2021 WAFF U-23 Championship
International football competition
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The 2021 WAFF U-23 Championship was the second edition of the WAFF U-23 Championship, an under-23 international tournament for member nations of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF). It took place in Saudi Arabia from 4 to 12 October 2021, featuring 11 teams.[3] Only players born on or after 1 January 1998 were eligible to participate. Iran were the defending champions; however, they couldn't defend the title after they joined CAFA.
| بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم تحت 23 عاما | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Saudi Arabia |
| Dates | 4–12 October |
| Teams | 12 (from 1 confederation) (from 1 sub-confederation) |
| Venue | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Jordan (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Saudi Arabia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 18 |
| Goals scored | 51 (2.83 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Mohammad Aburiziq (4 goals) |
| Best player | Yazan Al-Naimat[1] |
| Best goalkeeper | Nawaf Al-Aqidi[2] |
← 2015 2022 → | |
Jordan won their first tournament, beating hosts Saudi Arabia 3–1 in the final.[4]
Teams
Participants
A total of eleven teams participated in the competition. All WAFF members, other than Qatar, agreed to take part in the tournament.[5]
| Team | Appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bahrain |
2nd | 2015 | Group stage |
 Iraq |
1st | Debut | – |
| Jordan |
2nd | 2015 | Group stage |
 Kuwait |
1st | Debut | – |
 Lebanon |
1st | Debut | – |
 Oman |
2nd | 2015 | Group stage |
 Palestine |
2nd | 2015 | Group stage |
| Saudi Arabia |
2nd | 2015 | Group stage |
 Syria |
2nd | 2015 | Runners-up |
 United Arab Emirates |
2nd | 2015 | Group stage |
 Yemen |
2nd | 2015 | Semi-finals |
Draw
The eleven teams were drawn into three groups on 12 September 2021: Group A and B with four teams and Group C with three.[6][7] The three group winners, alongside the best group runner-up, directly advanced to the knock-out stage.
Squads
Each team had to register a squad of up to 23 players, three of whom goalkeepers.
Venues
| Khobar | Dammam | |
|---|---|---|
| Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium | Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium | |
| Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 26,000 | |
 | ||
Group stage
The three group winners and the best group runner-up advanced to the semi-finals.
All times are local, AST (UTC+3).[8][9]
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jordan |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Yemen |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Oman |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Kuwait |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 |
| Yemen | 1–1 | Kuwait |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
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| Oman | 0–1 | Yemen |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| Kuwait | 1–1 | Oman |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iraq |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Palestine |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Lebanon |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 1 |
| Palestine | 0–1 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| United Arab Emirates | 3–0 | Lebanon |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Iraq | 2–0 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Palestine | 1–0 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saudi Arabia (H) |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Syria |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Bahrain |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 |
Ranking of second-placed teams
The best runner-up team from the three groups advanced to the semi-finals along with the three group winners. Group C contained only three teams compared to four teams in the other two groups. Therefore, the results against the fourth-placed team were not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Fair play points; 5) Drawing of lots.
Knockout stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 10 October – Khobar | ||||||
| Jordan | 5 | |||||
| 12 October – Dammam | ||||||
| Syria | 2 | |||||
| Jordan | 3 | |||||
| 10 October – Dammam | ||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | |||||
| Iraq | 0 | |||||
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Iraq | 0–1 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Final
| Jordan | 3–1 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Champion
| 2021 WAFF U-23 Championship champion |
|---|
 Jordan First title |
Statistics
Goalscorers
There have been 51 goals scored in 18 matches, for an average of 2.83 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
Mohammad Nasser
Mohammed Direya
2 goals
1 goal
Said Al Hayki
Hassan Abdul Karim- Zidane Iqbal
- Muntadher Mohammed
- Ahmed Sartip
- Sadeq Zamel
Yousef Abu Al-Jazar- Mohannad Abu Taha
- Hadi Al-Hourani
- Abdullah Awad
- Ibrahim Sadeh
- Khaled Siahin
Bandar Al-Salamah- Khalil Bader
Abdullah Al Balushi- Issa Al Naabi
- Khaled Al-Nabris
- Bader Mousa
Abdullah Al-Hamdan- Hamad Al-Yami
- Mohammed Maran
Amin Akil- Mohammad Al Hallak
- Ahmad Al Khassi
- Ali Bashmani
- Yosief Mohammad
- Mohamad Rihanieh
Ahmed Abdulla- Abdulla Abdulrahman
- Saeed Obaid
Nasser Al-Gahwashi
Awards
- Player of the Tournament
- Golden Boot
- Golden Glove