WAFF U-23 Championship

WAFF U-23 Championship

Organising body	WAFF
Founded	2015
Region	West Asia
Number of teams	11
Current champions	South Korea (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Iran  Iraq  Jordan  Saudi Arabia  South Korea(1 title each)
2024 WAFF U-23 Championship

The WAFF U-23 Championship (Arabic: بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم تحت 23 عام) is an international football competition organised by the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) for the men's under-23 national teams of West Asia.^[1][2]

Edition	Year	Host		Final				Third place playoff or losing semi-finalists
				Champions	Score	Runners-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place
1	2015	Qatar		Iran[3]	2–0 Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha	Syria		Qatar	3–0 Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha	Yemen
2	2021	Saudi Arabia		Jordan[4]	3–1 Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium, Dammam	Saudi Arabia		Iraq and  Syria
3	2022	Saudi Arabia		Saudi Arabia	3–1 King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah	Qatar		Syria	1–0 King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah	Oman
4	2023	Iraq[5]		Iraq	1–1 (5–4 p) Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad	Iran		Jordan and  Oman
5	2024	Saudi Arabia		South Korea	2–2 (4–3 p) Al Fateh Stadium, Al Mubarraz	Australia		Saudi Arabia	2–2 (4–2 p) Al Fateh Stadium, Al Mubarraz	Egypt

Team	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	Semi-finalist	Total (Top 4)
Saudi Arabia	1 (2022)	1 (2021)	1 (2024)	–	–	3
Iran	1 (2015)	1 (2023)	–	–	–	2
Jordan	1 (2021)	–	–	–	1 (2023)	2
Iraq	1 (2023)	–	–	–	1 (2021)	2
South Korea	1 (2024)	–	–	–	–	1
Syria	–	1 (2015)	1 (2022)	–	1 (2021)	3
Qatar	–	1 (2022)	1 (2015)	–	–	2
Australia	–	1 (2024)	–	–	–	1
Oman	–	–	–	1 (2022)	1 (2023)	2
Yemen	–	–	–	1 (2015)	–	1
Egypt	–	–	–	1 (2024)	–	1

• Results from host teams shown in bold

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
• SF – Semi-finals (no third place match)
• GS – Group stage
• Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
•  •  – Did not qualify
•  ×  – Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned
•    – Hosts
•   No longer or not a WAFF member

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Team	2015 (10)	2021 (11)	2022 (6)	2023 (9)	2024 (8)	Total
Australia					2nd	1
Bahrain	GS	GS	GS	×	×	3
Egypt					4th	1
Iran	1st			2nd		2
Iraq	×	SF	×	1st	6th	3
Jordan	GS	1st	×	SF	5th	4
Kuwait	×	GS	×	×	×	1
Lebanon	×	GS	GS	GS	×	3
Oman	GS	GS	4th	SF	×	4
Palestine	GS	GS	×	GS	×	3
Qatar	3rd	×	2nd	×	×	2
Saudi Arabia	GS	2nd	1st	×	3rd	4
South Korea					1st	1
Syria	2nd	SF	3rd	GS	×	4
Thailand					7th	1
United Arab Emirates	GS	GS	×	GS	8th	4
Yemen	4th	GS	×	GS	×	3

Tournament	Most Valuable Player	Top goalscorer(s)	Goals	Best goalkeeper
2015	Amir Arsalan Motahari	Akram Afif	4	Mohammad Reza Akhbari
2021	Yazan Al-Naimat	Mohammad Aburiziq		Nawaf Al-Aqidi
2022	Ahmed Al-Ghamdi	Al Faraj Al Kiyumi Nasser Al Rawahi Ahmed Al-Ghamdi Ziyad Al-Johani Mohammed Maran Mohamad Rihanieh	2	Waseem Ayoub
2023	Muntadher Mohammed	Hussein Abdullah	3	Kumel Al-Rekabe

Year	Team	Coach
2015	Iran	Mohammad Khakpour
2021	Jordan	Ahmad Hayel
2022	Saudi Arabia	Saad Al-Shehri
2023	Iraq	Radhi Shenaishil
2024	South Korea	Myung Jae-yong

Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.

As of 2024 WAFF U-23 Championship

Rank	Team	Part	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Jordan	4	14	8	3	3	27	16	+11	27
2	Saudi Arabia	4	13	7	3	3	23	15	+8	24
3	Syria	4	13	6	1	6	18	20	–2	19
4	Iran	2	8	4	4	0	13	6	+7	16
5	Iraq	3	11	4	4	3	15	12	+3	16
6	Qatar	2	9	4	3	2	11	7	+4	15
7	Oman	4	12	4	1	7	15	15	0	13
8	Palestine	3	8	4	1	3	9	10	–1	13
9	Yemen	3	10	3	2	5	10	16	–6	11
10	South Korea	1	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
11	United Arab Emirates	4	10	2	1	7	10	16	–6	7
12	Bahrain	3	7	2	0	5	6	15	–9	6
13	Australia	1	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1	5
14	Egypt	1	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5
15	Thailand	1	3	1	0	2	2	4	–6	3
16	Kuwait	1	3	0	2	1	3	4	–1	2
17	Lebanon	3	8	0	2	6	7	17	–10	2

• WAFF Championship
• AFC U-23 Asian Cup