* Zaid Al-Ameri
* Islom Kobilov
2 goals
* Mohamed Marhoon
* Cho Gue-sung
* Lee Dong-gyeong
* Lee Dong-jun
* Oh Se-hun
* Abd Al-Rahman Barakat
* Alaa Al Dali
* Suphanat Mueanta
* Nurillo Tukhtasinov
1 goal
* Ramy Najjarine
* Reno Piscopo
* Al Hassan Toure
* Sayed Hashim Isa
* Reza Dehghani
* Omid Noorafkan
* Reza Shekari
* Amir Al-Ammari
* Ryotaro Meshino
* Koki Ogawa
* Yuki Soma
* Ihab Al-Khawaldeh
* Yazan Al-Naimat
* Mohammad Bani Atieh
* Omar Hani
* Kang Kuk-chol
* Ri Chung-gyu
* Ryang Hyon-ju
* Yusuf Abdurisag
* Abdullah Al-Ahrak
* Firas Al-Buraikan
* Abdullah Al-Hamdan
* Ayman Al-Khulaif
* Nasser Al Omran
* Abdulrahman Ghareeb
* Jeong Tae-wook
* Kim Dae-won
* Anon Amornlerdsak
* Supachok Sarachat
* Khalifa Al-Hammadi
* Bobur Abdikholikov
* Ilkhom Alijanov
* Oybek Bozorov
* Jasurbek Yakhshiboev
* Nguyễn Tiến Linh
1 own goal
* Yosief Mohammad (against Qatar)

### Tournament team rankings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | South Korea | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 18 | Champions |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 13 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Australia | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 11 | Third place |
| 4 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 7 | Fourth place |
| 5 | Jordan | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 6 | United Arab Emirates | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 5 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 7 | Thailand (H) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 4 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 8 | Syria | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 9 | Iran | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 10 | North Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 11 | Iraq | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 12 | Qatar | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 13 | Vietnam | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 14 | Bahrain | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 15 | Japan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 16 | China | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |

## Qualified teams for the Summer Olympics

The following four teams from the AFC qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympic men's football tournament, including Japan which qualified as the hosts.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in the Summer Olympics |
| Japan | 7 September 2013 | 10 (1936, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) |
| South Korea | 22 January 2020 | 10 (1948, 1964, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) |
| Saudi Arabia | 22 January 2020 | 2 (1984, 1996) |
| Australia | 25 January 2020 | 7 (1956, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) |
    $^1$ Italic indicates hosts for that year.
    $^2$ Australia qualified as a member of the OFC for six tournaments between 1956 and 2004.