Kuwait national under-23 football team

Kuwait Under-23

Nickname(s)	Al-Azraq (The Blue)
Association	Kuwait Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach	Rajko Magić
Captain	Bader Al-Fadhel
FIFA code	KUW
First colours Second colours

The Kuwait national under-23 football team is the youth association football team representing Kuwait in youth competitions and it is controlled by Kuwait Football Association. Kuwait under 23 Could also be called as Kuwait Olympic Team. Kuwait under 23 also represents its country in the Olympic Games. From 1900 to 1976 Kuwait did not qualify for the Olympic Games but in 1980 Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games in China and had the best record of their country finishing in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games. Kuwait missed the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games but in 1992 Kuwait finally qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in Spain but with their poor performance Kuwait was eliminated in the first round of that tournament after that Kuwait missed the 1996 Olympic Games that was hosted by the United States Kuwait then qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia and that was the last time Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games. Kuwait has never won the GCC U-23 Championship but their best finish at that Compatetion was as a runner up in 2010.

Honours

Regional honours

• GCC U-23 Championship

Runners-up (2): 2010, 2015

Minor

• 2018 Olympic Return Cup

History

Kuwait first ever qualification to the Olympic games was in the 1980 Olympic Games witch Kuwait were eliminated in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games. Kuwait missed the 1984 Olympic Games and the 1988 Olympic Games. Kuwait came back to the Olympic Games in 1992 after missing two events being eliminated in the quarter-final of that event. Kuwait did not qualify until the 2000 Olympic Games and that was the last time Kuwait under 23 team qualified for the Olympic games. Kuwait did not qualify to the Olympic Games in 2004 after being eliminated in the qualifying Preliminary round 3 of the Football at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's Asian Qualifiers at the third position of the 3rd group. Kuwait miss-qualified the Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's Asian Qualifiers Preliminary Round 2 being 4 goals less than Qatar national under-23 football team so Kuwait missed the 2008 Olympic Games. Kuwait failed to qualify to the 2012 Olympic Games after losing Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's Asian Qualifiers Preliminary Round 2 losing the first leg to Japan national under-23 football team 3-1 but then Kuwait defeated Japan national under-23 football team 2-1 but Japan qualified on aggregate. Kuwait does not have a good record at GCC U-23 Championship after finishing 5th in the final group of the 2008 GCC U-23 Championship Kuwait were at the bottom of the table at that time. In 2010 Kuwait were the runner up of their group. Kuwait qualified for the semi-finals Kuwait defeated Oman national under-23 football team 5-4 on penalties. but lost to United Arab Emirates national under-23 football team. In the 2011 GCC U-23 Championship Kuwait were eliminated in the first round with 0 Points losing all three games. 2012 GCC U-23 Championship Kuwait were also eliminated in the first round with 0 Points losing all three games.

Participation in Tournaments

Asian Games

From 2002 Asian Games, at the first tournament to be played in an under-23 format.

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
2002	-	4	3	0	1	9	1
2006	-	3	2	0	1	5	1
2010	-	4	2	0	2	4	4
2014	-	3	1	0	2	6	7
Total	4/4	14	8	0	6	19	13

See also

• Kuwait national football team
• Kuwait national under-20 football team
• Kuwait national under-17 football team
• Kuwait women's national football team