2021 WAFF U-18 Championship

2021 WAFF U-18 Championship
بطولة غرب آسيا لكرة القدم تحت 18 عاما
Tournament details
Host countryIraq
CityBaghdad (Final match)
Basra (Group A)
Erbil (Group B)
Dates20 November – 1 December
Teams9 (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Iraq (2nd title)
Runners-up Lebanon
Tournament statistics
Matches played17
Goals scored32 (1.88 per match)
Top scorer Asahr Ali (3 goals)
Best player Ali El Fadl
Best goalkeeper Hussein Amoyed
2019
2024

2021 WAFF U-18 Championship, also called 2021 EarthLink WAFF U-18 Championship due to sponsorship by EarthLink Telecommunications, was the second edition of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF)'s under-18 championship.[1] It took place between 20 November and 1 December 2021 in Iraq.[2]

The tournament featured nine teams divided into a two groups of four and five.[3] Hosts Iraq won the tournament, beating Lebanon on penalty shoot-outs in the final.[4]

Teams

Participants

Team Appearance Last appearance Previous best performance
 Bahrain 2nd 2019 Group stage (2019)
 Iraq 2nd 2019 Champions (2019)
 Jordan 2nd 2019 Third place (2019)
 Kuwait 1st N/a N/a
 Lebanon 1st N/a N/a
 Palestine 2nd 2019 Fourth place (2019)
 Syria 1st N/a N/a
 United Arab Emirates 2nd 2019 Runners-up (2019)
 Yemen 1st N/a N/a

Format

Two groups of nine teams; the host country Iraq were in Group A, which contained five teams, while Group B contained four teams. Unlike the previous edition, only the group winners advance directly to the final.

Squads

A total of nine teams played in the tournament, with players born on or after 1 January 2003 eligible to participate. Each team had to register a squad of up to 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.

Officials

Venue

Basra Baghdad Erbil
Basra International Stadium Al-Madina Stadium Franso Hariri Stadium
Capacity: 65,227 Capacity: 32,000 Capacity: 25,000

Groups stage

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iraq (H) 4 3 0 1 9 1 +8 9 Advance to the final
2  Kuwait 4 2 1 1 5 5 0 7
3  Yemen 4 2 0 2 2 4 −2 6
4  Bahrain 4 1 1 2 3 7 −4 4
5  Palestine 4 1 0 3 4 6 −2 3
Source: goalzz
(H) Hosts
Palestine 1–2 Bahrain
  • Taha 45+2'
Report
  • Habeeb 17'
  • Al-Subaiei 83'
Referee: Maher Al Ali (Lebanon)
Iraq 3–0 Kuwait
Report
Referee: Mohamad Mofeed (Jordan)

Bahrain 0–4 Iraq
Report
Referee: Mohamad Kanah (Syria)
Kuwait 2–0 Yemen
  • Al-Aazmi 48' (pen.), 78'
Report
Referee: Mohamad Arafah (Jordan)

Yemen 0–2 Palestine
Report
  • Al-Subaihi 22' (pen.)
  • Al-Nabrisi 53' (pen.)
Referee: Sheikh Ahmad Alaeddin (Lebanon)
Kuwait 1–1 Bahrain
  • Al-Aazmi 79' (pen.)
Report
  • Habeeb 45'
Referee: Mohamad Mofeed (Jordan)

Palestine 1–2 Kuwait
  • Al-Nabrisi 52'
Report
  • Ebrahimi 30'
  • Al-Bannay 77'
Referee: Mohamad Kanah (Syria)
Yemen 1–0 Iraq
  • Mahross 79'
Report
Attendance: 58,320[5]
Referee: Maher Al Ali (Lebanon)

Bahrain 0–1 Yemen
Report
Referee: Mohamad Arafah (Jordan)
Iraq 2–0 Palestine
  • Qasim 19' (pen.)
  • Ali 71'
Report
Attendance: 51,823
Referee: Sheikh Ahmad Alaeddin (Lebanon)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Lebanon 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7 Advance to the final
2  Jordan 3 2 0 1 4 1 +3 6
3  Syria 3 1 0 2 1 3 −2 3
4  United Arab Emirates 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
Source: goalzz
Syria 0–1 Lebanon
Report
  • El Fadl 56'
Referee: Mohamad Juma (Bahrain)
United Arab Emirates 0–2 Jordan
Report
  • Al-Asfar 61'
  • Al-Shanainah 90+4'
Referee: Baraa Abu Aishah (Palestine)

Lebanon 1–1 United Arab Emirates
  • El Fadl 20'
Report
  • Al-Ameeri 60'
Referee: Wathiq Abdullah (Iraq)
Jordan 2–0 Syria
  • Hussein 61'
  • Al-Shanainah 78' (pen.)
Report
Referee: Saad Khalifa (Kuwait)

Syria 1–0 United Arab Emirates
  • Al-Ayassi 28' (o.g.)
Report
Referee: Waleed Khaloofa (Yemen)
Jordan 0–1 Lebanon
Report
  • El Fadl 53'
Referee: Baraa Abu Aishah (Palestine)

Final

Iraq 0–0 Lebanon
Report
Penalties
3–2
Attendance: 32,000
Referee: Mohamad Mofeed Ghabayen (Jordan)

Champion

 2021 WAFF U-18 Championship champion 

Iraq
Second title

Player awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Top Goalscorer Best player Best Goalkeeper
Ashar Ali Ali El Fadl Hussein Hassan

Goalscorers

There were 32 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 1.88 goals per match.

3 goals

  • Ashar Ali
  • Fahad Al-Aazmi
  • Ali El Fadl

2 goals

  • Mubarak Habeeb
  • Abdulrazzaq Qasim
  • Blnd Hassan
  • Amin Al-Shanainah
  • Khaled Al-Nabrisi

1 goal

  • Abdullah Al-Subaiei
  • Abdulqader Ayoub
  • Alai Ghasem
  • Yousef Hussein
  • Zaid Al-Asfar
  • Saleh Al-Bannay
  • Sayed Yousef Ebrahimi
  • Josef Al-Subaihi
  • Qais Taha
  • Sultan Al-Ameeri
  • Hamzah Mahross
  • Hesham Balabl

1 own goal

  • Nawaf Al-Ayassi (against Syria)

References

  1. ^ "اتحاد غرب آسيا يثبت تفاصيل أربع بطولات من قائمة أجندة ٢٠٢١". 1 July 2021. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  2. ^ "أربيل تضيّف شباب غرب آسيا وسعيد يكشف أجندة الاتحاد". 5 July 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  3. ^ "إعلان موعد قرعة بطولة غرب آسيا للشباب". 27 October 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  4. ^ "المنتخب العراقي يتوج بالذهب ببطولة ايرثلنك للشباب". 3 December 2021. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  5. ^ "منتخب شباب اليمن يصعق العراق في لقاء جماهيري بغرب آسيا". almalaeb.net. 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2021.