2021 WAFF U-18 Championship
| بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم تحت 18 عاما | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Iraq | 
| City | Baghdad (Final match) Basra (Group A) Erbil (Group B)  | 
| Dates | 20 November – 1 December | 
| Teams | 9 (from 1 sub-confederation) | 
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 3 host cities) | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions | |
| Runners-up | |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 17 | 
| Goals scored | 32 (1.88 per match) | 
| Top scorer(s) | |
| Best player(s) | |
| Best goalkeeper | |
← 2019  2024 →   | |
2021 WAFF U-18 Championship, also called 2021 EarthLink WAFF U-18 Championship due to sponsorship by EarthLink Telecommunications, was the second edition of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF)'s under-18 championship.[1] It took place between 20 November and 1 December 2021 in Iraq.[2]
The tournament featured nine teams divided into a two groups of four and five.[3] Hosts Iraq won the tournament, beating Lebanon on penalty shoot-outs in the final.[4]
Teams
Participants
| Team | Appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd | 2019 | Group stage (2019) | |
| 2nd | 2019 | Champions (2019) | |
| 2nd | 2019 | Third place (2019) | |
| 1st | — | — | |
| 1st | — | — | |
| 2nd | 2019 | Fourth place (2019) | |
| 1st | — | — | |
| 2nd | 2019 | Runners-up (2019) | |
| 1st | — | — | 
Format
Two groups of nine teams; the host country Iraq were in Group A, which contained five teams, while Group B contained four teams. Unlike the previous edition, only the group winners advance directly to the final.
Squads
A total of nine teams played in the tournament, with players born on or after 1 January 2003 eligible to participate. Each team had to register a squad of up to 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.
Officials
| 
 Referees  | 
 Assistant referees 
 
  | 
Venue
| Basra | Baghdad | Erbil | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basra International Stadium | Al-Madina Stadium | Franso Hariri Stadium | |
| Capacity: 65,227 | Capacity: 32,000 | Capacity: 25,000 | |
Groups stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 9 | Advance to the final | |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 | 
| Palestine  | 1–2 | |
|---|---|---|
  | 
Report | 
  | 
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 | Advance to the final | |
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 3 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 | 
| United Arab Emirates  | 0–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report | 
  | 
| Lebanon  | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
  | 
Report | 
  | 
| Syria  | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
  | 
Report | 
Final
Champion
| 2021 WAFF U-18 Championship champion | 
|---|
Iraq Second title  | 
Player awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Top Goalscorer | Best player | Best Goalkeeper | 
|---|---|---|
Goalscorers
There were 32 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 1.88 goals per match.
3 goals
2 goals
 Mubarak Habeeb
 Abdulrazzaq Qasim
 Blnd Hassan
 Amin Al-Shanainah
 Khaled Al-Nabrisi
1 goal
 Abdullah Al-Subaiei
 Abdulqader Ayoub
 Alai Ghasem
 Yousef Hussein
 Zaid Al-Asfar
 Saleh Al-Bannay
 Sayed Yousef Ebrahimi
 Josef Al-Subaihi
 Qais Taha
 Sultan Al-Ameeri
 Hamzah Mahross
 Hesham Balabl
1 own goal
References
- ^ "اتحاد غرب آسيا يثبت تفاصيل أربع بطولات من قائمة أجندة ٢٠٢١". 1 July 2021. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
 - ^ "أربيل تضيّف شباب غرب آسيا وسعيد يكشف أجندة الاتحاد". 5 July 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
 - ^ "إعلان موعد قرعة بطولة غرب آسيا للشباب". 27 October 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
 - ^ "المنتخب العراقي يتوج بالذهب ببطولة ايرثلنك للشباب". 3 December 2021. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
 - ^ "منتخب شباب اليمن يصعق العراق في لقاء جماهيري بغرب آسيا". almalaeb.net. 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
 
