2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup
International football competition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup was the 7th edition of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. A total of 16 teams played in the final tournament. Players born on or after 1 January 2003 are eligible to participate.
| كأس آسيا تحت 23 سنة 2026 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Saudi Arabia |
| Dates | 6–24 January |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venues | 4 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Japan (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  China |
| Third place |  Vietnam |
| Fourth place |  South Korea |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 73 (2.28 per match) |
| Attendance | 35,655 (1,114 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Nguyễn Đình Bắc[note 1] Ryūnosuke Satō Ali Azaizeh Leonardo Farah Shahin(4 goals each) |
| Best player | Ryūnosuke Satō |
| Best goalkeeper | Rui Araki |
| Fair play award | South Korea |
← 2024 2028 → | |
The tournament took place from 6 to 24 January 2026 and was hosted by Saudi Arabia, who was selected for hosting the upcoming 2027 AFC Asian Cup.[1]
16 teams competed in the tournament.[2] Qualification took place in September 2025. Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon qualified for the first time.
This was the final non-Olympic edition of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup with the competition becoming quadrennial.[3]
Defending champions Japan successfully retained the title after defeating the surprise of the tournament, China, in the final, and became the first team to win consecutive titles in the tournament history.[4]
Host selection
In July 2023, the AFC Competitions Committee announced that each non-Olympic edition of the tournament would be hosted by the same association hosting the following AFC Asian Cup.[1] Therefore, Saudi Arabia will be hosting the 2026 edition.
Qualification
Qualification matches were played between 3 and 9 September 2025.[5][6]
Qualified teams
The following teams qualified for the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
| Team | Qualification method | Date of qualification | Appearance(s) | Previous best performance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | First | Last | ||||
 Saudi Arabia |
Hosts | 1 July 2023 | 7th |
Champions (2022) | ||
| Jordan |
Group A winners | 9 September 2025 | Third place (2013) | |||
| Japan |
Group B winners | 9 September 2025 | Champions (2016, 2024) | |||
| Vietnam |
Group C winners | 9 September 2025 | 6th |
Runners-up (2018) | ||
 Australia |
Group D winners | 9 September 2025 | 7th |
Third place (2020) | ||
 Kyrgyzstan |
Group E winners | 9 September 2025 | 1st |
None |
Debut | |
 Thailand |
Group F winners | 9 September 2025 | 6th |
Quarter-finals (2020) | ||
 Iraq |
Group G winners | 9 September 2025 | 7th |
Champions (2013) | ||
 Qatar |
Group H winners | 9 September 2025 | 6th |
Third place (2018) | ||
 Iran |
Group I winners | 9 September 2025 | 5th |
Quarter-finals (2016) | ||
| South Korea |
Group J winners | 9 September 2025 | 7th |
Champions (2020) | ||
 Syria |
Group K winners | 9 September 2025 | 5th |
Quarter-finals (2013, 2020) | ||
| China |
Best runners-up | 9 September 2025 | 6th |
Group stage (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2024) | ||
 Uzbekistan |
Second-best runners-up | 9 September 2025 | 7th |
Champions (2018) | ||
| Lebanon |
Third-best runners-up | 9 September 2025 | 1st |
None |
Debut | |
 United Arab Emirates |
Fourth-best runners-up | 9 September 2025 | 6th |
Quarter-finals (2013, 2016, 2020) | ||
- Notes
Venues
Four stadiums will be used, of which two (Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City and Al-Shabab Club Stadium) from the 2027 AFC Asian Cup were selected for the tournament.[7]
| Jeddah | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium | King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium | |
| Capacity: 24,159 | Capacity: 3,853 | |
 |
 | |
| Riyadh | ||
| Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium | Al-Shabab Club Stadium | |
| Capacity: 22,838 | Capacity: 14,000 | |
|
| |
Draw
| External videos | |
|---|---|
| 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup – Draw | |
 Draw Live Streaming |
The draw took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 2 October 2025 at 15:00 MST (UTC+8).[8]
The 16 teams were placed into four groups of four teams, with seeding based on their performance in the previous three editions of the tournament (2020, 2022, and 2024). As hosts, Saudi Arabia were ranked as the top seeded team.[9]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Match officials
The following referees and assistant referees were appointed for the tournament. Video assistant referees were used in this tournament.
- Referees
Alex King
Ammar Mahfoodh
Fu Ming
Thoriq Alkatiri
Payam Heydari
Zaid Thamer Mohammed
Ryo Tanimoto
Abdullah Jamali
Tuan Yaasin
Qasim Al-Hatmi
Abdulla Al-Marri
Faisal Al-Balawi
Choi Hyun-jai- Kim Yu-jeong
Yahya Al-Mulla
Asker Nadjafaliev
- Assistant referees
- James Lindsay
- Kearney Robinson
- Mohamed Salman
- Cao Yi
- Bangbang Syamsudar
- Ali Ahmadi
- Farhad Farhadpoor
- Ameer Al-Windawi
- Hayder Ubaydee
- Takeshi Asada
- Yosuke Takebe
- Ali Jraq
- Shafiq Ahmad Said
- Nasser Ambusaidi
- Juma Al-Burshaid
- Khaled Khalaf
- Ibrahim Al-Dakhil
- Faisal Al-Qahtani
- Cheon Jin-hee
- Jang Jong-pil
- Park Mi-suk
- Saeed Al-Marzooqi
- Ruslan Serazitdinov
- Bakhtiyorkhuja Shavkatov
- Video assistant referees
- Kate Jacewicz
- Jin Jingyuan
Luk Kin Sun- Jumpei Iida
- Abdullah Arab
- Khamis Al-Marri
- Abdullah Al-Shehri
Muhammad Taqi- Kim Woo-sung
Sivakorn Pu-udom- Mohammed Obaid Khadim
- Firdavs Norsafarov
Squads
Players born on or after 1 January 2003 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team will register a squad of 18 to 23 players, including a minimum of three goalkeepers (Regulations Article 26.3).
Group stage
The group winners and runners-up advanced to the knockout stage, which will begin with the quarter-finals.
- 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 tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Article 7.2):[10]
- 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 were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were 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 times are local, SAST (UTC+3).
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vietnam |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Jordan |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | |
| 3 | Saudi Arabia (H) |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Kyrgyzstan |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0 |
| Vietnam | 2–0 | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | Kyrgyzstan |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1–2 | Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Saudi Arabia | 0–1 | Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | +10 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Syria |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 4 | |
| 4 | Qatar |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 |
| Qatar | 0–2 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| United Arab Emirates | 1–1 | Syria |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uzbekistan |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | South Korea |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Lebanon |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Iran |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| South Korea | 0–0 | Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Uzbekistan | 3–2 | Lebanon |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Lebanon | 2–4 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Iran | 0–0 | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Uzbekistan | 2–0 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Group D
Notes:
- Disciplinary points: Iraq –3, Thailand –11.
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-outs will be used to decide the winner if necessary.
Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 16 January – Jeddah (Prince) | ||||||||||
| Vietnam (a.e.t.) | 3 | |||||||||
| 20 January – Jeddah (Prince) | ||||||||||
| United Arab Emirates | 2 | |||||||||
| Vietnam | 0 | |||||||||
| 17 January – Jeddah (Prince) | ||||||||||
| China | 3 | |||||||||
| Uzbekistan | 0 (2) | |||||||||
| 24 January – Jeddah (Prince) | ||||||||||
| China (p) | 0 (4) | |||||||||
| China | 0 | |||||||||
| 16 January – Jeddah (King) | ||||||||||
| Japan | 4 | |||||||||
| Japan (p) | 1 (4) | |||||||||
| 20 January – Jeddah (King) | ||||||||||
| Jordan | 1 (2) | |||||||||
| Japan | 1 | |||||||||
| 17 January – Jeddah (King) | ||||||||||
| South Korea | 0 | Third place play-off | ||||||||
| Australia | 1 | |||||||||
| 23 January – Jeddah (King) | ||||||||||
| South Korea | 2 | |||||||||
| Vietnam (p) | 2 (7) | |||||||||
| South Korea | 2 (6) | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| Vietnam | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Australia | 1–2 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Semi-finals
| Japan | 1–0 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Vietnam | 0–3 | China |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Third place play-off
| Vietnam | 2–2 (a.e.t.) | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 7–6 |
|
|
Final
Winners
| 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup |
|---|
 Japan 3rd title |
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Top scorer | Best player | Best goalkeeper | Fair-play award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nguyễn Đình Bắc[note 1] |
Ryūnosuke Satō |
Rui Araki |
South Korea |
Statistics
Goalscorers
There were 73 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.28 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
- Mathias Macallister
- Peng Xiao
- Amoori Faisal
- Shusuke Furuya
- Kosei Ogura
- Rakan Al-Ghamdi
- Kim Tae-won
- Shin Min-ha
- Ali Al-Memari
- Junior Ndiaye
1 goal
- Ethan Alagich
- Yaya Dukuly
- Luka Jovanovic
- Wang Yudong
- Xiang Yuwang
- Sena Ishibashi
- Kaito Koizumi
- Yutaka Michiwaki
- Uche Brian Seo Nwadike
Mahmoud Deeb
Marlen Murzakhmatov
Ali El Fadl- Musab Al-Juwayr
- Baek Ga-on
- Jeong Jae-sang
- Kang Seong-jin
- Lee Hyun-yong
Mahmoud Al Aswad- Mahmoud Al Omar
- Sittha Boonlha
- Chinngoen Phutonyong
- Mansoor Al-Menhali
- Sardorbek Bakhromov
- Bekhruz Karimov
- Ravshan Khayrullaev
- Saidumarkhon Saidnurullaev
- Amirbek Saidov
Khuất Văn Khang- Nguyễn Hiểu Minh
- Nguyễn Lê Phát
- Nguyễn Quốc Việt
- Phạm Minh Phúc
1 own goal
- Anas Al-Khob (against Japan)
- Khristiyan Brauzman (against Vietnam)
Source: AFC
Final ranking
| Ranking criteria |
|---|
For teams eliminated in the quarter-finals, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings:[12]
For teams eliminated in the group stage, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings:[12]
|
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Japan |
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 1 | +15 | 16 | Champions |
| 2 | D | China |
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 9 | Runners-up |
| 3 | A | Vietnam |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 13 | Third place |
| 4 | C | South Korea |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | Fourth place |
| 5 | C | Uzbekistan |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 8 | Eliminated in quarter-finals |
| 6 | A | Jordan |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 7 | |
| 7 | D | Australia |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | |
| 8 | B | United Arab Emirates |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 4 | |
| 9 | B | Syria |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 4 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 10 | A | Saudi Arabia (H) |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 11 | C | Lebanon |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 3 | |
| 12 | D | Iraq |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2[a] | |
| 13 | D | Thailand |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2[a] | |
| 14 | C | Iran |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 2 | |
| 15 | A | Kyrgyzstan |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0 | |
| 16 | B | Qatar |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 |
(H) Hosts
Notes:
- Disciplinary points: Iraq –3, Thailand –11.
Broadcasting rights
| Territory | Rights holder | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Australia |
[13] | |
 Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Pakistan |
|
[13] |
| China |
[13] | |
 Hong Kong |
[13] | |
 India |
[13] | |
 Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste |
[13] | |
| Japan |
[13] | |
 Kazakhstan |
|
[13] |
| South Korea |
[13] | |
 Macau |
|
[13] |
| Middle East[note 2] | [13] | |
 Philippines |
|
[13] |
 Tajikistan |
[13] | |
| Thailand |
|
[13] |
| Uzbekistan |
[13] | |
| Vietnam |
[14][15] [16][17] |
