2015 WAFF U-23 Championship

2015 WAFF U-23 Olympic Teams Championship
Tournament details
Host countryQatar
Dates30 September – 14 October
Teams10 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Iran (1st title)
Runners-up Syria
Third place Qatar
Fourth place Yemen
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored49 (3.06 per match)
Attendance7,550 (472 per match)
Top scorer(s)Qatar Akram Afif (4 goals)
Best player(s)Iran Amir Arsalan Motahari
2021 →
International football competition

The 2015 WAFF U-23 Championship took place in Doha, Qatar for the first time. Ten nations took part. The competition was held in Doha from 30 September 30 to 14 October with the draw for the tournament on 6 September 2015.[1] Iran won the title after they defeated Syria in the final. This was Iran's last WAFF competition before joining the Central Asian Football Association.

The competition was used as a warm up for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship which is also to be held in Qatar. This competition in turn is used as qualification for the Olympics football tournament of which these sides participating in the WAFF championship were eligible for.

Teams

Squads

Each team had to register a squad of up to 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.

Group stage

Legend
Advanced to the semifinals
  • All times listed are (UTC+3)

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Qatar 3 2 1 0 5 1 +4 7
 Yemen 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
 Palestine 3 1 0 2 2 6 −4 3
 Jordan 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
Source:[citation needed]
Jordan 3–1 Yemen
Faisal 71'
Hisham 74', 77'
report Al-Hubaishi 90+3'
Attendance: 150
Referee: Safwan Othman (Syria)
Qatar 3–0 Palestine
Ali 22'
Sanhaji 58'
Afif 90+3' (pen.)
report
Attendance: 700
Referee: Payam Heidari (Iran)

Palestine 1–3 Yemen
Batran 88' report Al-Hubaishi 15', 44'
Abdullah 24'
Attendance: 500
Referee: Mihail Litvinov (Turkmenistan)
Qatar 2–1 Jordan
Afif 21', 28' (pen.) report Hisham 29'
Attendance: 500
Referee: Haitham Mohammed Ali (Iraq)

Jordan 0–1 Palestine
report Batran 22'
Attendance: 200
Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)
Qatar 0–0 Yemen
report
Attendance: 800
Referee: Saleh Al-Hetlol (Saudi Arabia)

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Iran 2 1 1 0 4 2 +2 4
 Saudi Arabia 2 1 1 0 5 4 +1 4
 Bahrain 2 0 0 2 2 5 −3 0
Source:[citation needed]
Iran 2–0 Bahrain
Cheshmi 29'
Fazeli 41'
Report
Attendance: 700
Referee: Omar Mohamed Al Ali (United Arab Emirates)

Iran 2–2 Saudi Arabia
Motahari 8', 16' Report Madou 18' (pen.)
Al-Sulayhem 79'
Attendance: 500
Referee: Jawad Assi (Palestine)

Saudi Arabia 3–2 Bahrain
Al-Ghamdi 34'
Al-Sulayhem 80'
Madou 90+1' (pen.)
Report Abdulrasool 83' (pen.)
Hasan 90+3'

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Syria 2 2 0 0 4 2 +2 6
 United Arab Emirates 2 1 0 1 5 5 0 3
 Oman 2 0 0 2 4 6 −2 0
Source:[citation needed]
Syria 2–1 United Arab Emirates
Nakdali 17'
Al Bahr 23'
Report Mubarak 58'
Attendance: 500
Referee: Saleh Al-Hetlol (Saudi Arabia)

United Arab Emirates 4–3 Oman
Khameis 15'
Khalfan 22'
Saif 86'
Rabee 90+6'
Report Saleem 1'
Al Hamdani 82' (pen.)
Taaib 90+4'
Attendance: 300
Referee: Mongkolchai Pechsri (Thailand)

Oman 1–2 Syria
Al Siyabi 33' Report Nakdali 52', 53'

Ranking of second-placed teams

The best runner-up across all groups advance to semifinal. The results against the fourth-placed team are not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up team.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Yemen 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2 4
 Saudi Arabia 2 1 1 0 5 4 +1 4
 United Arab Emirates 2 1 0 1 5 5 0 3
Source:[citation needed]

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

Qatar 0–2 Syria
Report Mobayed 47'
Al Shami 90+5'
Attendance: 1,700
Referee: Haitham Mohammed Ali (Iraq)

Iran 2–1 Yemen
Mohammadi 9'
Daneshgar 47'
Report Al-Jarshi 52'
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Jawad Assi (Palestine)

Third place

Qatar 3–0 Yemen
Alaa 19'
Afif 68'
Sanhaji 90+1'
Report
Attendance: 700
Referee: Nasrullo Kabirov (Tajikistan)

Final

Syria 0–2 Iran
Report Naghizadeh 58'
Motahari 81'
Attendance: 1,700
Referee: Mongkolchai Pechsri (Thailand)

Champion

 2015 WAFF U-23 Championship champion 

Iran
First title

Final standing

Rank Team
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Iran
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Syria
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Qatar
4  Yemen
5  Saudi Arabia
6  United Arab Emirates
7  Palestine
8  Jordan
9  Oman
10  Bahrain

Player awards

Goalscorers

4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

References

  1. ^ "Doha to conduct WAFF Olympic Championship draw in September". QFA. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.