The 2015 WAFF U-23 Championship took place in Doha, Qatar for the first time. Ten nations took part. The competition was held in Qatar from 30 September 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.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Qatar |
| Dates | 30 September – 14 October |
| Teams | 10 (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 played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 49 (3.06 per match) |
| Attendance | 7,550 (472 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Akram Afif (4 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Amir Arsalan Motahari |
2021 → | |
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
editSquads
editEach team had to register a squad of up to 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.
Venues
edit| Doha | Location of the host cities of the 2015 WAFF U-23 Championship. |
|---|---|
| Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium (Lekhwiya SC stadium) | |
| Capacity: 12,000 | |
Group stage
edit| Legend |
|---|
| Advanced to the semifinals |
- All times listed are (UTC+3)
Group A
edit
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 | |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 3 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
Group B
edit
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4 | |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 0 |
| Iran | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheshmi Fazeli |
Report |
| Iran | 2–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Motahari |
Report | Madou Al-Sulayhem |
| Saudi Arabia | 3–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Ghamdi Al-Sulayhem Madou |
Report | Abdulrasool Hasan |
Group C
edit
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 0 |
| United Arab Emirates | 4–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Khameis Khalfan Saif Rabee |
Report | Saleem Al Hamdani Taaib |
Ranking of second-placed teams
editThe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4 | |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 4 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
Knockout stage
editSemi-finals
editThird place
editFinal
edit| Syria | 0–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Naghizadeh Motahari |
Winners
edit| 2015 WAFF U-23 Championship winners |
|---|
Iran 1st title |
Final standing
edit
|
Player awards
edit- Best Player:
Amir Arsalan Motahari
- Top Scorer:
Akram Afif
- Best Goalkeeper:
Goalscorers
edit- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
Abdula Ali Hasan
Baha' Faisal
Marwan Taaib
Raed Al-Ghamdi
Mahmoud Al Bahr
Khalifa Mubarak
Ahmed Abdullah
References
edit- ^ "Doha to conduct WAFF Olympic Championship draw in September". QFA. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.