The 1988 AFC Youth Championship were held between October 17 and October 28 in Doha, capital of Qatar. Eight teams entered the final tournament, playing for the Asian Youth title and a spot at the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship in Saudi Arabia.

1988 AFC Youth Championship
Tournament details
Host countryَQatar
Dates17–28 October
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
ChampionsIraq Iraq (4th title)
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored39 (2.44 per match)
1986
1990

Iraq won the tournament, beating Syria 4–3 after a penalty shootout. Hosts Qatar grabbed the third place.[citation needed]

The Iraqi team qualified for the World Cup Finals, whereas Syria and Qatar had to enter a play-off round against Australia and New Zealand. Syria won the tournament it hosted in January 1989 in Aleppo.[citation needed]

Teams edit

Group stage edit

Group A edit

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
  Syria 6 3 3 0 0 4 0 +4
  Qatar 4 3 2 0 1 9 4 +5
  North Korea 2 3 1 0 2 4 7 −3
  China 0 3 0 0 3 3 9 −6
China  0 – 1  Syria

Qatar  4 – 1  North Korea

North Korea  0 – 2  Syria

Qatar  5 – 2  China

Syria  1 – 0  Qatar

North Korea  3 – 1  China

Group B edit

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
  Iraq 5 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2
  United Arab Emirates 4 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1
  South Korea 3 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1
  Japan 0 3 0 0 3 3 7 −4
Japan  1 – 3  South Korea

Iraq  0 – 0  United Arab Emirates

Japan  1 – 2  United Arab Emirates

South Korea  0 – 1  Iraq

Iraq  2 – 1  Japan

United Arab Emirates  0 – 0  South Korea

Semi finals edit

Iraq  1 – 1
5–4 (PSO)
  Qatar

Syria  2 – 0  United Arab Emirates

Third place play-off edit

Qatar  2 – 0  United Arab Emirates

Final edit

Iraq  1 – 1
5–4 (PSO)
  Syria

Qualification to World Youth Championship edit

The following teams qualified for the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship.

External links edit