2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup

2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup
The 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup was the 5th edition of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup (prior to 2021 known as the AFC U-23 Championship), a biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. The players had to be born on or after 1 January 1999.
The tournament was originally going to be held in Uzbekistan from 6–24 January 2022, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and rescheduled to 1–19 June 2022. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament.
South Korea were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Japan in the quarter-finals, failing to finish among the top 4 for the first time. Saudi Arabia became the fifth different country to win the tournament, beating hosts Uzbekistan in the final.
Host selection
Originally, it was determined that China would host the tournament, as a preparatory competition ahead of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. However, they withdrew from hosting the tournament in October 2020 due to scheduling conflicts, stadium completion timelines ahead of other international events and challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 18 March 2021, the AFC announced that Uzbekistan will host the tournament.
Qualification
Qualification matches were played between 23 October and 2 November 2021.
Qualified teams
Venues
Match officials
The following referees and assistant referees were appointed for the tournament. Video assistant referees were used in this tournament.
Referees
Jonathan Barreiro
Shaun Evans
Alex King
Fu Ming
Ma Ning
Ali Sabah
Mohanad Qasim Sarray
Yusuke Araki
Jumpei Iida
Yudai Yamamoto
Kim Hee-gon
Kim Woo-sung
Ahmad Faisal Al-Ali
Ammar Ashkanani
Ali Shaban
Ahmed Al-Kaf
Abdulla Al-Marri
Saoud Ali Al-Adba
Salman Ahmad Falahi
Mohammed Al-Hoaish
Majed Al Shamrani
Khalid Al-Turais
Muhammad Taqi
Hettikamkanamge Perera
Hanna Hattab
Mongkolchai Pechsri
Sivakorn Pu-udom
Omar Al-Ali
Yahya Al-Mulla
Adel Al-Naqbi
Aziz Asimov
Akhrol Riskullaev
Rustam Lutfullin
Ilgiz Tantashev
Assistant referees
Owen Goldrick
George Lakrindis
Cao Yi
Shi Xiang
Watheq Al-Swaiedi
Haider Ali Al-Ubaidee
Isao Nishihashi
Takumi Takagi
Jang Jong-pil
Song Bong-keun
Abdulhadi Al-Anezi
Abbas Gholoum
Abu Bakar Al-Amri
Rashid Al-Ghaithi
Yousuf Al-Shamari
Zahy Al-Shammari
Khalaf Al-Shammari
Yasir Al-Sultan
Palitha Hemathunga
Ali Ahmad
Tanate Chuchuen
Rawut Nakarit
Sabet Al-Ali
Ali Al-Nuaimi
Andrey Tsapenko
Draw
The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams, with seeding based on their performance at the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship. The draw took place at the Milliy Stadium at 12:00 PM, February 17.
Squads
Players born on or after 1 January 1999 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team have to register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, a minimum three of whom must be selected as goalkeepers (Regulations Article 26.3).
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, UT (UTC+5).
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Articles 10.1 and 10.3).
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
Final
Winners
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
Goalscorers
Tournament team rankings
Notes
References
External links
, the-AFC.com
Competition Regulation (Archived)
2022
U-23 Asian Cup
2022 in youth association football
2022 in Uzbekistani sport
June 2022 sports events in Asia
International association football competitions hosted by Uzbekistan