2023 WAFF U-23 Championship

2023 WAFF U-23 Championship
بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم تحت 23 عاما
Tournament details
Host country	Iraq
City	Baghdad and Karbala
Dates	12–20 June
Teams	9 (from 1 confederation) (from 2 sub-confederations)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Iraq (1st title)
Runners-up	Iran
Tournament statistics
Matches played	12
Goals scored	27 (2.25 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Hussein Abdullah; (3 goals)
Best player(s)	Muntadher Mohammed
Best goalkeeper	Kumel Al-Rekabe
	← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship was the fourth edition of the WAFF U-23 Championship, the international age-restricted football championship organized by the West Asian Football Federation for the men's under-23 national teams of West Asia. Nine teams competed in the tournament, with one team being invited.^[1]

Saudi Arabia, the defending champions, did not take part in the tournament. Iraq won their first title after defeating Iran 5–4 on penalties (1–1 after extra time) in the final.^[2]

Teams

Nine teams took part in the competition.^[3]

Team	Appearance	Previous best performance
Iran	2nd	Winners (2015)
Iraq	2nd	Semi-finals (2021)
Jordan	3rd	Winners (2021)
Lebanon	3rd	Group stage (2021, 2022)
Oman	4th	Fourth place (2022)
Palestine	3rd	Group stage (2015, 2021)
Syria	4th	Runners-up (2015)
United Arab Emirates	3rd	Group stage (2015, 2021)
Yemen	3rd	Fourth place (2015)

Draw

The draw for the group stage took place on Thursday 25 May 2023 in Muscat, Oman at 15:00 UTC+3.^[4]

Group A
Pos	Team
A1	Iraq
A2	United Arab Emirates
A3	Jordan

Group B
Pos	Team
B1	Palestine
B2	Iran
B3	Syria

Group C
Pos	Team
C1	Lebanon
C2	Yemen
C3	Oman

Squads

Each team had to register a squad of 25 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.

Match officials

The following referees and assistant referees were appointed for the tournament.

Referees

Husain Al Showaikh (Bahrain)
Ahmed Kadhim Gatea (Iraq)
Ahmad Yacoub Ibrahim (Jordan)
Ali Al Ashkar (Lebanon)
Yahya Al Balushi (Oman)
Baraa Aisha (Palestine)
Faisal Al-Blwi (Saudi Arabia)
Feras Taweel (Syria)
Sultan Al Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)
Feras Yousef (Yemen)

Assistant Referees

Sayed Jalal Mahfoodh (Bahrain)
Karrar Al Uaibi (Iraq)
Qais Khamees (Jordan)
Bilal Orfi (Lebanon)
Mohammed Al Ghazali (Oman)
Rafat Roma (Palestine)
Saad Al-Subaie (Saudi Arabia)
Mohamed Al Sayed Ali (Syria)
Yasser Al Murshidi (United Arab Emirates)
Ahmed Mushwer (Yemen)

Venues

Baghdad	Karbala
Al-Madina Stadium	Karbala Stadium
Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 30,000

Baghdad Karbala

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iraq (H)	2	1	1	0	5	2	+3	4	Knockout stage
2	Jordan	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1	4	Knockout stage
3	United Arab Emirates	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	0

Source: GSA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

12 June 2023

21:45 UTC+3

Jordan	2–2	Iraq
Abualnadi 22' (pen.) 50'	Report	Hassan 19' Abdullah 29'

Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: Faisal Al-Blwi (Saudi Arabia)

14 June 2023

17:45 UTC+3

United Arab Emirates	1–2	Jordan
Abualnadi 45' (o.g.)	Report	Abushanab 82' Dhawi 90+1' (o.g.)

Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 500

Referee: Ali Al Ashkar (Lebanon)

16 June 2023

21:45 UTC+3

Iraq	3–0	United Arab Emirates
Hassan 26' Abdullah 73' Al-Mosawe 87'	Report

Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 25,931

Referee: Yahya Al Balushi (Oman)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	4	Knockout stage
2	Palestine	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4
3	Syria	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0

Updated to match(es) played on 14 June 2023. Source: GSA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

12 June 2023

19:45 UTC+3

Syria	0–1	Palestine
	Report	Haj Yousef 37'

Karbala Stadium, Karbala

Referee: Ahmad Yacoub Ibrahim (Jordan)

14 June 2023

19:45 UTC+3

Iran	3–1	Syria
Y.Salmani 9', 45+4' Shariatzadeh 15'	Report	M.Al Aswad 45'

Karbala Stadium, Karbala

Referee: Ahmed Kadhim Gatea (Iraq)

16 June 2023

19:45 UTC+3

Palestine	1–1	Iran
Qunbar 62'	Report	A.Barzegar 90+7'

Karbala Stadium, Karbala

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Feras Yousef (Yemen)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Oman	2	2	0	4	0	+4	6	Knockout stage
2	Yemen	2	1	1	2	4	−2	3
3	Lebanon	2	0	2	1	3	−2	0

Source: GSA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

12 June 2023

17:45 UTC+3

Oman	1–0	Lebanon
Al-Abdulsalam 42' (pen.)	Report

Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Sultan Al Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)

14 June 2023

21:45 UTC+3

Yemen	0–3	Oman
	Report	Al-Gaithiri 8' Al-Rawahi 54' (pen.) Al-Hadabi 90+2'

Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 500

Referee: Feras Taweel (Syria)

16 June 2023

17:45 UTC+3

Lebanon	1–2	Yemen
Sadek 53'	Report	Al-Sharif 55' Mahrous 65'

Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Baraa Aisha (Palestine)

Ranking of Runners-ups

The best-placed runner-up will qualify for the knockout stage.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Jordan	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1	4	Knockout stage
2	Palestine	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4
3	Yemen	2	1	0	1	2	4	−2	3

First match(es) will be played: 12 June 2023. Source:
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers

Knockout stage

Semi-finals		Final

18 June – Baghdad

Iran	0 (4)
		20 June – Baghdad
Jordan	0 (3)
		Iran	1 (4)
18 June – Baghdad
		Iraq	1 (5)
Iraq	1

Oman	0

Semi-finals

18 June 2023

18:00 UTC+3

Iran	0–0	Jordan
	Report
Penalties
Y. Salmani Hazbavi A. Bavieh M. Ghorbani Hashemnejad	4–3	Al-Diabat Abualnadi Jamous Al-Shanaineh Abu Taha

Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Husain Al Showaikh (Bahrain)

18 June 2023

21:00 UTC+3

Iraq	1–0	Oman
Al-Rawahi 52' (o.g.)	Report

Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 29,566

Referee: Faisal Al-Blwi (Saudi Arabia)

Final

20 June 2023

20:00 UTC+3

Iran	1–1	Iraq
Goudarzi 31'	Report	Abdullah 45+3'
Penalties
Y. Salmani Fallah Irankhah M. Ghorbani Hashemnejad	4–5	K. Mohammed Tahseen Abdullah M. Mohammed Maknzi

Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 32,000

Referee: Sultan Al Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)

Winners

2023 WAFF U-23 Championship champion
Iraq First title

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:^[5]

Awards

Player of the Tournament

Muntadher Mohammed

Golden Boot

Hussein Abdullah (3 goals)

Golden Glove

Kumel Al-Rekabe

Final standing

Rank	Team
	Iraq
	Iran
	Oman
4	Jordan
5	Palestine
6	Yemen
7	Lebanon
8	Syria
9	United Arab Emirates

Goalscorers

There have been 27 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.25 goals per match.

3 goals

Hussein Abdullah

2 goals

1 goal

Aria Barzegar
Hossein Goudarzi
Ahmad Shariatzadeh
Ali Al-Mosawe
Faisal Abu Shanab
Mohamad Omar Sadek
Salem Al-Abdulsalam
Khalid Al-Gaithiri
Osama Al-Hadabi
Nasser Al-Rawahi
Gibrán Haj Yousef
Zaid Qunbar
Mahmoud Al Aswad
Gassem Al-Sharafi
Hamza Mahrous

1 own goal

Mohammad Abualnadi (against United Arab Emirates)
Nasser Al-Rawahi (against Iraq)
Nawaf Dhawi (against Jordan)

Broadcasting rights

The following channels have been given broadcasting rights to broadcast the tournament.

Territory	Rights holder(s)
Iraq	Al Iraqiya Alrabiaa Network Television
United Arab Emirates	AD Sports Dubai Sports
Jordan	Jordan Sports TV
Yemen	Al-Saeeda

References

^ "إيران تشارك في بطولة غرب آسيا تحت 23 عاماً بالعراق".
^ ""أسود الرافدين" يفرض تألقه ويحقق أول ألقابه في بطولة تحت ٢٣ عاماً". 21 June 2023.
^ "قرعة النسخة الرابعة من بطولة تحت ٢٣ عاماً تسحب.. الإثنين". 28 May 2023.
^ "قرعة بطولة تحت ٢٣ عاماً تكشف معالم المجموعات الثلاث". 29 May 2023.
^ "هيمنة عراقية على جوائز بطولة غرب آسيا". kooora.com. 20 June 2023.

[1] "إيران تشارك في بطولة غرب آسيا تحت 23 عاماً بالعراق".

[2] ""أسود الرافدين" يفرض تألقه ويحقق أول ألقابه في بطولة تحت ٢٣ عاماً". 21 June 2023.

[3] "قرعة النسخة الرابعة من بطولة تحت ٢٣ عاماً تسحب.. الإثنين". 28 May 2023.

[4] "قرعة بطولة تحت ٢٣ عاماً تكشف معالم المجموعات الثلاث". 29 May 2023.

[5] "هيمنة عراقية على جوائز بطولة غرب آسيا". kooora.com. 20 June 2023.

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