2016 AFC U-23 Championship
| بطولة آسيا تحت 23 سنة لكرة القدم 2016 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country |
 Qatar
|
| Dates | 12–30 January 2016 |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Japan (1st title)
|
| Runners-up |
 South Korea
|
| Third place |
 Iraq
|
| Fourth place |
Qatar
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 103 (3.22 per match) |
| Attendance | 93,639 (2,926 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Ahmed Alaa (6 goals) |
| Best player |
Shoya Nakajima
|
| Fair play award |
Japan
|
The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2016 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the second edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. The tournament was held in Qatar between 12–30 January 2016. A total of 16 teams compete in the tournament. The tournament was also renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship".
For the first time, the AFC U-23 Championship acted as the AFC qualifiers for the Olympic football tournament, replacing the previous process of home-and-away Olympic qualifiers. The top three teams of the tournament qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Brazil as the AFC representatives.
Japan won the tournament with a 3–2 final win over South Korea. Both finalists and third-placed Iraq qualified for the Olympics.
Qatar was one of the countries which came forward wishing to host the finals competition. They were selected over the other bidding nations Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The qualifiers draw was held on Thursday, 4 December 2014. A total of 43 teams were drawn into ten groups, with the ten group winners and the five best runners-up qualifying for the final tournament, together with Qatar who qualified automatically as hosts.
Qualification rounds were played between 23–31 March 2015, except for Group B which was scheduled to be held in Lahore, Pakistan, but was postponed due to the Lahore church bombings.
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