2016 AFC U-19 Championship

2016 AFC U-19 Championship
بطولة آسيا للشباب تحت 19 عاما 2016
Tournament details
Host country	Bahrain
Dates	13–30 October
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Japan (1st title)
Runners-up	Saudi Arabia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	31
Goals scored	84 (2.71 per match)
Attendance	39,304 (1,268 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Sami Al-Najei; Abdulrahman Al-Yami; (4 goals each)
Best player(s)	Ritsu Dōan
Fair play award	Japan

The 2016 AFC U-19 Championship was the 39th edition of the AFC U-19 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-19 national teams of Asia. The tournament was hosted by Bahrain, as announced by the AFC on 3 June 2015,^[1] and was scheduled to be played between 13–30 October 2016.^[2] A total of 16 teams played in the tournament.

Same as previous editions, the tournament acted as the AFC qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The top four teams of the tournament qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea as the AFC representatives, besides South Korea who qualified automatically as hosts. If South Korea were among the top four teams, three play-off matches would be played to decide the fifth-placed team which also qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup; however, this was not necessary as South Korea were eliminated in the group stage.^[3]

Japan conquered the title for the first time after beating Saudi Arabia in the final's penalty shootout, and also set a record in the competition for being the first team to win the tournament without conceding a single goal.

On 25 October 2016, the AFC President, Salman Al-Khalifa, congratulated Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, IR Iran and Japan on qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2017. The four teams will join hosts South Korea to make up Asia's five representatives at the tournament.^[4]

Qualification

The draw for the qualifiers was held on 5 June 2015.^[5] A total of 43 teams were drawn into ten groups, with the ten group winners and the five best runners-up qualifying for the final tournament, together with Bahrain who qualified automatically as hosts but also competed in the qualifying stage.

The qualifiers were played between 28 September – 6 October 2015.^[6]

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.^[7]

Team	Qualified as	Appearance	Previous best performance
Bahrain	Hosts	9th	Runners-up (1986)
Japan	Group J winners	36th	Runners-up (1973, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006)
Iraq	Group F winners	16th	Champions (1975, 1977, 1978, 1988, 2000)
China	Group I winners	17th	Champions (1985)
Vietnam	Group G winners	18th	Quarter-finals (1967¹, 1969¹)
Uzbekistan	Group A winners	7th	Runners-up (2008)
South Korea	Group H winners	37th	Champions (1959, 1960, 1963, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2012)
Tajikistan	Group F (1st best) runners-up	3rd	Group stage (2006, 2008)
United Arab Emirates	Group C winners	13th	Champions (2008)
Australia	Group J (2nd best) runners-up	6th	Runners-up (2010)
Qatar	Group D winners	13th	Champions (2014)
Thailand	Group H (3rd best) runners-up	32nd	Champions (1962, 1969)
Saudi Arabia	Group B winners	13th	Champions (1986, 1992)
North Korea	Group I (4th best) runners-up	12th	Champions (1976, 2006, 2010)
Iran	Group E winners	20th	Champions (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976)
Yemen	Group B (5th best) runners-up	6th	Group stage (1978, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2014)

¹ As South Vietnam

Venues

The tournament is played in two venues:

Isa Town
Riffa	Riffa Isa Town 2016 AFC U-19 Championship (Bahrain)
Bahrain National Stadium
Capacity: 30,000

Khalifa Sports City Stadium
Capacity: 20,000

Draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 30 April 2016, 19:00 AST (UTC+3), in Manama.^[8] The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams.^[3] The teams were seeded according to their performance in the previous edition in 2014.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Bahrain (hosts; position A1) Qatar North Korea Uzbekistan	Japan Thailand United Arab Emirates China	Australia Iraq South Korea Yemen	Iran Vietnam Saudi Arabia Tajikistan

Squads

Players born on or after 1 January 1997 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team can register a maximum of 23 players (minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers).^[9]

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advance to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:^[9]

Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
If, after applying criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply;
Goal difference in all the group matches;
Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
Drawing of lots.

All times are local, AST (UTC+3).^[10]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bahrain (H)	3	2	1	7	6	+1	6^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Knockout stage
2	Saudi Arabia	3	2	1	8	4	+4	6^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Knockout stage
3	South Korea	3	2	1	6	4	+2	6^{[lower-alpha 1]}
4	Thailand	3	0	3	3	10	−7	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1 2 3
Head-to-head results: Bahrain 3–2 Saudi Arabia, South Korea 2–1 Bahrain, South Korea 1–2 Saudi Arabia. Head-to-head standings:
- Bahrain: 3 pts, 0 GD, 4 GF
- Saudi Arabia: 3 pts, 0 GD, 4 GF
- South Korea: 3 pts, 0 GD, 3 GF
South Korea are ranked third on head-to-head goals scored. Bahrain are ranked ahead of Saudi Arabia on their own head-to-head result.

13 October 2016

16:30

Thailand	1–3	South Korea
Anon 76'	Report	Jeong Tae-wook 13' Han Chan-hee 41' Kang Ji-hoon 90+3'

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Attendance: 200

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

13 October 2016