# 2018 AFC U-23 Championship

The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2018 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the third edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament. It took place between 9–27 January 2018, and was hosted by China.
Uzbekistan defeated Vietnam in the final to win their first title. Japan were the defending champions, but failed to defend the title after losing to Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals.

## Hosts selection

* China

## Qualification

The qualifiers were held from 15 to 23 July 2017. China also participated in the qualifiers, even though they had already qualified automatically as hosts.

### Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| China | Hosts | 3rd | Group stage (2013, 2016) |
| Oman | Group A winners | 2nd | Group stage (2013) |
| Iraq | Group B winners | 3rd | Champions (2013) |
| Qatar | Group C winners | 2nd | Fourth place (2016) |
| Uzbekistan | Group D winners | 3rd | Group stage (2013, 2016) |
| Palestine | Group E winners | 1st | Debut |
| Australia | Group F winners | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2013) |
| North Korea | Group G winners | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2016) |
| Malaysia | Group H winners | 1st | Debut |
| South Korea | Group I winners | 3rd | Runners-up (2016) |
| Thailand | Group H runners-up | 2nd | Group stage (2016) |
| Syria | Group C runners-up | 3rd | Quarter-finals (2013) |
| Vietnam | Group I runners-up | 2nd | Group stage (2016) |
| Jordan | Group E runners-up | 3rd | Third place (2013) |
| Japan | Group J runners-up | 3rd | Champions (2016) |
| Saudi Arabia | Group B runners-up | 3rd | Runners-up (2013) |
Notes:
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 As China (Group J winners) had already automatically qualified for the final tournament as hosts, the six best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.

## Venues

The competition was played in four venues in four cities, all in the province of Jiangsu.
| Changzhou | Kunshan |
| Changzhou Olympic Sports Centre | Kunshan Stadium |
| Capacity: 38,000 | Capacity: 25,000 |
| ChangzhouKunshanJiangyinChangshu ||
| Jiangyin | Changshu |
| Jiangyin Stadium | Changshu Stadium |
| Capacity: 32,000 | Capacity: 35,000 |

## Draw

The draw of the final tournament was held on 24 October 2017, 16:00 CST (UTC+8), at the Traders Fudu Hotel in Changzhou. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification, with the hosts China automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| China (hosts) Japan South Korea Iraq | Qatar North Korea Jordan Australia | Uzbekistan Syria Saudi Arabia Thailand | Vietnam Oman Malaysia Palestine |

## Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship. Additional assistant referees were used in this tournament.

### Referees

* Chris Beath
* Peter Green
* Nawaf Shukralla
* Fu Ming
* Ma Ning
* Liu Kwok Man
* Alireza Faghani
* Ali Sabah
* Mohanad Qasim Eesee Sarray
* Ryuji Sato
* Jumpei Iida
* Adham Makhadmeh
* Kim Dong-jin
* Ko Hyung-jin
* Ahmed Al-Kaf
* Abdulrahman Al-Jassim
* Khamis Al-Marri
* Fahad Al-Mirdasi
* Turki Al-Khudhayr
* Muhammad Taqi
* Hettikamkanamge Perera
* Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed
* Ravshan Irmatov
* Valentin Kovalenko

### Assistant referees

* Matthew Cream
* Ebrahim Saleh
* Yaser Tulefat
* Cao Yi
* Huo Weiming
* Mohammadreza Mansouri
* Reza Sokhandan
* Yagi Akane
* Toru Sagara
* Ahmad Al-Roalle
* Yoon Kwang-yeol
* Sergei Grishchenko
* Mohd Yusri Mohamad
* Abu Bakar Al-Amri
* Saud Al-Maqaleh
* Taleb Al-Marri
* Mohammed Al-Abakry
* Abdullah Al-Shalawi
* Ronnie Koh Min Kiat
* Palitha Hemathunga
* Mohamed Al-Hammadi
* Hasan Al-Mahri
* Abdukhamidullo Rasulov
* Jakhongir Saidov

### Support referees

* Minoru Tōjō
* Ilgiz Tantashev

### Support assistant referees

* Ahmad Ali
* Nguyễn Trung Hậu

## Squads

Players born on or after 1 January 1995 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team must register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers (Regulations Articles 24.1 and 24.2).

## Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance 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, CST (UTC+8).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Qatar | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Uzbekistan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | China (H) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Oman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Japan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Palestine | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | North Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Thailand | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 | |

### Group C

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

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Vietnam | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Syria | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 | |

## Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are 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 |
| 19 January – Changzhou | 19 January – Changzhou | | | |
| Qatar | 3 | | | |
| Qatar | 3 | 23 January – Changzhou | 23 January – Changzhou | | |
| Palestine | 2 | 23 January – Changzhou | 23 January – Changzhou | |
| Palestine | 2 | Qatar | 2 (3) | |
| 20 January – Changshu | 20 January – Changshu | | Qatar | 2 (3) | |
| 20 January – Changshu | 20 January – Changshu | Vietnam (p) | 2 (4) | |
| Iraq | 3 (3) | Vietnam (p) | 2 (4) | |
| Iraq | 3 (3) | | | | 27 January – Changzhou | 27 January – Changzhou |
| Vietnam (p) | 3 (5) | | | | 27 January – Changzhou | 27 January – Changzhou |
| Vietnam (p) | 3 (5) | | | | Vietnam | 1 |
| 19 January – Jiangyin | 19 January – Jiangyin | | | | | Vietnam | 1 |
| 19 January – Jiangyin | 19 January – Jiangyin | | | | Uzbekistan (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| Japan | 0 | | | | Uzbekistan (a.e.t.) | 2 |
| Japan | 0 | 23 January – Kunshan | 23 January – Kunshan | | | |
| Uzbekistan | 4 | 23 January – Kunshan | 23 January – Kunshan | | | |
| Uzbekistan | 4 | Uzbekistan (a.e.t.) | 4 | | | |
| 20 January – Kunshan | 20 January – Kunshan | | Uzbekistan (a.e.t.) | 4 | | | |
| 20 January – Kunshan | 20 January – Kunshan | South Korea | 1 | | Third place match | Third place match |
| South Korea | 2 | South Korea | 1 | | Third place match | Third place match |
| South Korea | 2 | | | | 26 January – Kunshan | 26 January – Kunshan |
| Malaysia | 1 | | | | 26 January – Kunshan | 26 January – Kunshan |
| Malaysia | 1 | | | | Qatar | 1 |
| | | | | | South Korea | 0 |

### Final

This was the first time ever that Vietnam and Uzbekistan met together in final. For Vietnam, this was their first appearance in an AFC final at any level.

## Winners

* 2018 AFC U-23 Championship
* Uzbekistan First title

## Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Top Goalscorer | Most Valuable Player | Fair Play award |
| Almoez Ali | Odiljon Hamrobekov | Vietnam |

## Statistics
### Goalscorers

There were 82 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.56 goals per match.
6 goals
* Almoez Ali
5 goals
* Nguyễn Quang Hải
3 goals
* Oday Dabbagh
* Akram Afif
* Lee Keun-ho
* Jasurbek Yakhshiboev
2 goals
* George Blackwood
* Ayman Hussein
* Alaa Ali Mhawi
* Ko Itakura
* Baha' Faisal
* Safawi Rasid
* Mohamed Darwish
* Han Seung-gyu
1 goal
* Trent Buhagiar
* Nick Cowburn
* Bruce Kamau
* Li Xiaoming
* Wei Shihao
* Yang Liyu
* Yao Junsheng
* Hussein Ali
* Amjad Attwan
* Mohammed Jaffal
* Bashar Resan
* Koji Miyoshi
* Takahiro Yanagi
* Ward Al-Barri
* Danial Amier Norhisham
* Thanabalan Nadarajah
* Kim Yu-song
* Ri Hun
* Mohanad Fannoun
* Shehab Qumbor
* Mahmoud Yousef
* Hashim Ali
* Abdulelah Al-Amri
* Rakan Al-Shamlan
* Cho Jae-wan
* Cho Young-wook
* Hwang Hyun-soo
* Chenrop Samphaodi
* Khojiakbar Alijonov
* Rustam Ashurmatov
* Azizjon Ganiev
* Dostonbek Khamdamov
* Akramjon Komilov
* Javokhir Sidikov
* Andrey Sidorov
* Dostonbek Tursunov
* Zabikhillo Urinboev
* Hà Đức Chinh
* Nguyễn Công Phượng
* Phan Văn Đức
1 own goal
* Thomas Deng (against Syria)
* Kang Ju-hyok (against Japan)
* Mohammed Rashid (against North Korea)

### Tournament team rankings

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 3 | +9 | 15 | Champions |
| 2 | Vietnam | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 6 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Qatar | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 16 | Third place |
| 4 | South Korea | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 10 | Fourth place |
| 5 | Japan | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 9 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 6 | Iraq | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 8 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 7 | Palestine | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 4 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 8 | Malaysia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 9 | North Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 10 | China (H) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 11 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 12 | Jordan | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 13 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 14 | Syria | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 15 | Oman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 16 | Thailand | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |

## Broadcasting rights

* Arab League: beIN Sports (MENA), Alkaas Sports Channels
* Australia: Fox Sports Australia
* China: CCTV, PPTV, Guangdong Sports
* ASEAN: Fox Sports Asia
* South Korea: JTBC3 Fox Sports
* Vietnam: VTV (shared by Fox Sports Asia)