WAFF U-23 Championship

WAFF U-23 Championship
Organising bodyWAFF
Founded2015
RegionWest Asia
Number of teams11
Current champions South Korea
(1st title)
Most successful team(s) Iran
 Iraq
 Jordan
 Saudi Arabia
 South Korea(1 title each)
2024 WAFF U-23 Championship

The WAFF U-23 Championship (Arabic: بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم تحت 23 عام) is an international football competition organised by the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) for the men's under-23 national teams of West Asia.[1][2]

Results

Edition Year Host Final Third place playoff or losing semi-finalists
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1 2015  Qatar
Iran[3] 		2–0
Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha
Syria
Qatar 		3–0
Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha
Yemen
2 2021  Saudi Arabia
Jordan[4] 		3–1
Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium, Dammam
Saudi Arabia 		 Iraq and  Syria
3 2022  Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia 		3–1
King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah
Qatar
Syria 		1–0
King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah
Oman
4 2023  Iraq[5]
Iraq 		1–1 (5–4 p)
Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad
Iran 		 Jordan and  Oman
5 2024  Saudi Arabia
South Korea 		2–2 (4–3 p)
Al Fateh Stadium, Al Mubarraz
Australia
Saudi Arabia 		2–2 (4–2 p)
Al Fateh Stadium, Al Mubarraz
Egypt

Teams reaching the top four

Team Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Semi-finalist Total (Top 4)
 Saudi Arabia 1 (2022) 1 (2021) 1 (2024) – – 3
 Iran 1 (2015) 1 (2023) – – – 2
 Jordan 1 (2021) – – – 1 (2023) 2
 Iraq 1 (2023) – – – 1 (2021) 2
 South Korea 1 (2024) – – – – 1
 Syria – 1 (2015) 1 (2022) – 1 (2021) 3
 Qatar – 1 (2022) 1 (2015) – – 2
 Australia – 1 (2024) – – – 1
 Oman – – – 1 (2022) 1 (2023) 2
 Yemen – – – 1 (2015) – 1
 Egypt – – – 1 (2024) – 1
  • Results from host teams shown in bold

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Legend

  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • SF – Semi-finals (no third place match)
  • GS – Group stage
  • Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
  •  •  – Did not qualify
  •  ×  – Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned
  •    – Hosts
  •   No longer or not a WAFF member

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Team 2015
Qatar
(10) 		2021
Saudi Arabia
(11) 		2022
Saudi Arabia
(6) 		2023
Iraq
(9) 		2024
Saudi Arabia
(8) 		Total
 Australia 2nd 1
 Bahrain GS GS GS × × 3
 Egypt 4th 1
 Iran 1st 2nd 2
 Iraq × SF × 1st 6th 3
 Jordan GS 1st × SF 5th 4
 Kuwait × GS × × × 1
 Lebanon × GS GS GS × 3
 Oman GS GS 4th SF × 4
 Palestine GS GS × GS × 3
 Qatar 3rd × 2nd × × 2
 Saudi Arabia GS 2nd 1st × 3rd 4
 South Korea 1st 1
 Syria 2nd SF 3rd GS × 4
 Thailand 7th 1
 United Arab Emirates GS GS × GS 8th 4
 Yemen 4th GS × GS × 3

Awards

Tournament Most Valuable Player Top goalscorer(s) Goals Best goalkeeper
2015
 Iran Amir Arsalan Motahari Qatar Akram Afif 4 Iran Mohammad Reza Akhbari
2021
 Jordan Yazan Al-Naimat Jordan Mohammad Aburiziq Saudi Arabia Nawaf Al-Aqidi
2022
 Saudi Arabia Ahmed Al-Ghamdi Oman Al Faraj Al Kiyumi
Oman Nasser Al Rawahi
Saudi Arabia Ahmed Al-Ghamdi
Saudi Arabia Ziyad Al-Johani
Saudi Arabia Mohammed Maran
Syria Mohamad Rihanieh 		2 Syria Waseem Ayoub
2023
 Iraq Muntadher Mohammed Iraq Hussein Abdullah 3 Iraq Kumel Al-Rekabe

Winning coaches

Year Team Coach
2015  Iran Iran Mohammad Khakpour
2021  Jordan Jordan Ahmad Hayel
2022  Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Saad Al-Shehri
2023  Iraq Iraq Radhi Shenaishil
2024  South Korea South Korea Myung Jae-yong

Overall team records

Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.

As of 2024 WAFF U-23 Championship
Rank Team Part Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Jordan 4 14 8 3 3 27 16 +11 27
2  Saudi Arabia 4 13 7 3 3 23 15 +8 24
3  Syria 4 13 6 1 6 18 20 –2 19
4  Iran 2 8 4 4 0 13 6 +7 16
5  Iraq 3 11 4 4 3 15 12 +3 16
6  Qatar 2 9 4 3 2 11 7 +4 15
7  Oman 4 12 4 1 7 15 15 0 13
8  Palestine 3 8 4 1 3 9 10 –1 13
9  Yemen 3 10 3 2 5 10 16 –6 11
10  South Korea 1 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7
11  United Arab Emirates 4 10 2 1 7 10 16 –6 7
12  Bahrain 3 7 2 0 5 6 15 –9 6
13  Australia 1 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1 5
14  Egypt 1 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1 5
15  Thailand 1 3 1 0 2 2 4 –6 3
16  Kuwait 1 3 0 2 1 3 4 –1 2
17  Lebanon 3 8 0 2 6 7 17 –10 2

See also

References

  1. ^ "بطولة اتحاد غرب آسيا الثانية تحت سن ٢٣".
  2. ^ SUBWAY OLYROOS WIN OPENING WAFF U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AGAINST IRAQ
  3. ^ "Iran win inaugural WAFF U-23 Championship".
  4. ^ "Jordan beats Saudi Arabia in WAFF U-23 final". 12 October 2021.
  5. ^ @waffootball (22 September 2022). "نقل بطولة تحت ٢٣ عاماً.. والعراق يحتفظ بحق استضافة النسخة الرابعة" (Tweet) (in Arabic) – via Twitter.