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]
| Organising body | WAFF |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 |
| Region | West Asia |
| Number of teams | 11 |
| 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 | |
Results
edit| 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
edit| 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
editLegend
- 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 (10) |
2021 (11) |
2022 (6) |
2023 (9) |
2024 (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
edit| Tournament | Most Valuable Player | Top goalscorer(s) | Goals | Best goalkeeper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amir Arsalan Motahari
|
Akram Afif
|
4 | Mohammad Reza Akhbari
| |
| Yazan Al-Naimat
|
Mohammad Aburiziq
|
Nawaf Al-Aqidi
| ||
| Ahmed Al-Ghamdi
|
Al Faraj Al Kiyumi Nasser Al Rawahi Ahmed Al-Ghamdi Ziyad Al-Johani Mohammed Maran Mohamad Rihanieh
|
2 | Waseem Ayoub
| |
| Muntadher Mohammed
|
Hussein Abdullah
|
3 | Kumel Al-Rekabe
|
Winning coaches
edit| Year | Team | Coach |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Iran
|
Mohammad Khakpour
|
| 2021 | Jordan
|
Ahmad Hayel
|
| 2022 | Saudi Arabia
|
Saad Al-Shehri
|
| 2023 | Iraq
|
Radhi Shenaishil
|
| 2024 | South Korea
|
Myung Jae-yong
|
Overall team records
editTeams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.
| 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
editReferences
edit- ^ "بطولة اتحاد غرب آسيا الثانية تحت سن ٢٣".
- ^ SUBWAY OLYROOS WIN OPENING WAFF U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AGAINST IRAQ
- ^ "Iran win inaugural WAFF U-23 Championship".
- ^ "Jordan beats Saudi Arabia in WAFF U-23 final". 12 October 2021.
- ^ @waffootball (22 September 2022). "نقل بطولة تحت ٢٣ عاماً.. والعراق يحتفظ بحق استضافة النسخة الرابعة" (Tweet) (in Arabic) – via Twitter.