AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Updated: 5/24/2026, 7:19:53 PM Wikipedia source
The AFC U-23 Asian Cup, previously the AFC U-22 Championship and AFC U-23 Championship, is a biennial international football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. Each edition of the tournament that is in a year divisible by four is linked to the qualification process for the Olympic Games, whereby the top two teams in the tournament qualify directly. The first edition was initially set to be held in 2013 and its qualification matches in 2014, but the finals tournament was postponed to be played in January 2014 due to the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup. In 2016 the tournament was also renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship". The tournament was rebranded as the "AFC U-23 Asian Cup" in 2021. In July 2023, the AFC announced that each non-Olympic edition of the tournament would be hosted by the same association hosting the next AFC Asian Cup. However, on 24 May 2024, AFC announced that the tournament will be held quadrennially from 2028, with the last non-Olympic qualifiers’ edition held in 2026.
Infobox
Tables
| Ed. | Year | Hosts | Final | Third place match | ||||||
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | |||||
| 1 | 2013 | Oman | Iraq | 1–0 | Saudi Arabia | Jordan | 0–0 (a .) (3–2 p) | South Korea | ||
| 2 | 2016 | Qatar | Japan | 3–2 | South Korea | Iraq | 2–1 (a .) | Qatar | ||
| 3 | 2018 | China | Uzbekistan | 2–1 (a .) | Vietnam | Qatar | 1–0 | South Korea | ||
| 4 | 2020 | Thailand | South Korea | 1–0 (a .) | Saudi Arabia | Australia | 1–0 | Uzbekistan | ||
| 5 | 2022 | Uzbekistan | Saudi Arabia | 2–0 | Uzbekistan | Japan | 3–0 | Australia | ||
| 6 | 2024 | Qatar | Japan | 1–0 | Uzbekistan | Iraq | 2–1 (a .) | Indonesia | ||
| 7 | 2026 | Saudi Arabia | Japan | 4–0 | China | Vietnam | 2–2 (a .) (7–6 p) | South Korea | ||
| Team | Title(s) | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total |
| Japan | 3 (2016, 2024, 2026) | – | 1 (2022) | – | 4 |
| Uzbekistan | 1 (2018) | 2 (2022, 2024) | – | 1 (2020) | 4 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 (2022) | 2 (2013, 2020) | – | – | 3 |
| South Korea | 1 (2020) | 1 (2016) | – | 3 (2013, 2018, 2026) | 5 |
| Iraq | 1 (2013) | – | 2 (2016, 2024) | – | 3 |
| Vietnam | – | 1 (2018) | 1 (2026) | – | 2 |
| China | – | 1 (2026) | – | – | 1 |
| Qatar | – | – | 1 (2018) | 1 (2016) | 2 |
| Australia | – | – | 1 (2020) | 1 (2022) | 2 |
| Jordan | – | – | 1 (2013) | – | 1 |
| Indonesia | – | – | – | 1 (2024) | 1 |
| Rank | Team | Part | M | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Point(s) |
| 1 | Japan | 7 | 35 | 24 | 5 | 6 | 68 | 26 | +42 | 77 |
| 2 | South Korea | 7 | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 60 | 36 | +24 | 77 |
| 3 | Uzbekistan | 7 | 34 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 61 | 27 | +34 | 62 |
| 4 | Iraq | 7 | 32 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 51 | 33 | +18 | 62 |
| 5 | Saudi Arabia | 7 | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 47 | 28 | +19 | 54 |
| 6 | Australia | 7 | 29 | 12 | 6 | 11 | 26 | 29 | −3 | 42 |
| 7 | Qatar | 6 | 25 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 35 | 37 | –2 | 40 |
| 8 | Jordan | 7 | 27 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 35 |
| 9 | Vietnam | 6 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 32 | 37 | −5 | 32 |
| 10 | United Arab Emirates | 6 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 29 | −9 | 24 |
| 11 | Syria | 5 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 24 | −8 | 20 |
| 12 | Iran | 5 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 20 | −2 | 18 |
| 13 | Thailand | 6 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 15 |
| 14 | China | 6 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 16 | 29 | −13 | 15 |
| 15 | North Korea | 4 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 19 | −4 | 13 |
| 16 | Indonesia | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 7 |
| 17 | Palestine | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 4 |
| 18 | Turkmenistan | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 |
| 19 | Kuwait | 3 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 19 | −14 | 4 |
| 20 | Malaysia | 3 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 22 | −16 | 4 |
| 21 | Lebanon | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 3 |
| 22 | Oman | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 3 |
| 23 | Tajikistan | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 18 | −13 | 3 |
| 24 | Bahrain | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 |
| 25 | Kyrgyzstan | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0 |
| 26 | Myanmar | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 13 | −12 | 0 |
| 27 | Yemen | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 15 | −13 | 0 |
| Regional federation | Champion(s) | Title(s) |
| EAFF (East Asia) | Japan (3) South Korea (1) | 4 |
| WAFF (West Asia) | Iraq (1) Saudi Arabia (1) | 2 |
| CAFA (Central Asia) | Uzbekistan (1) | 1 |
| AFF (Southeast Asia) | – | 0 |
| SAFF (South Asia) | – | 0 |
| Teams | 2013 | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 | 2026 | Total |
| Australia | QF | GS | GS | 3rd | 4th | GS | QF | 7 |
| Bahrain | • | • | • | GS | • | • | • | 1 |
| China | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | GS | 2nd | 6 |
| Indonesia | • | • | • | • | • | 4th | • | 1 |
| Iran | GS | QF | • | GS | GS | • | GS | 5 |
| Iraq | 1st | 3rd | QF | GS | QF | 3rd | GS | 7 |
| Japan | QF | 1st | QF | GS | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 7 |
| Jordan | 3rd | QF | GS | QF | GS | GS | QF | 7 |
| Kuwait | GS | • | × | • | GS | GS | • | 3 |
| Kyrgyzstan | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | 1 |
| Lebanon | • | • | • | • | • | • | GS | 1 |
| Malaysia | • | • | QF | • | GS | GS | • | 3 |
| Myanmar | GS | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| North Korea | GS | QF | GS | GS | × | × | × | 4 |
| Oman | GS | • | GS | • | • | • | • | 2 |
| Palestine | • | • | QF | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Qatar | • | 4th | 3rd | GS | GS | QF | GS | 6 |
| Saudi Arabia | 2nd | GS | GS | 2nd | 1st | QF | GS | 7 |
| South Korea | 4th | 2nd | 4th | 1st | QF | QF | 4th | 7 |
| Syria | QF | GS | GS | QF | • | • | GS | 5 |
| Tajikistan | • | • | • | • | GS | GS | • | 2 |
| Thailand | • | GS | GS | QF | GS | GS | GS | 6 |
| Turkmenistan | • | • | • | • | QF | • | • | 1 |
| United Arab Emirates | QF | QF | • | QF | GS | GS | QF | 6 |
| Uzbekistan | GS | GS | 1st | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | QF | 7 |
| Vietnam | • | GS | 2nd | GS | QF | QF | 3rd | 6 |
| Yemen | GS | GS | × | • | • | • | • | 2 |
| Total | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
References
- The-AFChttps://web.archive.org/web/20120918014325/http://www.the-afc.com/en/news/35851-call-to-improve-afc-competitions
- "Fifteen sides storm to U-22 finals"http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/men-a-youth/afc-u22-championship/39647-U-22-Championship-qualifiers-conclude
- The-AFChttps://web.archive.org/web/20120802224922/http://www.the-afc.com/en/news/38458-afc-competitions-committee-takes-key-decisions
- "AFC Competitions Committee meeting"http://www.the-afc.com/standing-committee/afc-competitions-committee-meeting
- "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups"https://www.the-afc.com/competitions/afc-beach-soccer-championship/latest/news/afc-rebrands-age-group-championships-to-afc-asian-cups
- "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions"https://www.the-afc.com/en/more/afc_competitions/news/afc_competitions_committee_approves_key_decisions_on_reformatted_competitions_1.html
- "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee"https://www.the-afc.com/en/about_afc/cfed/news/pivotal_reforms_approved_by_afc_competitions_committee.html
- The-AFChttps://web.archive.org/web/20120802203121/http://www.the-afc.com/en/news-centre/inside-afc/676-afc-news/35931-afc-announces-key-competition-decisions