2021 WAFF U-23 Championship
بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم تحت 23 عاما
Tournament details
Host countrySaudi Arabia
Dates4–12 October
Teams12 (from 1 confederation) (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Jordan (1st title)
Runners-up Saudi Arabia
Tournament statistics
Matches played18
Goals scored51 (2.83 per match)
Top scorer(s)Jordan Mohammad Aburiziq
(4 goals)
Best player(s)Jordan Yazan Al-Naimat[1]
Best goalkeeperSaudi Arabia Nawaf Al-Aqidi[2]

The 2021 WAFF U-23 Championship was the second edition of the WAFF U-23 Championship, an under-23 international tournament for member nations of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF). It took place in Saudi Arabia from 4 to 12 October 2021, featuring 11 teams.[3] Only players born on or after 1 January 1998 were eligible to participate. Iran were the defending champions; however, they couldn't defend the title after they joined CAFA.

Jordan won their first tournament, beating hosts Saudi Arabia 3–1 in the final.[4]

Teams

Participants

A total of eleven teams participated in the competition. All WAFF members, other than Qatar, agreed to take part in the tournament.[5]

Team Appearance Last appearance Previous best performance
 Bahrain 2nd 2015 Group stage
 Iraq 1st Debut  –
 Jordan 2nd 2015 Group stage
 Kuwait 1st Debut  –
 Lebanon 1st Debut  –
 Oman 2nd 2015 Group stage
 Palestine 2nd 2015 Group stage
 Saudi Arabia 2nd 2015 Group stage
 Syria 2nd 2015 Runners-up
 United Arab Emirates 2nd 2015 Group stage
 Yemen 2nd 2015 Semi-finals

Draw

The eleven teams were drawn into three groups on 12 September 2021: Group A and B with four teams and Group C with three.[6][7] The three group winners, alongside the best group runner-up, directly advanced to the knock-out stage.

Squads

Each team had to register a squad of up to 23 players, three of whom goalkeepers.

Venues

Khobar Dammam
Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium
Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 26,000

Group stage

The three group winners and the best group runner-up advanced to the semi-finals.

All times are local, AST (UTC+3).[8][9]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Jordan 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6 Knockout stage
2  Yemen 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
3  Oman 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
4  Kuwait 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2
Source: kooora
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Jordan 0–1 Oman
Report
  • Al Naabi 42'
Referee: Yahya Al Mulla (United Arab Emirates)
Yemen 1–1 Kuwait
 Report
  • Al-Rashidi 42'
Referee: Shukri Al-Hanfoush (Saudi Arabia)
Oman 0–1 Yemen
Report
Referee: Mohammad Qanah (Syria)
Kuwait 1–2 Jordan
  • Al-Rashidi 8'
 Report
  • Abu Taha 58'
  • Aburiziq 88'
Referee: Mohammad Issa (Lebanon)
Jordan 2–1 Yemen
  • Awad 35' (pen.)
  • Aburiziq 87'
 Report
Referee: Sami Al-Jires (Saudi Arabia)
Kuwait 1–1 Oman
  • Al-Salamah 90+7'
 Report
  • Al Balushi 53'
Referee: Muath Al Oufi (Palestine)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iraq 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3 7 Knockout stage
2  Palestine 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6
3  United Arab Emirates 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
4  Lebanon 3 0 1 2 4 9 −5 1
Source: kooora
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Palestine 0–1 Iraq
Report
Referee: Mokhtar Al-Arami (Yemen)
United Arab Emirates 3–0 Lebanon
  • Obaid 32'
  • Abdulrahman 34'
  • Abdulla 78'
 Report
Referee: Sultan Al-Harbi (Saudi Arabia)
Lebanon 2–4 Palestine
 Report
  • Direya 6', 12', 71'
  • Al-Nabrisi 47'
Referee: Mohammad Deham (Bahrain)
Iraq 2–0 United Arab Emirates
  • Zamel 41'
  • Abdulameer 90+2'
 Report
Referee: Khaled Al-Teris (Saudi Arabia)
Palestine 1–0 United Arab Emirates
 Report
Referee: Faisal Al-Blwi (Saudi Arabia)
Lebanon 2–2 Iraq
  • Nasser 33', 45'
 Report
Referee: Shukri Al-Hanfoush (Saudi Arabia)

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Saudi Arabia (H) 2 2 0 0 5 0 +5 6 Knockout stage
2  Syria 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 3
3  Bahrain 2 0 0 2 1 7 −6 0
Source: kooora
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Bahrain 1–4 Syria
  • Al Hayki 67'
 Report
  • Mohammad 7'
  • Al Khassi 29'
  • Al Hallak 79'
  • Akil 90+3'
Referee: Mohammed Salman (Iraq)
Syria 0–2 Saudi Arabia
Report
Referee: Ahmad Al-Ali (Kuwait)
Saudi Arabia 3–0 Bahrain
 Report
Referee: Yahya Al Mulla (United Arab Emirates)

Ranking of second-placed teams

The best runner-up team from the three groups advanced to the semi-finals along with the three group winners. Group C contained only three teams compared to four teams in the other two groups. Therefore, the results against the fourth-placed team were not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 C  Syria 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 3 Knockout stage
2 A  Yemen 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
3 B  Palestine 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3
Source: kooora
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Fair play points; 5) Drawing of lots.

Knockout stage

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
10 October – Khobar
 
 
 Jordan5
 
12 October – Dammam
 
 Syria2
 
 Jordan3
 
10 October – Dammam
 
 Saudi Arabia1
 
 Iraq0
 
 
 Saudi Arabia1
 

Semi-finals

Jordan 5–2 Syria
 Report
Referee: Khaled Al-Teris (Saudi Arabia)
Iraq 0–1 Saudi Arabia
Report
Referee: Mohammad Issa (Lebanon)

Final

Jordan 3–1 Saudi Arabia
 Report
Referee: Ahmad Al-Ali (Kuwait)

Champion

 2021 WAFF U-23 Championship champion 

Jordan
First title

Statistics

Goalscorers

There have been 51 goals scored in 18 matches, for an average of 2.83 goals per match.

4 goals

  • Jordan Mohammad Aburiziq

3 goals

  • Lebanon Mohammad Nasser
  • State of Palestine Mohammed Direya

2 goals

1 goal

Awards

Player of the Tournament
Golden Boot
  • Jordan Mohammad Aburiziq
Golden Glove

References

  1. ↑ "عضو مجلس ادارة اتحاد غرب اسيا لكرة القدم علي المطيري سلّم لاعب المنتخب الاردني يزن النعيمات جائزة أفضل لاعب في البطولة".
  2. ↑ "عضو مجلس إدارة الاتحاد السعودي لكرة القدم الدكتور خالد المقرن سلّم جائزة أفضل حارس في البطولة للاعب المنتخب السعودي نواف العقيدي".
  3. ↑ "اتحاد غرب آسيا ينظم عدد من البطولات المهمة". 28 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Jordan beats Saudi Arabia in WAFF U-23 final". 12 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "الأولمبي يعتذر عن غرب آسيا".
  6. ↑ ""الناشئين» و«الأولمبي» يترقبان قرعة «غرب آسيا"".
  7. ↑ "قرعة «غرب آسيا» تضع الأولمبي في مجموعة المستضيف.. والناشئين في مجموعة الأدرن والكويت".
  8. ↑ "بالصور: جدول بطولة غرب آسيا تحت 23 عامًا". 29 September 2021.
  9. ↑ "إعلان جدول مباريات بطولة اتحاد غرب آسيا تحت ٢٣ عاماً". Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
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