| بطولة آسيا تحت 16 سنة 2020 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Bahrain |
| Dates | Cancelled [1] |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
← 2018 2023 → | |
The 2020 AFC U-16 Championship would have been the 19th edition of the AFC U-16 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-16 national teams of Asia. It was scheduled to take place in Bahrain, who had been appointed as the host by the AFC on 17 September 2019. [2] It was originally scheduled between 16 September and 3 October 2020, but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [3] [4]
The AFC announced the cancellation of the tournament on 25 January 2021, leaving the hosting rights for the 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup with Bahrain. [1]
Originally, the top four teams of the tournament would have qualified for the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru as the AFC representatives. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2021 U-17 World Cup was also cancelled, with hosting rights for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup still with Peru. [5]
This edition was expected to be the last to be played as an under-16 tournament, as the AFC have proposed switching the tournament from under-16 to under-17 starting from 2023. [6]
Japan were the defending champions.
Qualifying was played from 14 – 22 September 2019. [7] Bahrain also participated in the qualifiers, even though they had already qualified automatically as hosts.
The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament. [8]
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosts | 8th | Runners-up (1988) | |
| Group A winners | 4th | Runners-up (2018) | |
| Group B winners | 9th | Quarter-finals (2002, 2018) | |
| Group C winners | 12th | Champions (2008) | |
| Group D winners | 11th | Champions (1985, 1988) | |
| Group E winners | 11th | Champions (1990) | |
| Group F winners | 8th | Runners-up (1990) | |
| Group G winners | 15th | Champions (1992, 2004) | |
| Group H winners | 7th | Semi-finals (2010, 2014, 2018) | |
| Group I winners | 12th | Champions (2010, 2014) | |
| Group J winners | 16th | Champions (1994, 2006, 2018) | |
| Group K winners | 15th | Champions (1986, 2002) | |
| 1st best runners-up | 6th | Runners-up (2002) | |
| 2nd best runners-up | 7th | Fourth place (1990) | |
| 3rd best runners-up | 10th | Champions (2012) | |
| 4th best runners-up | 11th | Champions (1996, 2000) |
The draw of the final tournament was held on 18 June 2020, 14:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur. [9] [10] The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship final tournament and qualification, with the hosts Bahrain automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
| Group A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group B | ||||
| Group C | ||||
| Group D |