2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification

2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification
Tournament details
Host countriesQatar (Group A)
Tajikistan (Group B)
Bahrain (Group C)
Uzbekistan (Group D)
United Arab Emirates (Group E)
Jordan (Group F)
Tajikistan (Group G)
Singapore (Group H)
Kyrgyzstan (Group I)
Mongolia (Group J)
Japan (Group K)
Dates23 October – 2 November 2021[1]
Teams38 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)12 (in 10 host cities)
Tournament statistics
Matches played50
Goals scored146 (2.92 per match)
Attendance29,433 (589 per match)
Top scorer(s)South Korea Park Jeong-in
(5 goals)
← 2020
2024 →

The 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification was an international men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.

A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Uzbekistan who qualified automatically as hosts country.[2]

Due to non-compliance to doping regulations, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Indonesia and Thailand from using their national flags in competitions, except during the Olympics.[3][4] It was reported that Indonesia prepared the flag of its federation, in the event its team was barred from using the national flag.[5]

Draw

[edit]

Out of the 47 AFC member associations, a total of 42 teams entered the competition. The final tournament hosts Uzbekistan decided to participate in qualification. Their matches were not taken into account when calculating the group ranking and best second-placed teams among the groups.

The draw was held on 9 July 2021, 12:00 (UTC+5), in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[6] The 42 teams were drawn into nine groups of four teams and two groups of three teams. For the draw, teams were divided into two zones:

  • West Zone: 23 teams from West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, to be drawn into five groups of four teams and one group of three teams (Groups A–F).
  • East Zone: 19 teams from ASEAN and East Asia, to be drawn into four groups of four teams and one group of three teams (Groups G–K).

The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification (overall ranking shown in parentheses). The eleven teams which indicated their intention to serve as qualification group hosts prior to the draw were drawn into separate groups.

On 29 July, North Korea withdrew from the competition due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, to better balance of the number of teams across all groups, the AFC conducted a draw on 11 August to move one team from Groups G to J, which was Hong Kong, who were placed in Group K.[7] On 11 October, China also withdrew from the competition for the same reason, leaving Group G with only two teams.[8]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
West Zone
  1.  Saudi Arabia (2)
  2.  Syria (4)
  3.  Jordan (5) (H)
  4.  United Arab Emirates (7) (H)
  5.  Iran (8)
  6.  Iraq (9)
  1.  Qatar (10) (H)
  2.  Bahrain (13) (H)
  3.  Tajikistan (16) (H)
  4.  Oman (17)
  5.  Palestine (20)
  6.  Bangladesh (23)
  1.  Kuwait (24) (H)
  2.  Afghanistan (25) (W)
  3.  Turkmenistan (26)
  4.  India (27)
  5.  Lebanon (30)
  6.  Yemen (33)
  1.  Kyrgyzstan (36) (H)*
  2.    Nepal (37)
  3.  Maldives (40)
  4.  Sri Lanka (41)
  5.  Uzbekistan (Q), (H)*
East Zone
  1.  South Korea (1)
  2.  Australia (3)
  3.  Thailand (6)
  4.  North Korea (11) (W)
  5.  Vietnam (12)
  1.  Japan (14) (H)*
  2.  China (15) (W)
  3.  Malaysia (18)
  4.  Myanmar (19)
  5.  Singapore (21) (H)
  1.  Hong Kong (22)
  2.  Indonesia (28) (H)
  3.  Laos (29)
  4.  Cambodia (31)
  5.  East Timor (32)
  1.  Chinese Taipei (34) (H)
  2.  Mongolia (35) (H)
  3.  Philippines (38)
  4.  Brunei (39) (W)
Notes
  • Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
  • (H): Qualification group hosts determined before the draw
  • (H)*: Qualification group hosts determined after the draw
  • (Q): Final tournament hosts, automatically qualified regardless of qualification results
  • (W): Withdrew after draw
Did not enter
West Zone
East Zone
Notes
  • (X): Suspended

Draw result

[edit]

The draw resulted in following groups.

Group A
Pos Team
A1  Syria
A2  Qatar
A3  Yemen
A4  Sri Lanka
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Iran
B2  Tajikistan
B3  Lebanon
B4    Nepal
Group C
Pos Team
C1  Iraq
C2  Bahrain
C3  Afghanistan[a]
C4  Maldives
Group D
Pos Team
D1  Saudi Arabia
D2  Bangladesh
D3  Kuwait
D4  Uzbekistan
Group E
Pos Team
E1  United Arab Emirates
E2  Oman
E3  India
E4  Kyrgyzstan
Group F
Pos Team
F1  Jordan
F2  Palestine
F3  Turkmenistan
Group G
Pos Team
G1  Australia
G2  China[a]
G3  Indonesia
G4  Brunei[a]
Group H
Pos Team
H1  South Korea
H2  Singapore
H3  East Timor
H4  Philippines
Group I
Pos Team
I1  Vietnam
I2  Myanmar
I3  Chinese Taipei
Group J
Pos Team
J1  Thailand
J2  Malaysia
J3  Laos
J4  Mongolia
Group K
Pos Team
K1  Hong Kong
K2  Japan
K3  Cambodia
K4  North Korea[a]

Bold indicates that the team has qualified for the final tournament.

  1. ^ a b c d Withdrew from the tournament.

Player eligibility

[edit]

Players born on or after 1 January 1999 were eligible to compete in the tournament.[9]

Format

[edit]

In each group, teams played each other once at a centralized venue. The eleven group winners and the four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.

In group G, after the withdrawal of Brunei and China PR, the two teams left (Australia and Indonesia) played each other twice. The winner qualified for the final tournament, with the loser eliminated.[10][11][12]

Tiebreakers

[edit]

Teams were 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 were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. 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 were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
  8. 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);
  9. Drawing of lots.

Groups

[edit]

All matches were played between 23 October and 2 November 2021.

Group A

[edit]
  • All matches were held in Qatar.
  • Times listed are UTC+3.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Qatar (H) 3 2 1 0 9 1 +8 7 Final tournament
2  Syria 3 1 2 0 6 1 +5 5
3  Yemen 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
4  Sri Lanka 3 0 0 3 0 13 −13 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Qatar 3–0 Yemen
  • Ali 14', 42'
  • Mohammed 63'
 Report
Attendance: 543
Referee: Ma Ning (China PR)
Syria 5–0 Sri Lanka
 Report
Attendance: 340
Referee: Chen Hsin-chuan (Chinese Taipei)
Sri Lanka 0–5 Qatar
Report
Attendance: 255
Referee: Baraa Aisha (Palestine)
Yemen 0–0 Syria
Report
Attendance: 214
Referee: Ismaeel Habib (Bahrain)
Syria 1–1 Qatar
 Report
Attendance: 460
Referee: Ahmad Yacoub Ibrahim (Jordan)
Yemen 3–0 Sri Lanka
 Report
Attendance: 50
Referee: Baraa Aisha (Palestine)

Group B

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iran 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 9 Final tournament
2  Tajikistan (H) 3 2 0 1 9 3 +6 6
3  Lebanon 3 1 0 2 4 3 +1 3
4    Nepal 3 0 0 3 0 14 −14 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Iran 4–0   Nepal
 Report
Attendance: 250
Tajikistan 1–0 Lebanon
 Report
Attendance: 4,200
Lebanon 0–2 Iran
Report
Attendance: 450
Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar (India)
Nepal   0–6 Tajikistan
Report
Attendance: 4,500
Referee: Ammar Ashkanani (Kuwait)
Lebanon 4–0   Nepal
 Report
Attendance: 200
Referee: Adam Fazeel (Maldives)
Iran 3–2 Tajikistan
 Report
Attendance: 7,200
Referee: Kim Woo-sung (South Korea)

Group C

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iraq 2 2 0 0 7 0 +7 6 Final tournament
2  Bahrain (H) 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3
3  Maldives 2 0 0 2 0 7 −7 0
4  Afghanistan[a] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Withdrew
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ Afghanistan withdrew from the tournament on 25 October 2021 as they were not able to reach Bahrain before the first match due to absence of timely flights from Kabul as per an official statement.[13]
Iraq 4–0 Maldives
 Report
Attendance: 50
Referee: Salman Ahmad Falahi (Qatar)
Maldives 0–3 Bahrain
Report
Attendance: 125
Referee: Shukri Al-Hunfush (Saudi Arabia)
Iraq 3–0 Bahrain
 Report
Attendance: 200
Referee: Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan)

Group D

[edit]
  • All matches were held in Uzbekistan.
  • Times listed are UTC+5.
  • Uzbekistan already qualified to the final tournament as host country, so their matches were not taken into account when calculating the group ranking.
  • Originally Kuwait was supposed to host group D; however, the AFC changed host country due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. On 19 October 2021, Uzbekistan was named replacement host.[14]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Kuwait 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2 6 Final tournament
2  Saudi Arabia 2 1 0 1 4 2 +2 3
3  Bangladesh 2 0 0 2 0 4 −4 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Bangladesh 0–1 Kuwait
Report Ayedh 19'
Attendance: 20
Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)
Uzbekistan 2–2 Saudi Arabia
 Report
Attendance: 571
Referee: Yūsuke Araki (Japan)
Kuwait 2–1 Saudi Arabia
 Report
Attendance: 100
Referee: Omar Mohammed Al Ali (United Arab Emirates)
Uzbekistan 6–0 Bangladesh
 Report
Attendance: 2,169
Referee: Mohammad Ghabayen (Jordan)
Saudi Arabia 3–0 Bangladesh
 Report
Attendance: 100
Referee: Yusuke Araki (Japan)
Kuwait 1–5 Uzbekistan
 Report
Attendance: 213
Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain)

Group E

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  United Arab Emirates (H) 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6 Final tournament
2  India 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4[a]
3  Kyrgyzstan 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4[a]
4  Oman 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Penalty shoot-out: India 4–2 Kyrgyzstan
United Arab Emirates 1–2 Kyrgyzstan
 Report
Attendance: 100
Referee: Mongkolchai Pechsri (Thailand)
Oman 1–2 India
 Report
Attendance: 25
Kyrgyzstan 0–1 Oman
Report
Attendance: 0
India 0–1 United Arab Emirates
Report
Attendance: 100
Referee: Fu Ming (China)
United Arab Emirates 2–0 Oman
 Report
Attendance: 150
Referee: Mongkolchai Pechsri (Thailand)
India 0–0 Kyrgyzstan
Report
Penalties
 4–2
Attendance: 100
Referee: Javiz Mohamed (Maldives)

Group F

[edit]
  • All matches were held in Jordan.
  • Times listed are UTC+2.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Jordan (H) 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4 Final tournament
2  Turkmenistan 2 1 0 1 3 2 +1 3
3  Palestine 2 0 1 1 2 4 −2 1
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Turkmenistan 0–1 Jordan
Report
Attendance: 620
Referee: Yu Ming-hsun (Chinese Taipei)
Palestine 1–3 Turkmenistan
 Report
Attendance: 73
Jordan 1–1 Palestine
 Report
Attendance: 850
Referee: Bijan Heidari (Iran)

Group G

[edit]
  • Both matches were held in Tajikistan.
  • Times listed are UTC+5.
  • After the withdrawal of Brunei and China PR, the remaining teams left played each other twice. The winner qualified for the final tournament, with the loser eliminated.[10][11][12]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Australia 2 2 0 0 4 2 +2 6 Final tournament
2  Indonesia 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2 0
3  China[a] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Withdrew
4  Brunei[b] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ China PR withdrew from the competition on October 11 due to COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
  2. ^ Brunei withdrew from the competition on September 3.[15]
Indonesia 2–3 Australia
 Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Kim Woo-sung (South Korea)
Australia 1–0 Indonesia
 Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Khalid Al-Turais (Saudi Arabia)

Group H

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  South Korea 3 3 0 0 14 1 +13 9 Final tournament
2  Singapore (H) 3 1 1 1 4 7 −3 4
3  East Timor 3 1 1 1 3 8 −5 4
4  Philippines 3 0 0 3 0 5 −5 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
South Korea 3–0 Philippines
 Report
Attendance: 400
Singapore 2–2 East Timor
 Report
Attendance: 553
East Timor 0–6 South Korea
Report
Attendance: 166
Referee: Ngô Duy Lân (Vietnam)
Philippines 0–1 Singapore
Report
Attendance: 984
Referee: Zaid Thamer (Iraq)
East Timor 1–0 Philippines
 Report
Attendance: 251
South Korea 5–1 Singapore
 Report
Attendance: 993
Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)

Group I

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Vietnam 2 2 0 0 2 0 +2 6 Final tournament
2  Myanmar 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3
3  Chinese Taipei 2 0 0 2 0 2 −2 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Chinese Taipei 0–1 Vietnam
Report Lê Văn Xuân 82'
Attendance: 0
Referee: Chae Sang-hyeop (South Korea)
Myanmar 1–0 Chinese Taipei
 Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Sayyodjon Zayniddinov (Tajikistan)
Vietnam 1–0 Myanmar
 Report
Attendance: 0

Group J

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Malaysia 3 2 1 0 2 0 +2 7 Final tournament
2  Thailand 3 1 2 0 4 1 +3 5
3  Laos 3 1 0 2 3 6 −3 3
4  Mongolia (H) 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Thailand 1–1 Mongolia
 Report
Attendance: 312
Malaysia 1–0 Laos
 Report
Attendance: 75
Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)
Mongolia 0–1 Malaysia
Report
Attendance: 482
Referee: Syedvahid Kazemi (Iran)
Laos 0–3 Thailand
Report
Attendance: 128
Referee: Akhrol Riskullayev (Uzbekistan)
Thailand 0–0 Malaysia
Report
Attendance: 58
Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)
Laos 3–2 Mongolia
 Report
Attendance: 803
Referee: Yahya Al-Mulla (United Arab Emirates)

Group K

[edit]
  • All matches were held in Japan.
  • Times listed are UTC+9.
  • DPR Korea withdrew from the competition on 29 July. They were replaced by a team initially drawn in Group G–J (excluding host countries and teams from Pot 1), which was determined by a draw on 11 August to be Hong Kong.[7]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Japan (H) 2 2 0 0 8 0 +8 6 Final tournament
2  Cambodia 2 1 0 1 4 6 −2 3
3  Hong Kong 2 0 0 2 2 8 −6 0
4  North Korea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Withdrew[7]
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Cambodia 4–2 Hong Kong
 Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Payam Heydari (Iran)
Japan 4–0 Cambodia
 Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Shaun Evans (Australia)
Hong Kong 0–4 Japan
Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Bold Khash-Erdene (Mongolia)

Ranking of second-placed teams

[edit]

Due to groups having different numbers of teams, the results against the fourth-placed teams in four-team groups were not considered for this ranking.

Exceptions:

  • In Group D, the results against the host country Uzbekistan were not considered.
  • In Group G, the runners-up results were not considered for this ranking, as the group contained only two teams.[10][11][12]
Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 J  Thailand 2 1 1 0 3 0 +3 4 Final tournament
2 D  Saudi Arabia 2 1 0 1 4 2 +2 3
3 F  Turkmenistan 2 1 0 1 3 2 +1 3
4 B  Tajikistan 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3[a]
5 C  Bahrain 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3[a]
6 I  Myanmar 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3
7 K  Cambodia 2 1 0 1 4 6 −2 3
8 A  Syria 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2
9 E  India 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 1
10 H  Singapore 2 0 1 1 3 7 −4 1
Source: AFC
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Disciplinary points: Tajikistan –1, Bahrain –2.

Goalscorers

[edit]

There were 114 individuals who scored at least 1 goal.

There were 146 goals scored in 50 matches, for an average of 2.92 goals per match.

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Source: AFC

Qualified teams

[edit]

The following teams qualified for the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous qualifications
 Uzbekistan Hosts 18 March 2021 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020)
 Qatar Group A winners 31 October 2021 3 (2016, 2018, 2020)
 Iran Group B winners 31 October 2021 3 (2013, 2016, 2020)
 Iraq Group C winners 31 October 2021 4 (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020)
 Kuwait Group D winners 30 October 2021 1 (2013)
 United Arab Emirates Group E winners 30 October 2021 3 (2013, 2016, 2020)
 Jordan Group F winners 31 October 2021 4 (2013,