AFC U-23 Asian Cup

AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Organising body	AFC
Founded	2012 (as AFC U-22 Championship)
Region	Asia
Number of teams	16
Current champions	Japan (2nd title)
Most successful team(s)	Japan (2 titles)
	2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification

Last updated September 10, 2025

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 three teams in the tournament qualify directly and the fourth-placed team may enter an intercontinental play-off match depending on the slot allocations.

The first edition was initially set to be held in 2013 and its qualification matches in 2024 , but the finals tournament was postponed to be played in January 2014 due to the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup.^[1]^[2]^[3] In 2016 the tournament was also renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship".^[4] The tournament was rebranded as the "AFC U-23 Asian Cup" in 2021.^[5]

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.^[6] However, on 24 May 2024, AFC announced that the tournament will be held quadrennially from 2028, effectively discontinued the non-Olympic qualifiers’ editions from 2030.^[7]

Format

The overview of the competition format in the 2016 tournament was as follows:^[8]

16 teams competed in the final tournament, including the hosts which were automatically qualified.
Teams were seeded by the result of 2013 AFC U-22 Championship.
The tournament was held in 18 days.
3 or 4 stadiums in at most 2 cities were needed to host the tournament.

In addition, players would be ineligible for participating in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup if they participated in a higher age group competition (this tournament or the AFC U-20 Asian Cup), though in reality it is rarely enforced.^[8]

Results

Tournament names

2013: AFC U-22 Championship
2016–2020: AFC U-23 Championship
2022–present: AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Edition	Year	Hosts		Champions	Score	Runners-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place
Edition	Year	Hosts		Final			Third place match
1	2013	Oman		Iraq	1–0	Saudi Arabia	Jordan	0–0( a.e.t. ) (3–2 p)	South Korea
2	2016	Qatar		Japan	3–2	South Korea	Iraq	2–1( a.e.t. )	Qatar
3	2018	China		Uzbekistan	2–1 ( a.e.t. )	Vietnam	Qatar	1–0	South Korea
4	2020	Thailand		South Korea	1–0 ( a.e.t. )	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.e.t. )	Indonesia
7	2026	Saudi Arabia	Future tournament

Teams reaching the top four

Team	Title(s)	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	Total
Japan	2 (2016, 2024)	–	1 (2022)	–	3
Uzbekistan	1 (2018)	2 ( 2022 , 2024)	–	1 (2020)	4
Saudi Arabia	1 (2022)	2 (2013, 2020)	–	–	3
South Korea	1 (2020)	1 (2016)	–	2 (2013, 2018)	4
Iraq	1 (2013)	–	2 (2016, 2024)	–	3
Vietnam	–	1 (2018)	–	–	1
Qatar	–	–	1 (2018)	1 ( 2016 )	2
Australia	–	–	1 (2020)	1 (2022)	2
Jordan	–	–	1 (2013)	–	1
Indonesia	–	–	–	1 (2024)	1

Results from host teams shown in bold

Overall team records

In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.

As of 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Rank	Team	Part	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Point(s)
1	South Korea	6	32	21	6	5	52	28	+24	69
2	Japan	6	29	19	4	6	52	25	+27	61
3	Iraq	6	29	17	9	3	49	30	+19	60
4	Uzbekistan	6	30	17	4	9	56	24	+32	55
5	Saudi Arabia	6	28	15	6	7	44	24	+20	51
6	Qatar	5	22	11	7	4	35	32	+3	40
7	Australia	6	25	10	6	9	21	24	−3	36
8	Jordan	6	23	6	10	7	24	23	+1	28
9	United Arab Emirates	5	18	5	5	8	15	22	−7	20
10	Vietnam	5	20	4	7	9	22	29	−7	19
11	Iran	4	13	4	4	5	18	19	−1	16
12	Syria	4	14	4	4	6	14	18	−4	16
13	North Korea	4	13	3	4	6	15	19	−4	13
14	Thailand	5	16	3	4	9	18	27	−9	13
15	Indonesia	1	6	2	1	3	8	9	−1	7
16	China	5	15	2	0	13	12	25	−13	6
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	Oman	2	6	1	0	5	4	8	−4	3
22	Tajikistan	2	6	1	0	5	5	18	−13	3
23	Bahrain	1	3	0	2	1	3	8	−5	2
24	Myanmar	1	3	0	0	3	1	13	−12	0
25	Yemen	2	6	0	0	6	2	15	−13	0

Champions by regions

Regional federation	Champion(s)	Title(s)
EAFF (East Asia)	Japan (2) South Korea (1)	3
WAFF (West Asia)	Iraq (1) Saudi Arabia (1)	2
CAFA (Central Asia)	Uzbekistan (1)	1
AFF (Southeast Asia)	–	0
SAFF (South Asia)	–	0

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place

QF – Quarter-finals
GS – Group stage
Q – Qualified
— Hosts

• – Did not qualify
× – Did not enter
× – Withdrew before qualification / Banned

Teams	2013	2016	2018	2020	2022	2024	2026	Total
Australia	QF	GS	GS	3rd	4th	GS	Q	7
Bahrain	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	1
China	GS	GS	GS	GS	×	GS	Q	6
Indonesia	•	•	•	•	•	4th	•	1
Iran	GS	QF	•	GS	GS	•	Q	5
Iraq	1st	3rd	QF	GS	QF	3rd	Q	7
Japan	QF	1st	QF	GS	3rd	1st	Q	7
Jordan	3rd	QF	GS	QF	GS	GS	Q	7
Kuwait	GS	•	×	•	GS	GS	•	3
Kyrgyzstan	•	•	•	•	•	•	Q	1
Lebanon	•	•	•	•	•	•	Q	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	Q	5
Saudi Arabia	2nd	GS	GS	2nd	1st	QF	Q	7
South Korea	4th	2nd	4th	1st	QF	QF	Q	7
Syria	QF	GS	GS	QF	•	•	Q	5
Tajikistan	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	•	2
Thailand	•	GS	GS	QF	GS	GS	Q	6
Turkmenistan	•	•	•	•	QF	•	•	1
United Arab Emirates	QF	QF	•	QF	GS	GS	Q	6
Uzbekistan	GS	GS	1st	4th	2nd	2nd	Q	7
Vietnam	•	GS	2nd	GS	QF	QF	Q	6
Yemen	GS	GS	×	•	•	•	•	2
Total	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Results at the Olympics (2016–present)

Nation	2016	2020	2024	2032	Years
Australia	–	12	–	Q	2
Iraq	12	–	10		2
Japan	10	4	5		3
Saudi Arabia	–	15	–		1
South Korea	5	5	–		2
Uzbekistan	–	–	13		1

Awards

Tournament	Most Valuable Player	Top goalscorer(s)	Goals	Best goalkeeper	Fair play award
2013	Amjad Kalaf	Kaveh Rezaei	5	Not awarded	South Korea
2016	Shoya Nakajima	Ahmed Alaa	6		Japan
2018	Odiljon Hamrobekov	Almoez Ali	6		Vietnam
2020	Won Du-jae	Jaroensak Wonggorn	3	Song Bum-keun	Saudi Arabia
2022	Ayman Yahya	Cho Young-wook	3	Nawaf Al-Aqidi	Saudi Arabia
2024	Joel Chima Fujita	Ali Jasim	4	Abduvohid Nematov	Uzbekistan

Winning coaches

Year	Team	Coach
2013	Iraq	Hakeem Shaker
2016	Japan	Makoto Teguramori
2018	Uzbekistan	Ravshan Khaydarov
2020	South Korea	Kim Hak-bum
2022	Saudi Arabia	Saad Al-Shehri
2024	Japan	Go Oiwa

Results by federation

— Hosts are from this federation

AFF

	2013 (16)	2016 (16)	2018 (16)	2020 (16)	2022 (16)	2024 (16)	Total
Teams	2	3	4	3	4	5	21
Top 8	1	0	2	2	2	2	9
Top 4	0	0	1	1	1	1	4
Top 2	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
1st							0
2nd							1
3rd							1
4th							2

CAFA

	2013 (16)	2016 (16)	2018 (16)	2020 (16)	2022 (16)	2024 (16)	Total
Teams	2	2	1	2	4	2	13
Top 8	0	1	1	1	2	1	6
Top 4	0	0	1	1	1	1	4
Top 2	0	0	1	0	1	1	3
1st							1
2nd							2
3rd							0
4th							1

EAFF

	2013 (16)	2016 (16)	2018 (16)	2020 (16)	2022 (16)	2024 (16)	Total
Teams	4	4	4	4	2	3	21
Top 8	2	3	2	1	2	2	12
Top 4	1	2	1	1	1	1	7
Top 2	0	2	0	1	0	1	4
1st							3
2nd							1
3rd							1
4th							2

SAFF

	2013 (16)	2016 (16)	2018 (16)	2020 (16)	2022 (16)	2024 (16)
Teams	0	0	0	0	0	0
Top 8	0	0	0	0	0	0
Top 4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th

WAFF

	2013 (16)	2016 (16)	2018 (16)	2020 (16)	2022 (16)	2024 (16)	Total
Teams	8	7	7	7	6	6	41
Top 8	5	4	3	4	2	3	21
Top 4	3	2	1	1	1	1	9
Top 2	2	0	0	1	1	0	4
1st							2
2nd							2
3rd							4
4th							1

References

↑ "Call to improve AFC competitions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
↑ "Fifteen sides storm to U-22 finals". Asian Football Confederation. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
↑ "Competitions Committee takes key decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
↑ "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". the-afc.com. 28 November 2014. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
↑ "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.
↑ "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". Asian Football Confederation. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
↑ "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee". Asian Football Confederation. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
1 2 "AFC announces key competition decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 2 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.

External links

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

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[approved-1] "Call to improve AFC competitions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.

[2] "Fifteen sides storm to U-22 finals". Asian Football Confederation. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2012.

[Competitions_Committee_takes_key_decisions-3] "Competitions Committee takes key decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.

[4] "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". the-afc.com. 28 November 2014. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.

[5] "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.

[6] "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". Asian Football Confederation. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.

[7] "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee". Asian Football Confederation. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.

[format-8] 1 2 "AFC announces key competition decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 2 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011.

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