2021 WAFF U-18 Championship
International football competition
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2021 WAFF U-18 Championship, also called 2021 EarthLink WAFF U-18 Championship due to sponsorship by EarthLink Telecommunications, was the second edition of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF)'s under-18 championship.[1] It took place between 20 November and 1 December 2021 in Iraq.[2]
| بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم تحت 18 عاما | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Iraq |
| City | Baghdad (Final match) Basra (Group A) Erbil (Group B) |
| Dates | 20 November – 1 December |
| Teams | 9 (from 1 sub-confederation) |
| Venue | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Iraq (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Lebanon |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 17 |
| Goals scored | 32 (1.88 per match) |
| Top scorer | Asahr Ali (3 goals) |
| Best player | Ali El Fadl |
| Best goalkeeper | Hussein Amoyed |
← 2019 2024 → | |
The tournament featured nine teams divided into a two groups of four and five.[3] Hosts Iraq won the tournament, beating Lebanon on penalty shoot-outs in the final.[4]
Teams
Participants
| Team | Appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bahrain |
2nd | 2019 | Group stage (2019) |
| Iraq |
2nd | 2019 | Champions (2019) |
 Jordan |
2nd | 2019 | Third place (2019) |
 Kuwait |
1st | N/a | N/a |
| Lebanon |
1st | N/a | N/a |
 Palestine |
2nd | 2019 | Fourth place (2019) |
 Syria |
1st | N/a | N/a |
 United Arab Emirates |
2nd | 2019 | Runners-up (2019) |
 Yemen |
1st | N/a | N/a |
Format
Two groups of nine teams; the host country Iraq were in Group A, which contained five teams, while Group B contained four teams. Unlike the previous edition, only the group winners advance directly to the final.
Squads
A total of nine teams played in the tournament, with players born on or after 1 January 2003 eligible to participate. Each team had to register a squad of up to 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.
Officials
Venue
| Basra | Baghdad | Erbil | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basra International Stadium | Al-Madina Stadium | Franso Hariri Stadium | |
| Capacity: 65,227 | Capacity: 32,000 | Capacity: 25,000 | |
Groups stage
Group A
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lebanon |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 | Advance to the final |
| 2 | Jordan |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | |
| 3 | Syria |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | United Arab Emirates |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 |
| United Arab Emirates | 0–2 | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Lebanon | 1–1 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Syria | 1–0 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Final
Champion
| 2021 WAFF U-18 Championship champion |
|---|
 Iraq Second title |
Player awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Top Goalscorer | Best player | Best Goalkeeper |
|---|---|---|
| Ashar Ali |
Ali El Fadl |
Hussein Hassan |
Goalscorers
There were 32 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 1.88 goals per match.
3 goals
Ashar Ali
Fahad Al-Aazmi
Ali El Fadl
2 goals
Mubarak Habeeb- Abdulrazzaq Qasim
- Blnd Hassan
Amin Al-Shanainah
Khaled Al-Nabrisi
1 goal
- Abdullah Al-Subaiei
- Abdulqader Ayoub
- Alai Ghasem
- Yousef Hussein
- Zaid Al-Asfar
- Saleh Al-Bannay
- Sayed Yousef Ebrahimi
- Josef Al-Subaihi
- Qais Taha
Sultan Al-Ameeri
Hamzah Mahross- Hesham Balabl
1 own goal
- Nawaf Al-Ayassi (against Syria)