2015 WAFF U-23 Championship
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.
 | |
| 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 |
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 |
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 |
| Iran | 2–0 | Bahrain |
|---|---|---|
Cheshmi  29'Fazeli 41' |
Report |
| Iran | 2–2 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Motahari 8', 16' |
Report | Madou 18' (pen.) Al-Sulayhem 79' |
| 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 |
| Syria | 2–1 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
| Nakdali 17' Al Bahr 23' |
Report | Mubarak 58' |
| 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' |
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 |
Knockout stage
Final
| Syria | 0–2 | Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Naghizadeh 58' Motahari 81' |
Champion
| 2015 WAFF U-23 Championship champion |
|---|
Iran First title |
Final standing
|
Player awards
- Best Player: Amir Arsalan Motahari
- Top Scorer: Akram Afif
- Best Goalkeeper: Mohammadreza Akhbari
Goalscorers
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
- Abdula Ali Hasan
- Ali Abdulrasool
- Hossein Fazeli
- Mehrdad Mohammadi
- Roozbeh Cheshmi
- Alireza Naghizadeh
- Mohammad Daneshgar
- Baha' Faisal
- Marwan Taaib
- Khalid Al Hamdani
- Jameel Saleem
- Ahmed Al Siyabi
- Almoez Ali
- Ahmed Alaaeldin
- Raed Al-Ghamdi
- Mahmoud Al Bahr
- Abdullah Al Shami
- Khaled Mobayed
- Khalifa Mubarak
- Ebraheim Khameis
- Saif Khalfan
- Ahmed Rabee
- Sultan Saif
- Ahmed Abdullah
- Abdulmuain Al-Jarshi
References
- "Doha to conduct WAFF Olympic Championship draw in September". QFA. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.