2020 AFC U-16 Championship
بطولة آسيا تحت 16 سنة 2020 | |
---|---|
Tournament details | |
Host country | Bahrain |
Dates | Cancelled[1] |
Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
Venue(s) | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
← 2018 2023 → |
The 2020 AFC U-16 Championship would have been the 19th edition of the AFC U-16 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-16 national teams of Asia. It was scheduled to take place in Bahrain, who had been appointed as the host by the AFC on 17 September 2019.[2] It was originally scheduled between 16 September and 3 October 2020, but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]
The AFC announced the cancellation of the tournament on 25 January 2021, leaving the hosting rights for the 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup with Bahrain.[1]
Originally, the top four teams of the tournament would have qualified for the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru as the AFC representatives. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2021 U-17 World Cup was also cancelled, with hosting rights for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup still with Peru.[5]
This edition was expected to be the last to be played as an under-16 tournament, as the AFC have proposed switching the tournament from under-16 to under-17 starting from 2023.[6]
Japan were the defending champions.
Qualification
Qualifying was played from 14 – 22 September 2019.[7] Bahrain also participated in the qualifiers, even though they had already qualified automatically as hosts.
Qualified teams
The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.[8]
Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
---|---|---|---|
Bahrain | Hosts | 8th | Runners-up (1988) |
Tajikistan | Group A winners | 4th | Runners-up (2018) |
India | Group B winners | 9th | Quarter-finals (2002, 2018) |
Iran | Group C winners | 12th | Champions (2008) |
Saudi Arabia | Group D winners | 11th | Champions (1985, 1988) |
Qatar | Group E winners | 11th | Champions (1990) |
United Arab Emirates | Group F winners | 8th | Runners-up (1990) |
China | Group G winners | 15th | Champions (1992, 2004) |
Australia | Group H winners | 7th | Semi-finals (2010, 2014, 2018) |
North Korea | Group I winners | 12th | Champions (2010, 2014) |
Japan | Group J winners | 16th | Champions (1994, 2006, 2018) |
South Korea | Group K winners | 15th | Champions (1986, 2002) |
Yemen | 1st best runners-up | 6th | Runners-up (2002) |
Indonesia | 2nd best runners-up | 7th | Fourth place (1990) |
Uzbekistan | 3rd best runners-up | 10th | Champions (2012) |
Oman | 4th best runners-up | 11th | Champions (1996, 2000) |
Draw
The draw of the final tournament was held on 18 June 2020, 14:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.[9][10] The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship final tournament and qualification, with the hosts Bahrain automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.
Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
---|---|---|---|
|
Group A | Bahrain | North Korea | Iran | Qatar |
---|---|---|---|---|
Group B | Tajikistan | Oman | Yemen | United Arab Emirates |
Group C | South Korea | Australia | India | Uzbekistan |
Group D | Japan | Indonesia | Saudi Arabia | China |
References
- ^ a b "Latest update on AFC Competitions in 2021". Asian Football Confederation. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ "Uzbekistan, Bahrain recommended as hosts for 2020 AFC U-19 & U-16 Championships". AFC. 17 September 2019.
- ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2020". AFC. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018.
- ^ "AFC Executive Committee announces updates to 2020 competitions calendar". AFC. 10 September 2020.
- ^ "Update on FIFA Women's World Cup and men's youth competitions". FIFA. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^ "AFC Competitions Committee recommends changes to youth competitions". AFC. 26 November 2018.
- ^ "AFC Competitions Calendar 2019". AFC. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018.
- ^ "High quality cast for Finals". AFC. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
- ^ "Stage set for 2020 AFC U-16 & U-19 Championship draws". AFC. 17 June 2020.
- ^ "Asia's future stars discover contenders for Bahrain 2020 challenge". AFC. 18 June 2020.
External links
- AFC U-16 Championship, the-AFC.com
- AFC U-16 Championship 2020, stats.the-AFC.com
- 2020 AFC U-16 Championship
- 2020 in Asian football
- 2020 in youth association football
- 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup qualification
- March 2021 sports events in Asia
- April 2021 sports events in Asia
- International association football competitions hosted by Bahrain
- Association football events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic