2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup

2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup
كأس آسيا تحت 23 سنة 2026
Tournament details
Host countrySaudi Arabia
Dates6–24 January
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue4 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Japan (3rd title)
Runners-up China
Third place Vietnam
Fourth place South Korea
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored73 (2.28 per match)
Attendance35,655 (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 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.

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

Main article: 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup 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
2013
2024
 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
2016
 Runners-up (2018)
 Australia Group D winners 9 September 2025
7th
2013
 Third place (2020)
 Kyrgyzstan Group E winners 9 September 2025
1st
None
 Debut
 Thailand Group F winners 9 September 2025
6th
2016
2024
 Quarter-finals (2020)
 Iraq Group G winners 9 September 2025
7th
2013
 Champions (2013)
 Qatar Group H winners 9 September 2025
6th
2016
 Third place (2018)
 Iran Group I winners 9 September 2025
5th
2013
2022
 Quarter-finals (2016)
 South Korea Group J winners 9 September 2025
7th
2024
 Champions (2020)
 Syria Group K winners 9 September 2025
5th
2020
 Quarter-finals (2013, 2020)
 China Best runners-up 9 September 2025
6th
2024
 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
2013
2024
 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
Location of the host cities of the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
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

Squads

Main article: 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup 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]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. 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;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group;
  8. 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);
  9. 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
Source: AFC
(H) Hosts
Vietnam 2–0 Jordan
 Report
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 219
Referee: Choi Hyun-jai (South Korea)
Saudi Arabia 1–0 Kyrgyzstan
  • Al-Ghamdi 88'
 Report
Attendance: 5,082
Referee: Fu Ming (China)
Kyrgyzstan 1–2 Vietnam
  • Murzakhmatov 44'
 Report
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 346
Referee: Payam Heydari (Iran)
Jordan 3–2 Saudi Arabia
 Report
Attendance: 5,593
Referee: Ryo Tanimoto (Japan)
Saudi Arabia 0–1 Vietnam
Report
Attendance: 4,919
Referee: Alex King (Australia)
Jordan 1–0 Kyrgyzstan
 Report
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 728
Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain)

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
Source: AFC
Japan 5–0 Syria
 Report
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 522
Referee: Zaid Thamer Mohammed (Iraq)
Qatar 0–2 United Arab Emirates
Report
Attendance: 203
Referee: Alex King (Australia)
United Arab Emirates 0–3 Japan
Report
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 114
Referee: Qasim Al-Hatmi (Oman)
Syria 1–0 Qatar
 Report
Attendance: 898
Referee: Faisal Al-Balawi (Saudi Arabia)
Japan 2–0 Qatar
 Report
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 190
Referee: Choi Hyun-jai (South Korea)
United Arab Emirates 1–1 Syria
  • Al-Memari 23'
 Report
  • Al Omar 55'
Attendance: 1,538
Referee: Asker Nadjafaliev (Uzbekistan)

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
Source: AFC
South Korea 0–0 Iran
Report
Attendance: 127
Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain)
Uzbekistan 3–2 Lebanon
  • Saidov 24'
  • Khayrullaev 50'
  • Bakhromov 57'
 Report
Attendance: 226
Referee: Tuan Yaasin (Malaysia)
Lebanon 2–4 South Korea
 Report
  • Lee Hyun-yong 20'
  • Jeong Jae-sang 56'
  • Kang Seong-jin 71'
  • Kim Tae-won 76'
Attendance: 588
Referee: Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar)
Iran 0–0 Uzbekistan
Report
Attendance: 140
Referee: Abdullah Jamali (Kuwait)
Uzbekistan 2–0 South Korea
  • Karimov 48'
  • Saidnurullaev 70'
 Report
Attendance: 139
Referee: Qasim Al-Hatmi (Oman)
Iran 0–1 Lebanon
Report
Attendance: 122
Referee: Faisal Al-Balawi (Saudi Arabia)

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Australia 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  China 3 1 2 0 1 0 +1 5
3  Iraq 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2[a]
4  Thailand 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 2[a]
Source: AFC
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Disciplinary points: Iraq –3, Thailand –11.
Australia 2–1 Thailand
 Report
Attendance: 90
Referee: Kim Yu-jeong (South Korea)
Iraq 0–0 China
Report
Attendance: 960
Referee: Asker Nadjafaliev (Uzbekistan)
China 1–0 Australia
 Report
Attendance: 475
Thailand 1–1 Iraq
  • Chinngoen 85'
 Report
Attendance: 144
Referee: Yahya Al-Mulla (United Arab Emirates)
Iraq 1–2 Australia
 Report
  • Dukuly 90+3'
  • Macallister 90+7'
Attendance: 183
Referee: Abdullah Jamali (Kuwait)
Thailand 0–0 China
Report
Attendance: 484
Referee: Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar)

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-outs will be used to decide the winner if necessary.

Bracket

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
16 January – Jeddah (Prince)
 
 
 Vietnam (a.e.t.)3
 
20 January – Jeddah (Prince)
 
 United Arab Emirates2
 
 Vietnam0
 
17 January – Jeddah (Prince)
 
 China3
 
 Uzbekistan0 (2)
 
24 January – Jeddah (Prince)
 
 China (p)0 (4)
 
 China0
 
16 January – Jeddah (King)
 
 Japan4
 
 Japan (p)1 (4)
 
20 January – Jeddah (King)
 
 Jordan1 (2)
 
 Japan1
 
17 January – Jeddah (King)
 
 South Korea0 Third place play-off
 
 Australia1
 
23 January – Jeddah (King)
 
 South Korea2
 
 Vietnam (p)2 (7)
 
 
 South Korea2 (6)
 

Quarter-finals

Japan 1–1 (a.e.t.) Jordan
 Report
Penalties
 4–2
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 877
Referee: Asker Nadjafaliev (Uzbekistan)
Vietnam 3–2 (a.e.t.) United Arab Emirates
 Report
Attendance: 211
Referee: Payam Heydari (Iran)
Uzbekistan 0–0 (a.e.t.) China
Report
Penalties
  • Bakhromov
  • Saidnurullaev
  • Karimov
  • Abdullaev
2–4
Attendance: 578
Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain)
Australia 1–2 South Korea
 Report
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 172
Referee: Fu Ming (China)

Semi-finals

Japan 1–0 South Korea
  • Koizumi 36'
 Report
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 188
Referee: Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar)
Vietnam 0–3 China
Report
Attendance: 1,141
Referee: Alex King (Australia)

Third place play-off

Vietnam 2–2 (a.e.t.) South Korea
 Report
Penalties
 7–6
King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 270
Referee: Abdullah Jamali (Kuwait)

Final

Main article: 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup final
China 0–4 Japan
Report
Attendance: 8,188
Referee: Faisal Al-Balawi (Saudi Arabia)

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

1 goal

1 own goal

Source: AFC

Final ranking

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
Source: AFC
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Disciplinary points: Iraq –3, Thailand –11.

Broadcasting rights

Territory Rights holder Ref.
 Australia
[13]
 Bangladesh,
 Nepal,
 Sri Lanka,
 Bhutan,
 Pakistan
  • tapmad
 [13]
 China
[13]
 Hong Kong
[13]
 India
[13]
 Indonesia,
 Papua New Guinea,
 Timor-Leste
[13]
 Japan
[13]
 Kazakhstan
  • QSport
 [13]
 South Korea
[13]
 Macau
[13]
Middle East[note 2]
[13]
 Philippines
[13]
 Tajikistan
[13]
 Thailand
  • BG Sports (YouTube)
 [13]
 Uzbekistan
[13]
 Vietnam
[14][15]
[16][17]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Nguyễn Đình Bắc won the award since leading in assists with Ryūnosuke Satō among the top goal scorers (2 assists), and playing fewer minutes (361 vs 446 minutes).[11]
  2. ^  Bahrain,  Iran,  Iraq,  Jordan,  Kuwait,  Lebanon,  Oman,  Palestine,  Qatar,  Saudi Arabia,  Syria,  United Arab Emirates,  Yemen

References

  1. ^ a b "AFC Competitions Committee approves key decisions on reformatted competitions". Asian Football Confederation. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Road to Saudi Arabia 2026 glory paved". the-afc.com. AFC. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  3. ^ "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee". Asian Football Confederation. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Japan power past China PR to clinch third title". the-afc.com. AFC. 24 January 2026. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  5. ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar (Jul 2025 - Jun 2026)" (PDF). AFC. 14 January 2026.
  6. ^ "Saudi Arabia 2026 Qualifiers groups finalised". Asian Football Confederation. 29 May 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  7. ^ "#AFCU23: The Stadiums". the-afc.com. AFC. 16 December 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  8. ^ "Road to Saudi Arabia 2026 glory paved". the-afc.com. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  9. ^ الاتحاد الآسيوي يحدد موعد قرعة كأس آسيا دون 23 عاماً في السعودية [The AFC sets the date for the draw for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia] (in Arabic). Lebanese Football Association. 10 September 2025. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Competition Regulations AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026" (PDF). the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  11. ^ "Vietnam's Dinh Bac takes Top Scorer award". Asian Football Confederation. 24 January 2026. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  12. ^ a b "AFC Competition Operations Manual (Edition 2026)" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. p. 107-109. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "AFC U-23 Asian Cup: Where to watch". the-afc.com. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  14. ^ "TV360 phát sóng bảy giải bóng đá lớn nhất châu Á". vnexpress.net (in Vietnamese). VnExpress. 30 December 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  15. ^ "Viettel appointed Official Media Partner of AFC competitions in Vietnam". the-afc.com. AFC. 29 December 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  16. ^ "🚨 [CHÍNH THỨC] HTV PHÁT SÓNG 3 GIẢI ĐẤU BÓNG ĐÁ ĐỈNH CAO CHÂU Á! 💥" (in Vietnamese). HTV. 2 January 2026. Retrieved 3 January 2026 – via Facebook.
  17. ^ "Đài Truyền hình Việt Nam (VTV) trực tiếp VCK U23 châu Á 2026". thethao.vtv.vn (in Vietnamese). VTV. 6 January 2026. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
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