Wikipedia

2021 WAFF U-23 Championship

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.

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]
← 2015
2022 →

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

Teams edit

Participants edit

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 edit

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 edit

Main article: 2021 WAFF U-23 Championship squads

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

Venues edit

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

Group stage edit

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 edit

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
Referee: Shukri Al-Hanfoush (Saudi Arabia)
Oman  0–1  Yemen
Report
Referee: Mohammad Qanah (Syria)
Kuwait  1–2  Jordan
 Report
Referee: Mohammad Issa (Lebanon)
Jordan  2–1  Yemen
 Report
Referee: Sami Al-Jires (Saudi Arabia)
Kuwait  1–1  Oman
 Report
Referee: Muath Al Oufi (Palestine)

Group B edit

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
 Report
Referee: Sultan Al-Harbi (Saudi Arabia)
Lebanon  2–4  Palestine
 Report
Referee: Mohammad Deham (Bahrain)
Iraq  2–0  United Arab Emirates
 Report
Referee: Khaled Al-Teris (Saudi Arabia)
Palestine  1–0  United Arab Emirates
 Report
Referee: Faisal Al-Blwi (Saudi Arabia)
Lebanon  2–2  Iraq
 Report
Referee: Shukri Al-Hanfoush (Saudi Arabia)

Group C edit

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
 Report
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 edit

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 edit

Bracket edit

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

Semi-finals edit

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

Final edit

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

Champion edit

 2021 WAFF U-23 Championship champion 
 
Jordan
First title

Statistics edit

Goalscorers edit

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

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Awards edit

Player of the Tournament
Golden Boot
Golden Glove

References edit

  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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