2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup

2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup
2023 yilgi U-20 Osiyo Kubogi
Tournament details
Host countryUzbekistan
Dates1–18 March
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)4 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Uzbekistan (1st title)
Runners-up Iraq
Tournament statistics
Matches played31
Goals scored69 (2.23 per match)
Attendance203,176 (6,554 per match)
Top scorer(s)Japan Naoki Kumata
(5 goals)
Best player(s)Uzbekistan Abbosbek Fayzullaev
Best goalkeeperUzbekistan Otabek Boymurodov
2025

The 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup was the 41st 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. This edition is the first to be played as an under-20 tournament, as the AFC proposed to switch the tournament from under-19 to under-20 starting from 2023.[1] Moreover, the tournament was also rebranded from the "AFC U-19 Championship" to the "AFC U-20 Asian Cup".[2] On 25 January 2021, the AFC announced that Uzbekistan would retain hosting rights for the 2023 edition after the cancellation of the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

A total of 16 teams are playing in the tournament. The top four teams of the tournament, Japan, Iraq, South Korea and Uzbekistan, qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup as the AFC representatives besides Indonesia who automatically qualified as hosts. However, Indonesia was removed from hosting the tournament on 29 March 2023 and thus could not participate.[4] Subsequently, FIFA awarded Argentina the rights to organize the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in place of the original hosts Indonesia.[5][6]

Saudi Arabia were the title holders, having won the title in 2018, but were eliminated from the group stage and thus failed to defend the title. Uzbekistan won the first-ever title after a 1–0 win over Iraq in the final.

  1. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee recommends changes to youth competitions". AFC. 26 November 2018.
  2. ^ "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Latest update on AFC Competitions in 2021". AFC. 25 January 2021.
  4. ^ "FIFA removes Indonesia as host of FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023". FIFA. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  5. ^ "FIFA confirms Argentina as host nation for FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023". FIFA. 17 April 2023.
  6. ^ "FIFA confirms Argentina as host of U20 World Cup". Buenos Aires Times. 17 April 2023.