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2020 AFC U-16 Championship

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2020 AFC U-16 Championship
بطولة آسيا تحت 16 سنة 2020
Tournament details
Host countryBahrain
DatesCancelled[1]
Teams16 (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.

Qualification

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Main article: 2020 AFC U-16 Championship qualification

Qualifying was played from 14 – 22 September 2019.[7] Bahrain also participated in the qualifiers, even though they had already qualified automatically as hosts.

Qualified teams

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The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.[8]

Team Qualified as Appearance Previous best performance
 Bahrain Hosts 8th Runners-up (1988)
 Tajikistan Group A winners 4th Runners-up (2018)
 India Group B winners 9th Quarter-finals (2002, 2018)
 Iran Group C winners 12th Champions (2008)
 Saudi Arabia Group D winners 11th Champions (1985, 1988)
 Qatar Group E winners 11th Champions (1990)
 United Arab Emirates Group F winners 8th Runners-up (1990)
 China Group G winners 15th Champions (1992, 2004)
 Australia Group H winners 7th Semi-finals (2010, 2014, 2018)
 North Korea Group I winners 12th Champions (2010, 2014)
 Japan Group J winners 16th Champions (1994, 2006, 2018)
 South Korea Group K winners 15th Champions (1986, 2002)
 Yemen 1st best runners-up 6th Runners-up (2002)
 Indonesia 2nd best runners-up 7th Fourth place (1990)
 Uzbekistan 3rd best runners-up 10th Champions (2012)
 Oman 4th best runners-up 11th Champions (1996, 2000)

Draw

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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
Final Draw (prior to the tournament's cancellation)
Group A  Bahrain  North Korea  Iran  Qatar
Group B  Tajikistan  Oman  Yemen  United Arab Emirates
Group C  South Korea  Australia  India  Uzbekistan
Group D  Japan  Indonesia  Saudi Arabia  China

References

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  1. ^ a b "Latest update on AFC Competitions in 2021". Asian Football Confederation. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Uzbekistan, Bahrain recommended as hosts for 2020 AFC U-19 & U-16 Championships". AFC. 17 September 2019.
  3. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2020". AFC. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018.
  4. ^ "AFC Executive Committee announces updates to 2020 competitions calendar". AFC. 10 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Update on FIFA Women's World Cup and men's youth competitions". FIFA. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  6. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee recommends changes to youth competitions". AFC. 26 November 2018.
  7. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2019". AFC. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018.
  8. ^ "High quality cast for Finals". AFC. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Stage set for 2020 AFC U-16 & U-19 Championship draws". AFC. 17 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Asia's future stars discover contenders for Bahrain 2020 challenge". AFC. 18 June 2020.
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