The 2020 AFC U-19 Championship would have been the 41st edition of the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-19 national teams of Asia. It was scheduled to take place in Uzbekistan, who had been appointed as the host by the AFC on 17 September 2019.[2] It was originally scheduled to run between 14 and 31 October 2020,[3] but was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5]
| 2020 yil U-19 Osiyo chempionati | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Uzbekistan |
| Dates | Cancelled [1] |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 3 host cities) |
← 2018 2023 → | |
The AFC announced the cancellation of the tournament on 25 January 2021, leaving the hosting rights for the 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup with Uzbekistan.[1]
Originally, the top four teams of the tournament would have qualified for the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia as the AFC representatives, plus Indonesia who qualified automatically as the World Cup hosts. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2021 U-20 World Cup was also cancelled, with hosting rights for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup still kept with Indonesia.[6]
This edition was expected to be the last to be played as an under-19 tournament, as the AFC have proposed switching the tournament from under-19 to under-20 starting from 2023.[7]
Saudi Arabia were the defending champions.
Qualification
editQualification matches were played in November 2019.[8][9] Uzbekistan also participated in the qualifiers, even though they had already qualified automatically as hosts.
Qualified teams
editThe following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.[10]
| Team | Qualified as | Appearance | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uzbekistan | Hosts | 8th | Runners-up (2008) |
| Iraq | Group A winners | 18th | Champions (1975, 1977, 1978, 1988, 2000) |
| Qatar | Group B winners | 15th | Champions (2014) |
| Tajikistan | Group C winners | 5th | Quarter-finals (2016, 2018) |
| Iran | Group D winners | 21st | Champions (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976) |
| Bahrain | Group E winners | 10th | Runners-up (1986) |
| Saudi Arabia | Group F winners | 15th | Champions (1986, 1992, 2018) |
| Malaysia | Group G winners | 24th | Runners-up (1959, 1960, 1968) |
| Australia | Group H winners | 8th | Runners-up (2010) |
| South Korea | Group I winners | 39th | Champions (1959, 1960, 1963, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2012) |
| Japan | Group J winners | 38th | Champions (2016) |
| Indonesia | Group K winners | 18th | Champions (1961) |
| Laos | 1st best runners-up | 6th | Quarter-finals (1970) |
| Vietnam | 2nd best runners-up | 20th[note 1] | Semi-finals (2016) |
| Yemen | 3rd best runners-up | 7th | Group stage (1978, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016) |
| Cambodia | 5th best runners-up | 4th | Group stage (1963, 1972, 1974) |
Draw
editThe draw of the final tournament was held on 18 June 2020, 16:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.[12][13] The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams, with the teams seeded according to their performance in the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship final tournament and qualification, with the hosts Uzbekistan automatically seeded and assigned to Position A1 in the draw.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group A | Uzbekistan | Indonesia | Cambodia | Iran |
| Group B | South Korea | Japan | Iraq | Bahrain |
| Group C | Saudi Arabia | Australia | Vietnam | Laos |
| Group D | Qatar | Tajikistan | Malaysia | Yemen |
Notes
edit- ^ Between 1959 and 1974 Vietnam competed at AFC tournaments as South Vietnam. A separate North Vietnam state did not join FIFA and they mostly played against other communist and communist-sympathising countries.[11] The team's total appearances included eleven appearances as the South Vietnam national under-20 football team.
References
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ "New competition dates approved by AFC Competitions Committee". AFC. 11 November 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.
- ^ "الاتحاد الآسيوي لكرة القدم يقرر منح السلطنة حق استضافة مباريات المجموعة الأولى من التصفيات الآسيوية لمنتخبات الشباب بدلا من العراق". Twitter (in Arabic). OFA. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ "Uzbekistan 2020 cast finalised". AFC. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
- ^ S. W. Pope; John Nauright (17 December 2009). Routledge Companion to Sports History. Routledge. pp. 595–. ISBN 978-1-135-97813-6.
- ^ "Stage set for 2020 AFC U-16 & U-19 Championship draws". AFC. 17 June 2020.
- ^ "Stars of tomorrow learn opponents for Uzbekistan 2020". AFC. 18 June 2020.
External links
edit- AFC U-19 Championship, the-AFC.com
- AFC U-19 Championship 2020, stats.the-AFC.com