2024 WAFF U-23 Championship
| بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم تحت 23 عاما | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Saudi Arabia | 
| Dates | 20–26 March | 
| Teams | 8 (from 2 confederations) (from 4 sub-confederations) | 
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  South Korea (1st title) | 
| Runners-up | .svg.png) Australia | 
| Third place |  Saudi Arabia | 
| Fourth place |  Egypt | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 | 
| Goals scored | 29 (2.42 per match) | 
| Top scorer(s) | .svg.png) Alou Kuol (3 goals) | 
| ← 2023  2025 →  | |
The 2024 WAFF U-23 Championship was the fifth edition of the WAFF U-23 Championship, the international age-restricted football championship organized by the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) for the men's under-23 national teams of West Asia. Eight teams competed in the tournament, with four WAFF teams and four other invitees.[1]
Iraq were the defending champions, but they were eliminated from the tournament at the group stages. South Korea won their first WAFF title, beating Australia 4–3 on penalties after a 2–2 draw.
Teams
Eight teams took part in the competition, with four from the WAFF and four other invitees. Iraq participated with its under-19 national team.[2]
| Team | Appearance | Previous best performance | 
|---|---|---|
| .svg.png) Australia (invitee) | 1st | Debut | 
|  Egypt (invitee) | 1st | Debut | 
|  Iraq | 3rd | Winners (2023) | 
|  Jordan | 4th | Winners (2021) | 
|  Saudi Arabia | 4th | Winners (2022) | 
|  South Korea (invitee) | 1st | Debut | 
|  Thailand (invitee) | 1st | Debut | 
|  United Arab Emirates | 4th | Group stage (2015, 2021, 2023) | 
Draw
The draw for the group stage took place on 3 March 2024 at the WAFF headquarters in Amman, Jordan. Teams from the same group of the upcoming 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup could not be drawn into the same group. Host Saudi Arabia were automatically placed in position A1.[3]
| 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 | 
Squads
Match officials
Venues
|  Hofuf |  Al-Mubarraz | 
|---|---|
| Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium | Al Fateh Stadium | 
| Capacity: 19,550 | Capacity: 11,000 | 
Group stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Saudi Arabia (H) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | Knockout stage | 
| 2 |  Jordan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 
| Saudi Arabia  | 1–1 |  Jordan | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | 
 | |
| Penalties | ||
| 
 | 2–1 | |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  South Korea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | Knockout stage | 
| 2 |  Thailand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | 
| South Korea  | 1–0 |  Thailand | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | 
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Egypt | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | Knockout stage | 
| 2 |  United Arab Emirates | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | 
| Egypt  | 1–0 |  United Arab Emirates | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | 
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .svg.png) Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 | Knockout stage | 
| 2 |  Iraq | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0 | 
Classification matches
Classification semi-finals
| Iraq  | 1–1 |  United Arab Emirates | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | 
 | |
| Penalties | ||
| 
 | 4–3 | 
 | 
| Thailand  | 1–3 |  Jordan | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | 
Seventh place play-off
Fifth place play-off
Knockout stage
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 23 March – Hofuf | ||||||
| .svg.png) Australia (p) | 1 (2) | |||||
| 26 March – Al Mubarraz | ||||||
|  Egypt | 1 (1) | |||||
| .svg.png) Australia | 2 (3) | |||||
| 23 March – Al Mubarraz | ||||||
|  South Korea (p) | 2 (4) | |||||
|  South Korea | 1 | |||||
|  Saudi Arabia | 0 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 26 March – Al Mubarraz | ||||||
|  Egypt | 2 (2) | |||||
|  Saudi Arabia (p) | 2 (4) | |||||
Semi-finals
| South Korea  | 1–0 |  Saudi Arabia | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | 
Third place play-off
| Egypt  | 2–2 |  Saudi Arabia | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | ||
| Penalties | ||
| 2–4 | 
 | |
Final
| Australia .svg.png) | 2–2 |  South Korea | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | Report | 
 | 
| Penalties | ||
| 3–4 | ||
Goalscorers
There were 29 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.42 goals per match.
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
.svg.png) Louis D'Arrigo Louis D'Arrigo
.svg.png) Garang Kuol Garang Kuol
 Hossam Abdelmaguid Hossam Abdelmaguid
 Bilal Mazhar Bilal Mazhar
 Mahmoud Saber Mahmoud Saber
 Halgurd Jaafar Halgurd Jaafar
 Ali Sadiq Ali Sadiq
 Reziq Bani Hani Reziq Bani Hani
 Abdulaziz Al-Faraj Abdulaziz Al-Faraj
 Meshari Al-Nemer Meshari Al-Nemer
 Marwan Al-Sahafi Marwan Al-Sahafi
 Cho Hyun-taek Cho Hyun-taek
 Eom Ji-sung Eom Ji-sung
 Kang Seong-jin Kang Seong-jin
 Lee Young-jun Lee Young-jun
 Chitsanupong Choti Chitsanupong Choti
 Thanadol Kaosaart Thanadol Kaosaart
 Mohammed Al-Mansoori Mohammed Al-Mansoori
1 own goal
.svg.png) Jake Hollman (against Egypt) Jake Hollman (against Egypt)
 Reziq Bani Hani (against Iraq) Reziq Bani Hani (against Iraq)
Ranking
| Rank | Team | M | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 | 
| 2 | .svg.png) Australia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 | 
| 3 |  Saudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 2 | 
| 4 |  Egypt | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 5 | 
| 5 |  Jordan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 7 | 
| 6 |  Iraq | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 1 | 
| 7 |  Thailand | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 3 | 
| 8 |  United Arab Emirates | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 1 | 
References
- ^ "The 5th Edition of the under-23 championship will host 4 teams from outside the region". WAFF. 26 February 2024.
- ^ "الشباب بدلا عن الأولمبي في غرب آسيا". Iraq News Agency. 12 February 2024.
- ^ "٨ منتخبات تترقب قرعة بطولة تحت ٢٣ عاماً الخامسة" [Drawing the draw for the fifth Under-23 Championship] (in Arabic). WAFF. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.




