International football competition
The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification was an international men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.
A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including China PR who qualified automatically as hosts.[2]
Draw
Of the 47 AFC member associations, a total of 40 teams entered the competition. The final tournament hosts China PR decided to participate in qualification despite having automatically qualified for the final tournament.[3]
The draw was held on 17 March 2017, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[4] The 40 teams were drawn into ten groups of four teams. For the draw, teams were divided into two zones:
The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament and qualification. The following restrictions were also applied:[5]
- The nine teams which indicated their intention to serve as qualification group hosts prior to the draw were drawn into separate groups.
- As Iran and Saudi Arabia refused to travel to each other's country, they would not be drawn into the same group.
- As Iran, Syria and Lebanon had indicated they would not travel to Palestine, they would not be drawn into the group hosted by Palestine.
- Notes
- Teams in bold qualified for the final tournament.
- (H): Qualification group hosts (* Cambodia chosen as qualification group hosts after the draw)
- (Q): Final tournament hosts, automatically qualified regardless of qualification results
- (W): Withdrew after draw
Player eligibility
Players born on or after 1 January 1995 were eligible to compete in the tournament.[7]
Format
In each group, teams played each other once at a centralised venue. The ten group winners and the five best runners-up qualified for the final tournament. If the final tournament hosts China PR won their group or were among the five best runners-up, the sixth best runner-up also qualified for the final tournament.[4]
Tiebreakers
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 (Regulations Article 9.3):[7]
- 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.
Groups
The matches were played between 15 and 23 July 2017.
Group A
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group B
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group C
- All matches were held in Qatar.
- Times listed were UTC+3.
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group D
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group E
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group F
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group G
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group H
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group I
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group J
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
- ^ China PR, as final tournament hosts, are automatically qualified regardless of qualification results.
Ranking of second-placed teams
Due to groups having different number of teams after the withdrawal of Sri Lanka from Group A, the results against the fourth-placed teams in four-team groups were not considered for this ranking.
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) disciplinary points; 5) drawing of lots.
Notes:
- ^ a b Ranked by disciplinary points (Iran: 0 pts; Myanmar: 6 pts).
Qualified teams
The following 16 teams qualified for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
Goalscorers
There were 205 goals scored in 57 matches, for an average of 3.6 goals per match.
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Notes
- ^ The match between Thailand and Mongolia was postponed due to heavy rain from 19:00 to 20:10.
References
- ^ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2017 (UPDATED) Updated as of 12 April 2016" (PDF). The-AFC.com. 12 April 2016.
- ^ a b "AFC Competitions Committee recommends new AFC Cup format". AFC. 25 November 2016.
- ^ "Stage Set For AFC U-23 Championship 2018 Qualifiers Draw". AFC. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- ^ a b "AFC U-23 Championship 2018 hopefuls learn their opponents". AFC. 17 March 2017.
- ^ "AFC U-23 CHINA 2018 QUALIFIERS - Official Draw". YouTube. 17 March 2017.
- ^ "FIFA Congress drives football forward, first female secretary general appointed". FIFA. Archived from the original on May 16, 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ a b "Regulations AFC U-23 Championship 2018" (PDF). AFC.
External links
- AFC U-23 Championship, the-AFC.com
- AFC U-23 Championship 2018, stats.the-AFC.com