2016 AFC U-23 Championship

2016 AFC U-23 Championship
The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2016 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the second 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. The tournament was held in Qatar between 12–30 January 2016. A total of 16 teams compete in the tournament. The tournament was also renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship".
For the first time, the AFC U-23 Championship acted as the AFC qualifiers for the Olympic football tournament, replacing the previous process of home-and-away Olympic qualifiers. The top three teams of the tournament qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Brazil as the AFC representatives.
Japan won the tournament with a 3–2 final win over South Korea. Both finalists and third-placed Iraq qualified for the Olympics.
Host selection
Qatar was one of the countries which came forward wishing to host the finals competition. They were selected over the other bidding nations Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Qualification
The qualifiers draw was held on Thursday, 4 December 2014. A total of 43 teams were drawn into ten groups, with the ten group winners and the five best runners-up qualifying for the final tournament, together with Qatar who qualified automatically as hosts.
Qualification rounds were played between 23–31 March 2015, except for Group B which was scheduled to be held in Lahore, Pakistan, but was postponed due to the Lahore church bombings.
Qualified teams
The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.
Venues
The tournament was held in four stadiums, located in the cities of Al Rayyan and Doha.
Draw
The draw for the final tournament was held on 12 September 2015, 12:00 AST (UTC+3), at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their performance in the previous edition in 2013.
Match officials
The following referees were chosen for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship.
Referees
Chris Beath
Ma Ning
Alireza Faghani
Ali Sabah
Ryuji Sato
Adham Makhadmeh
Kim Jong-hyeok
Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob
Ahmed Al-Kaf
Abdulrahman Al-Jassim
Fahad Al-Mirdasi
Dmitriy Mashentsev
Hettikamkanamge Perera
Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed
Ilgiz Tantashev
Assistant referees
Nawaf Moosa
Wang Dexin
Reza Sokhandan
Haruhiro Otsuka
Ahmed Al Roalle
Yoon Kwang-yeol
Mohd Yusri Mohamad
Abu Bakar Al-Amri
Taleb Al-Marri
Saud Al-Maqaleh
Mohammed Al Abakry
Abdullah Al-Shalawi
Ismailzhan Talipzhanov
Deniye Gedara Palitha Parakkrama Hemathunga
Yu Hsu Min
Mohamed Al-Hammadi
Hasan Al-Mahri
Jakhongir Saidov
Squads
Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team could register a maximum of 23 players (minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers).
As the tournament was not held during the FIFA International Match Calendar, clubs were not obligated to release the players.
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, AST (UTC+3).
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary.
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Winners qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.
Third place play-off
Winner qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.
Final
Winners
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
Statistics
Goalscorers
6 goals
Ahmed Alaa
5 goals
Kwon Chang-hoon
4 goals
Abdelkarim Hassan
Moon Chang-jin
3 goals
Liao Lisheng
Yuya Kubo
Omar Kharbin
2 goals
Amir Arsalan Motahari
Amjad Attwan
Ali Husni
Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
Takuma Asano
Shoya Nakajima
Shinya Yajima
Baha' Faisal
Kim Yong-il
Ryu Seung-woo
Dostonbek Khamdamov
1 goal
James Donachie
Jamie Maclaren
Chang Feiya
Ali Karimi
Milad Mohammadi
Ehsan Pahlavan
Mehdi Torabi
Amjad Waleed
Ali Faez Atia
Ayman Hussein
Mahdi Kamel
Humam Tariq
Saad Natiq
Riki Harakawa
Yōsuke Ideguchi
Ryota Oshima
Musashi Suzuki
Yuta Toyokawa
Naomichi Ueda
Omar Manasrah
Jang Kuk-chol
So Kyong-jin
Yun Il-gwang
Kim Hyun
Kim Seung-jun
Jin Seong-uk
Akram Afif
Almoez Ali
Ali Assad
Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi
Fahad Al-Muwallad
Mohammed Al-Saiari
Mohamed Kanno
Abdullah Madu
Yousef Kalfa
Mahmoud Al Baher
Pinyo Inpinit
Narubadin Weerawatnodom
Chanathip Songkrasin
Mohamed Al-Akbari
Ahmed Al Attas
Timur Khakimov
Jaloliddin Masharipov
Igor Sergeev
Javokhir Sokhibov
Đỗ Duy Mạnh
Nguyễn Công Phượng
Nguyễn Tuấn Anh
Ahmed Al-Sarori
1 own goal
Giancarlo Gallifuoco (playing against United Arab Emirates)
Alaa Ali Mhawi (playing against United Arab Emirates)
Thossawat Limwannasathian (playing against North Korea)
Phạm Hoàng Lâm (playing against United Arab Emirates)
Tournament team rankings
Qualified teams for Olympics
The following three teams from AFC qualified for the Olympic football tournament.
1 Italic indicates host for that year. Statistics include all Olympic format (current Olympic under-23 format started in 1992).
Broadcasting rights
Controversies
Qatar, Syria and Yemen each had at least two players born on 1 January 1993, the cut off date for eligibility in this tournament.
Notes
References
External links
, the-AFC.com
2016
U-23 Championship
Football at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification
2015–16 in Qatari football
International association football competitions hosted by Qatar
AFC
January 2016 sports events in Asia