2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup
International football competition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup was the 42nd edition of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship), the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams of Asia.
| 2025年亚足联U-20亚洲杯 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | China |
| Dates | 12 February – 1 March |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 4 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Australia (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Saudi Arabia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 93 (3 per match) |
| Attendance | 44,626 (1,440 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Kim Tae-won Mukhammadali Urinboev(4 goals each) |
| Best player | Alex Badolato |
| Best goalkeeper | Hamed Al-Shanqiti |
| Fair play award | Australia |
← 2023 2027 → | |
On 24 May 2024, the AFC announced that China would host the tournament.[1] It was the first of three consecutive AFC U-20 Asian Cups to be held in China, preceding the 2027 and 2029 tournaments.
A total of 16 teams played in the tournament, with players born on or after 1 January 2005 eligible to participate. The top four teams qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as the AFC representatives.
Uzbekistan were the title holders, having won the title in 2023. They were eliminated on penalties by South Korea in the quarter-finals. Australia clinched their first major youth title since joining the AFC, overcoming three-time winners Saudi Arabia on penalties.
Qualification
Qualification matches were played between 21 and 29 September 2024.[2]
Qualified teams
A total of 16 teams, including hosts China, qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
 China | Hosts | 20th | Champions (1985) |
 Syria | Group A winners | 12th | Champions (1994) |
| Uzbekistan | Group B winners | 9th | Champions (2023) |
| South Korea | Group C winners | 40th | Champions (1959, 1960, 1963, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2012) |
| Saudi Arabia | Group D winners | 15th | Champions (1986, 1992, 2018) |
 North Korea | Group E winners | 14th | Champions (1976, 2006, 2010) |
 Indonesia | Group F winners | 20th | Champions (1961) |
 Iran | Group G winners | 22nd | Champions (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976) |
 Iraq | Group H winners | 19th | Champions (1975, 1977, 1978, 1988, 2000) |
 Japan | Group I winners | 39th | Champions (2016) |
 Qatar | Group J winners | 16th | Champions (2014) |
 Yemen | 1st best runners-up | 8th | Quarter-finals (1975) |
 Kyrgyzstan | 2nd best runners-up | 3rd | Group stage (2006, 2023) |
| Australia | 3rd best runners-up | 9th | Runners-up (2010) |
 Thailand | 4th best runners-up | 34th | Champions (1962, 1969) |
 Jordan | 5th best runners-up | 9th | Fourth place (2006) |
Venues
The competition was held in four venues around Shenzhen.[3]
| Shenzhen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bao'an | Guangming | Longhua | |
| Bao'an Stadium | Shenzhen Youth Football Training Base Centre Stadium | Shenzhen Youth Football Training Base Pitch No.1 | Longhua Cultural and Sports Center |
| Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 500 | Capacity: 2,364 |
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Match officials
The tournament implemented video assistant referees (VAR), a first in the tournament's history, starting from the semi-finals onwards.[4]
- Referees
Alex King
Ammar Mahfoodh
Shen Yinhao
Thoriq Alkatiri
Zaid Thamer Mohammed
Hiroki Kasahara
Abdullah Jamali
Qasim Al-Hatmi
Abdulhadi Al-Rowaily
Choi Hyun-jai
Ahmed Eisa Darwish
Asker Nadjafaliev
- Assistant referees
- James Lindsay
- Mohamed Salman
- Guo Jingtao
- Luo Zheng
So Kai Man- Bangbang Syamsudar
- Hayder Ubaydee
- Takagi Takumi
- Ali Jraq
- Nasser Al-Busaidi
- Khaled Khalaf
- Cheon Jin-hee
Ismoil Nuraliev
Kijsathit Pattarapong- Yasser Al-Murshidi
- Ruslan Serazitdinov
Draw
The draw of the final tournament was held on 7 November 2024 in Shenzhen, China. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams, with the teams seeded according to their performance in the 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup final tournament and qualification, with the hosts China automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.[5]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Squads
Players born on or after 1 January 2005 and on or before 31 December 2009 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team must register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers.
Group stage
- Tiebreakers
Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:[6]
- Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
- If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Goals scored in all group matches;
- Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group;
- Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
- Drawing of lots.
All match times are in local time, (UTC+8)
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | China (H) |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 6 | |
| 3 | Qatar |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Kyrgyzstan |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 14 | −11 | 0 |
| Australia | 5–1 | Kyrgyzstan |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| China | 2–1 | Qatar |
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| Kyrgyzstan | 2–5 | China |
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| China | 1–2 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
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Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saudi Arabia |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Iraq |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 | Jordan |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | North Korea |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 |
| Iraq | 1–1 | North Korea |
|---|---|---|
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| Jordan | 0–1 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| North Korea | 1–2 | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
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| Saudi Arabia | 0–1 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| Saudi Arabia | 2–1 | North Korea |
|---|---|---|
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Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Uzbekistan |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Indonesia |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 1 | |
| 4 | Yemen |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 1 |
| Uzbekistan | 1–0 | Yemen |
|---|---|---|
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| Iran | 3–0 | Indonesia |
|---|---|---|
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| Yemen | 0–6 | Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| Indonesia | 1–3 | Uzbekistan |
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| Uzbekistan | 1–2 | Iran |
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Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Japan |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 5 | |
| 3 | Syria |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Thailand |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 1 |
| South Korea | 2–1 | Syria |
|---|---|---|
|
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| Thailand | 1–4 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
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| Japan | 1–1 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
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Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.
Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 22 February | ||||||||||
| Australia | 3 | |||||||||
| 26 February | ||||||||||
| Iraq | 2 | |||||||||
| Australia | 2 | |||||||||
| 23 February | ||||||||||
| Japan | 0 | |||||||||
| Iran | 1 (3) | |||||||||
| 1 March | ||||||||||
| Japan (p) | 1 (4) | |||||||||
| Australia (p) | 1 (5) | |||||||||
| 22 February | ||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 1 (4) | |||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | |||||||||
| 26 February | ||||||||||
| China | 0 | |||||||||
| Saudi Arabia (p) | 0 (3) | |||||||||
| 23 February | ||||||||||
| South Korea | 0 (2) | |||||||||
| South Korea (p) | 3 (3) | |||||||||
| Uzbekistan | 3 (1) | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
All four winners qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
| Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | China |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| South Korea | 3–3 (a.e.t.) | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
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| Penalties | ||
|
3–1 |
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Semi-finals
| Saudi Arabia | 0–0 (a.e.t.) | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
|
3–2 |
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Final
Goalscorers
There were 93 goals scored in 31 matches, for an average of 3 goals per match.
4 goals
- Kim Tae-won
- Mukhammadali Urinboev
3 goals
2 goals
- Alexander Badolato
- Daniel Bennie
- Louis Agosti
- Kuai Jiwen
- Liu Chengyu
- Zhu Pengyu
Reza Ghandipour- Abolfazl Zamani
- Amoori Faisal
Ibrahim Sabra- Mohammed Khaled Gouda
Saad Haqawi- Shin Min-ha
Mohammad Al-Mustafa- Thanawut Phochai
- Abdugafur Khaydarov
1 goal
- Dean Bosnjak
- Panagiotis Kikianis
- Medin Memeti
- Jaylan Pearman
- Mao Weijie
- Wang Yudong
- Jens Raven
- Mobin Dehghan
- Yousef Mazraeh
- Hesam Nafari
- Abolfazl Zoleikhaei
- Aymen Luay
- Mustafa Qabeel
- Rion Ichihara
- Hisatsugu Ishii
- Soma Kanda
- Kosei Ogura
- Yuto Ozeki
- Ryunosuke Sato
- Rento Takaoka
Beknaz Almazbekov- Yryskeldi Madanov
- Umar Madaminov
Han Jae-yong- Kim Jin-song
- Ri Jong-dok
- Mohamed Hani Faragalla
- Tahsin Jamshid
- Moath Taha
- Noureldan Tamer
- Talal Haji
- Thamer Al-Khaibri
- Ammar Al-Yuhaybi
- Baek Min-gyu
- Park Seung-soo
- Shin Sung
- Yoon Do-young
- Aland Abdi
- Ahmad Al-Kalou
- Ahmad Soufi
- Yotsakorn Burapha
- Asilbek Jumaev
- Saidumarkhon Saidnurullaev
1 own goal
Mohammed Moqbel (against Iran)
Qualified teams for FIFA U-20 World Cup
The following teams from AFC qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA U-20 World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 22 February 2025 | 9 (1985, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2017, 2019) |
| Australia | 22 February 2025 | 15 (1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013) |
| Japan | 23 February 2025 | 11 (1979, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2017, 2019, 2023) |
| South Korea | 23 February 2025 | 16 (1979, 1981, 1983, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2023) |
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.