Kuwait national under-23 football team

Kuwait Under-23
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Al-Azraq (The Blue)
AssociationKuwait Football Association
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationWAFF (West Asia)
Head coachEmílio Peixe
CaptainAbdulaziz Naji
FIFA codeKUW
First colours
Second colours
Summer Olympics
Appearances3 (first in 1980)
Best resultQuarter-finals (1980)
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Appearances3 (first in 2013)
Best resultGroup stage (2013, 2022, 2024)

The Kuwait national under-23 football team is the youth association football team representing Kuwait in youth competitions and it is controlled by Kuwait Football Association. Kuwait under 23 Could also be called as Kuwait Olympic Team. Kuwait under 23 also represents its country in the Olympic Games. From 1900 to 1976 Kuwait did not qualify for the Olympic Games but in 1980 Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games in China and had the best record of their country finishing in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games. Kuwait missed the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games. But in 1992 Kuwait finally qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in Spain, however with their poor performance, Kuwait was eliminated in the first round of that tournament. After that Kuwait had missed the 1996 Olympic Games that was hosted by the United States, Kuwait then qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia and that was the last time Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games. Kuwait has never won the GCC U-23 Championship but their best finish at that Competition was as a runner up in 2010. In the 2022 Asian U-23 qualification Cup Group D, Kuwait managed to defeat Bangladesh by 1-0[1] and Saudi Arabia by 2-1,[2] this resulted in Kuwait to qualify for the 2022 Asian U-23 Cup.

Honours

Regional honours

Runners-up (2): 2010, 2015

Minor

  • 2018 Olympic Return Cup

History

Kuwait’s first-ever qualification to the Olympic games was in the 1980 Olympic Games which Kuwait were eliminated in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games. Kuwait missed the 1984 Olympic Games and the 1988 Olympic Games. Kuwait came back to the Olympic Games in 1992 after missing two events being eliminated in the quarter-final of that event. Kuwait did not qualify until the 2000 Olympic Games and that was the last time Kuwait qualified for the Olympic games. Kuwait did not qualify to the Olympic Games in 2004 after being eliminated in the qualifying Preliminary round 3 of the Football at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Qualifiers at the third position of the 3rd group. Kuwait was unqualified from Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualifier, with 2 being 4 goals less than Qatar due to that, Kuwait missed the 2008 Olympic Games. Kuwait also failed to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games after losing Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Qualifiers, within losing the first leg to Japan 3-1 but then Kuwait defeated Japan 2-1, Japan won on the aggregate. Kuwait does not have a good record at GCC U-23 Championship after finishing 5th in the final group of the 2008 GCC U-23 Championship. Kuwait was at the bottom of the table at that time. In 2010 Kuwait was the runner-up of their group. Kuwait was qualified for the semi-finals, Kuwait defeated Oman 5-4 on penalties. But lost to UAE. In the 2011 and 2012 GCC U-23 Championship, Kuwait was unfortunately eliminated in the first round with 0 points losing all three games.

Participation in Tournaments

Summer Olympics

Summer Olympics record
Year Result Position GP W D L GF GA Squad
1900–1988 See Kuwait national football team
Spain 1992 Group stage 16th 3 0 0 3 1 6 Squad
United States 1996 did not qualify
Australia 2000 Group stage 12th 3 1 0 2 6 8 Squad
Greece 2004 did not qualify
China 2008
United Kingdom 2012
Brazil 2016
Japan 2020
France 2024
United States 2028 to be determined
Australia 2032
Total Group stage 2/11 6 1 0 5 7 14 —

Asian Games

From 2002 Asian Games, at the first tournament to be played in an under-23 format.
Year Round GP W D* L GS GA
South Korea 2002 - 4 3 0 1 9 1
Qatar 2006 - 3 2 0 1 5 1
China 2010 - 4 2 0 2 4 4
South Korea 2014 - 3 1 0 2 6 7
Total 4/4 14 8 0 6 19 13

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Year Round GP W D* L GS GA
Oman 2013 Group stage 3 0 1 2 1 4
Qatar 2016 Did not qualify
China 2018
Thailand 2020
Uzbekistan 2022 Group stage 3 0 0 3 1 6
Qatar 2024 Group stage 3 1 0 2 3 9
Saudi Arabia 2026 To be determined
Total 3/7 9 1 1 7 5 19

Kuwait's fixtures and results

2023

Myanmar  v  Kuwait
14 August 2023 (2023-08-14) Friendly Myanmar  0-1  Kuwait Thailand
--:-- UTC+7
Kuwait  v  East Timor
6 September 2023 2024 AFC U-23 AC Q Kuwait  4-0  East Timor Kuwait City, Kuwait
Kuwait  v  Macau
9 September 2023 2024 AFC U-23 AC Q Kuwait  3-0  Macau Kuwait City, Kuwait
Kuwait  v  Iraq
12 September 2023 2024 AFC U-23 AC Q Kuwait  2-2  Iraq Kuwait City, Kuwait
South Korea  v  Kuwait
19 September 2023 (2023-09-19) 2022 Asian Games GS South Korea  9-0  Kuwait Hangzhou, China
19:30 UTC+8 Stadium: Linping Sports Centre Stadium
Kuwait  v  Bahrain
21 September 2023 (2023-09-21) 2022 Asian Games GS Kuwait  1-1  Bahrain Hangzhou, China
16:00 UTC+8 Stadium: Linping Sports Centre Stadium
Thailand  v  Kuwait
24 September 2023 (2023-09-24) 2022 Asian Games GS Thailand  1-1  Kuwait Hangzhou, China
19:30 UTC+8 Stadium: Linping Sports Centre Stadium

2024

Vietnam  v  Kuwait
17 April 2024 (2024-04-17) 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Vietnam  3–1  Kuwait Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah
18:30 Report
  • Al-Awadi 45+9' (pen.)
 Referee: Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar)
Kuwait  v  Uzbekistan
20 April 2024 (2024-04-20) 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Kuwait  0–5  Uzbekistan Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah
18:30 Report
Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)
Kuwait  v  Malaysia
23 April 2024 (2024-04-23) 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Kuwait  2–1  Malaysia Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah
18:30 Referee: Alex King (Australia)

Players

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1GK Abdulrahman Al-Harbi (2003-10-03) 3 October 2003 (age 20) Kuwait Al-Tadamon
1GK Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli (2001-03-23) 23 March 2001 (age 23) Kuwait Al-Salmiya
1GK Abdulrahman Kameel (2001-03-08) 8 March 2001 (age 23) Kuwait Al-Kuwait
2DF Abdulrahman Al-Daihani (2001-01-21) 21 January 2001 (age 23) Kuwait Al-Qadsia
2DF Khaled Al-Fadhli (2002-02-23) 23 February 2002 (age 22) Kuwait Al-Qadsia
2DF Saleh Faisal (2003-09-18) 18 September 2003 (age 20) Kuwait Kazma
2DF Sultan Al-Faraj (2001-06-16) 16 June 2001 (age 22) Kuwait Al-Kuwait
2DF Mohsen Ghareeb (2004-11-11) 11 November 2004 (age 19) Kuwait Al-Kuwait
2DF Youssef Al-Haqqan (2002-02-05) 5 February 2002 (age 22) Kuwait Al-Qadsia
2DF Abdulrahman Karam (2001-03-15) 15 March 2001 (age 23) Kuwait Al-Arabi
2DF Faisal Al-Shatti (2002-05-19) 19 May 2002 (age 21) Kuwait Al-Qadsia
3MF Hussain Ashkanani (2002-01-26) 26 January 2002 (age 22) Kuwait Al-Arabi
3MF Abdullah Al-Awadi (2001-09-17) 17 September 2001 (age 22) Kuwait Al-Qadsia
3MF Mahdi Dashti (2001-10-26) 26 October 2001 (age 22) Kuwait Al-Salmiya
3MF Fahad Al-Fadhli (2001-02-04) 4 February 2001 (age 23) Kuwait Kazma
3MF Bader Al-Mutairi (2003-09-26) 26 September 2003 (age 20) Kuwait Al-Arabi
3MF Montaser Suleiman (2005-05-17) 17 May 2005 (age 18) Kuwait Kazma
4FW Abdulaziz Asaad (2002-01-28) 28 January 2002 (age 22) Kuwait Al-Jahra
4FW Salman Al-Awadi (2001-05-21) 21 May 2001 (age 22) Kuwait Al-Arabi
4FW Muath Al-Enezi (2001-10-26) 26 October 2001 (age 22) Kuwait Al-Salmiya
4FW Jarah Al-Hilali (2004-02-29) 29 February 2004 (age 20) Kuwait Kazma
4FW Ibrahim Kameel (2002-06-10) 10 June 2002 (age 21) Kuwait Al-Kuwait
4FW Talal Al-Qaissi (2002-06-21) 21 June 2002 (age 21) Kuwait Kazma
4FW Abdulrahman Al-Rashidi (2004-01-12) 12 January 2004 (age 20) Kuwait Al-Nasr
4FW Hamad Al-Taweel (2001-07-26) 26 July 2001 (age 22) Kuwait Khaitan

Coaching staff

Name Role
Head coach Portugal Emílio Peixe
Assistant coach Francisco Gouvela
Assistant coach Vasco Pereira
Assistant coach Ahmad Ghobash
First-team coach Paulo Vieira
First-team coach Marzoug Al-Khelaifi
Goalkeeper coach Tiago Manta
Fitness coach Jose Vasconcelos
Physiotherapist Ricardo Couto
Team Doctor Joao Pedro Pinho
Technical director Diogo Rebelo

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bangladesh U23 vs. Kuwait U23 - 27 October 2021 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  2. ^ "Kuwait U23 vs Saudi Arabia U23 free livescore and video stream(2021/10/30) - AiScore Football LiveScore". m.aiscore.com. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  3. ^ "قائمة لاعبي منتخبنا الوطني الأولمبي لنهائيات كأس آسيا تحت 23 في قطر" [List of players of our Olympic national team for the AFC U-23 Cup finals in Qatar]. Twitter (in Arabic). Kuwait Football Association. 4 April 2024.