2016 AFC U-16 Championship
 |
|
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |
 India
|
| Dates | 15 September – 2 October 2016 |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Iraq (1st title)
|
| Runners-up |
 Iran
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 109 (3.52 per match) |
| Attendance | 32,983 (1,064 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Mohammed Dawood (6 goals)
|
| Best player |
Mohammed Dawood
|
The 2016 AFC U-16 Championship was the 17th edition of the AFC U-16 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-16 national teams of Asia. The tournament was held in India, as announced by the AFC on 3 June 2015, and was played between 15 September and 2 October 2016. A total of 16 teams will play in the tournament.
Same as previous editions, the tournament acted as the AFC qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The top four teams of the tournament qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup also in India as the AFC representatives, besides India who qualified automatically as hosts. If India were among the top four teams, three play-off matches would be played to decide the fifth-placed team which also qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup; however, this was not necessary as India were eliminated in the group stage.
This marked the first time a U-17 World Cup host nation hosts the AFC U-16 Championship.
Iraq won the tournament after beating Iran 4–3 on penalties in the final match.
The draw for the qualifiers was held on 5 June 2015. A total of 45 teams were drawn into eleven groups, with the eleven group winners and the four best runners-up qualifying for the final tournament, together with India who qualified automatically as hosts but also competed in the qualifying stage.
The qualifiers were played between 12–20 September 2015, except for Group H which were played between 2–6 September 2015.
The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament. Nepal were replaced by Kyrgyzstan due to one of their players failing a MRI bone test.
On 12 April 2016, the AFC Competitions Committee decided that if the FIFA suspension of the Kuwait Football Association was not lifted by 13 May 2016, the next highest ranked team in the AFC U-16 Championship qualifying competition would replace Kuwait in the competition.
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