# 2016 AFC Futsal Championship

The 2016 AFC Futsal Championship was the 14th edition of the AFC Futsal Championship, the biennial international futsal championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's national teams of Asia. The tournament was held in Uzbekistan between 10–21 February 2016. A total of 16 teams played in the tournament.
The tournament was originally meant to be held in Taiwan (i.e. the Republic of China). It was originally scheduled for 12–27 March 2016, but this was changed following the adoption of the FIFA futsal international match calendar.
Same as previous editions held on the same year as the FIFA Futsal World Cup, the tournament acted as the AFC qualifiers for the World Cup. The top five teams of the tournament qualified for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia as the AFC representatives.
Champions Iran, runners-up Uzbekistan, third-placed Thailand, fourth-placed Vietnam and fifth place's play-off winners Australia qualified for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup as the AFC representatives.

## Qualification

The draw for the qualifiers was held on 2 September 2015. Four teams qualified directly for the final tournament by their 2014 performance, while the other entrants competed in the qualifying stage for the remaining 12 spots. The qualifiers were played between 1 October and 19 November 2015.

### Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament. Kuwait were replaced by Saudi Arabia due to FIFA's suspension of the Kuwait Football Association.
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| Uzbekistan | Hosts and 2014 third place | 14th | Runners-up (2001, 2006, 2010) |
| Japan | 2014 winners | 14th | Champions (2006, 2012, 2014) |
| Iran | 2014 runners-up | 14th | Champions (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010) |
| Lebanon | West Zone Group A winners | 10th | Quarter-finals (2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014) |
| Jordan | West Zone Group A runners-up | 1st | Debut |
| Saudi Arabia | West Zone Group A third place | 1st | Debut |
| Qatar | West Zone Group B winners | 3rd | Group stage (2005, 2012) |
| Iraq | West Zone Group B runners-up | 10th | Quarter-finals (2002) |
| Kyrgyzstan | Central Zone winners | 14th | Fourth place (2005, 2006, 2007) |
| Tajikistan | Central Zone runners-up | 9th | Quarter-finals (2007) |
| Thailand | ASEAN Zone Group A winners | 14th | Runners-up (2008, 2012) |
| Malaysia | ASEAN Zone Group A runners-up | 11th | Group stage (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014) |
| Australia | ASEAN Zone Group B winners | 7th | Fourth place (2012) |
| Vietnam | ASEAN Zone Group B runners-up | 4th | Quarter-finals (2014) |
| China | East Zone winners | 11th | Fourth place (2008, 2010) |
| Chinese Taipei | East Zone runners-up | 11th | Quarter-finals (2003) |

## Venues

Tashkent :
| Uzbekistan Stadium | Universal Stadium |
| Capacity: Unknown | Capacity: Unknown |

## Squads

Each team had to submit a squad of 14 players, including a minimum of two goalkeepers.

## Draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 2 December 2015, 18:00 UZT (UTC+5), at the Zafarshan Hall in Tashkent. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their performance in the previous season in 2014.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Uzbekistan (hosts) Japan Iran Thailand | Australia Lebanon Vietnam Iraq | Kyrgyzstan Malaysia Chinese Taipei China | Tajikistan Saudi Arabia Qatar Jordan |

## Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2016 AFC Futsal Championship.

### Referees

* Chris Colley
* An Ran
* Liu Jianqiao
* Lee Po-fu
* Vahid Arzpeyma Mohammreh
* Hasan Mousa Al-Gburi
* Hawkar Salar Ahmed
* Tomohiro Kozaki
* Hiroyuki Kobayashi
* Husein Mahmoud Khalaileh
* Nurdin Bukuev
* Helday Idang
* Rey Ritaga Martinez
* Yuttakon Maiket
* Khamis Hassan Al Shamsi
* Trương Quốc Dũng

## Group stage

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

### Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order:
* Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
* Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
* Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
* If, after applying criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply;
* Goal difference in all the group matches;
* Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
* Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
* Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
* Drawing of lots.
All times were local, UZT (UTC+5).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Uzbekistan (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Kyrgyzstan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Lebanon | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 2 | |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 1 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Iran | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | +24 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Iraq | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 17 | −5 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | China | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 3 | |
| 4 | Jordan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 15 | −11 | 0 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Thailand | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 7 | +8 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Vietnam | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Chinese Taipei | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 1 | |
| 4 | Tajikistan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 | −8 | 1 | |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Japan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Qatar | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Malaysia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 19 | −15 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary (no extra time would be used in the third place match).

### Bracket

| Fifth place | Fifth place | Fifth place | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | | | | A1 | Uzbekistan | 3 | | | | |
| | | | | | | B2 | Iraq | 0 | | | | | | |
| | | | B2 | Iraq | 3 | | | | A1 | Uzbekistan (p) | 2 (3) | |
| | | | D2 | Australia | 5 | | | | C1 | Thailand | 2 (1) | |
| | | | | | | C1 | Thailand | 6 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | D2 | Australia | 1 | | | | | |
| D2 | Australia | 3 | | | | | | | | | A1 | Uzbekistan | 1 |
| A2 | Kyrgyzstan | 1 | | | | | | | | | A1 | B1 | Iran | 2 |
| | | | | | | B1 | Iran | 7 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | A2 | Kyrgyzstan | 0 | | | | | | |
| Seventh place | Seventh place | Seventh place | A2 | Kyrgyzstan | 6 | | | | B1 | Iran | 13 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | D1 | Japan | 2 | | | | C2 | Vietnam | 1 | | | |
| B2 | Iraq | 8th | | | | D1 | | | Japan | 4 (1) | | C1 | Thailand | 8 |
| D1 | Japan | 7th | | | | C2 | Vietnam (p) | 4 (2) | | | | C2 | Vietnam | 0 |

### Quarter-finals

Winners qualified for 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup. Losers enter fifth place play-offs.

### Fifth place match

Australia qualified for 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

### Final
## Goalscorers

There were 234 goals scored in 35 matches, for an average of 6.69 goals per match.
14 goals
* Suphawut Thueanklang
11 goals
* Hossein Tayyebi
8 goals
* Mahdi Javid
7 goals
* Maksadbek Alimov
6 goals
* Gregory Giovenali
* Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh
5 goals
* Farhad Tavakoli
* Mohammad Keshavarz
* Jetsada Chudech
4 goals
* Ghodrat Bahadori
* Mohammad Taheri
* Waleed Khalid
* Kaoru Morioka
* Kazuhiro Nibuya
* Apiwat Chaemcharoen
* Dilshod Rakhmatov
* Trần Văn Vũ
3 goals
* Jarrod Basger
* Daniel Fogarty
* Hamid Ahmadi
* Saif Abdulmalek
* Rafael Henmi
* Ulanbek Baigazy
* Hadi Jaber
* Lucas Oliveira
* Essam Atiah
* Jirawat Sornwichian
* Wiwat Thaijaruen
* Phùng Trọng Luân
2 goals
* Tobias Seeto
* Wang Hongwei
* Chu Chia-wei
* Lin Chih-hung
* Rafid Hameed
* Salim Faisal
* Ryosuke Nishitani
* Manabu Takita
* Tomoaki Watanabe
* Samer Samih
* Ilias Chotbaev
* Mohamad Kobeissy
* Ali Tneich
* Afif Asyraf
* Nekruz Alimakhmadov
* Rahmonali Sharipov
* Davron Choriev
* Artur Yunusov
* Dương Anh Tùng
* Lê Quốc Nam
* Nguyễn Bảo Quân
* Trần Long Vũ
1 goal
* Wade Giovenali
* Grant Lynch
* Daine Merrin
* He Yihui
* Li Jianjia
* Zeng Liang
* Zhao Liang
* Chang Chien-ying
* Chi Sheng-fa
* Huang Po-chun
* Lai Ming-hui
* Lin Chien-hsun
* Mehran Alighadr
* Alireza Vafaei
* Hussein Al-Zubaidi
* Amjad Kareem
* Firas Mohammed
* Mustafa Bachay
* Shota Hoshi
* Yuki Murota
* Nobuya Osodo
* Tomoki Yoshikawa
* Nooreddin Atef
* Mutaz Mohammad
* Ruslan Ermekov
* Rustam Ermekov
* Emil Kanetov
* Ahmad Kheir El Dine
* Hassan Zeitoun
* Akmarulnizam Idris
* Khairul Effendy
* Mohamed Ali
* Saad Bilal
* Abdulaziz Azmi
* Eihab Nasser
* Aroan Nawaf
* Jwher Zafer
* Shavqat Halimov
* Mansur Mamedbabaev
* Fayzali Sardorov
* Mehruboni Tillozoda
* Konghla Lakka
* Farkhod Abdumavlyanov
* Javlon Anorov
* Nodir Elibaev
* Dilshod Irsaliev
* Jamoliddin Shalipov
* Konstantin Sviridov
* Danh Phát
* Ngô Ngọc Sơn
* Trần Thái Huy
* Vũ Xuân Du
1 own goal
* Chang Chien-ying (against Thailand)
* Abdulaziz Azmi (against Lebanon)
* Jirawat Sornwichian (against Uzbekistan)
Source: AFC

## Awards

* Most Valuable Player: Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh
* Top Scorer: Suphawut Thueanklang
* Fair Play Award: Iran

## Final ranking

* Teams qualified for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup
| Rank | Team |
| | Iran |
| | Uzbekistan |
| | Thailand |
| 4 | Vietnam |
| 5 | Australia |
| 6 | Kyrgyzstan |
| 7 | Japan |
| 8 | Iraq |
| 9 | Qatar |
| 10 | China |
| 11 | Lebanon |
| 12 | Saudi Arabia |
| 13 | Chinese Taipei |
| 14 | Tajikistan |
| 15 | Jordan |
| 16 | Malaysia |
Source: AFC

### Qualified teams for FIFA Futsal World Cup

The following five teams from AFC qualified for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in tournament |
| Iran | 17 February 2016 | 6 (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) |
| Uzbekistan | 17 February 2016 | 0 (debut) |
| Thailand | 17 February 2016 | 4 (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) |
| Vietnam | 17 February 2016 | 0 (debut) |
| Australia | 19 February 2016 | 6 (1989, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2012) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
    $^2$ Australia qualified as a member of the OFC between 1989 and 2004.

## Broadcasting

| Territory | Channel |
| Asia-Pacific | Fox Sports Asia |
| Australia | Fox Sports Australia |
| China | Star Sports |
| Iran | IRIB 3 |
| Thailand | Channel 7 (Thailand) |
| Uzbekistan | SPORT-UZ |
| Kyrgyzstan | KTRK-Sport (Kyrgyzstan) |