Wikipedia

2025 WAFF U-23 Championship

The 2025 WAFF U-23 Championship (Arabic: بطولة غرب آسيا تحت 23 عاما 2025) was the sixth edition of the WAFF U-23 Championship, the annual international age-restricted football championship organised by West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) for the men's under-23 national teams of West Asia. The tournament was hosted by Oman from 19 to 25 March 2025, with eight teams competing for the title. Only players born on or after 1 January 2002 are eligible to participate.[1][2]

WAFF U-23 Championship 2025
بطولة غرب آسيا تحت 23 عاما
بطولة غرب آسيا للمنتخبات الأولمبية
عمان 2025
Tournament details
Host countryOman
Dates19–25 March
Teams8 (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Oman (1st title)
Runners-up Jordan
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored26 (2.17 per match)
Top scorer(s)Jordan Baker Kalbouneh
(4 goals)
← 2024
2026 →

South Korea were the defending champions but could not defend their title as this edition, open only to WAFF members, did not extend invitations to non-member teams. Oman captured the first title in this age level, beating Jordan 3–1 in the final.

Teams

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Participating teams

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A total of 8 (out of 12) WAFF members entered the tournament. Three teams returned from last year's edition, while the other five, absent in the previous tournament, made their comeback this time.[3]

Team App. Last Previous best performance
 Bahrain4th2022Group stage (2015, 2021, 2022)
 Jordan5th2024Champions (2021)
 Kuwait2nd2021Group stage (2021)
 Lebanon4th2023Group stage (2021, 2022, 2023)
 Oman5th2023Semi-finals (2023), Fourth place (2022)
 Saudi Arabia5th2024Champions (2022)
 Syria5th2023Runners-up (2015)
 United Arab Emirates5th2024Group stage (2015, 2021, 2023), Eighth place (2024)
Did not enter
 Iraq  Palestine
 Qatar  Yemen

Draw

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The draw was held on 25 February 2025, 12:00 AST in Amman.[4] The eight teams were divided into four groups, each consisting of two teams.[5]

The draw resulted in the following ties:

Group A
PosTeam
A1 Oman (H)
A2 Saudi Arabia
Group B
PosTeam
B1 Bahrain
B2 United Arab Emirates
Group C
PosTeam
C1 Syria
C2 Lebanon
Group D
PosTeam
D1 Jordan
D2 Kuwait

Squads

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Venues

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Two stadiums across the Muscat Governorate were chosen as the venues for the tournament.

Muscat
Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Al-Seeb Stadium
Capacity: 34,000 Capacity: 14,000

Bracket

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Matches

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All times are local, GST (UTC+4)

Group stage

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Jordan 2–0 Kuwait
Kalbouneh 45+3', 53' Report
Bahrain 2–1 United Arab Emirates
 Report Ndiaye 1'
Oman 1–0 Saudi Arabia
Al-Marzouq 80' Report

5th–8th place semifinals

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Kuwait 1–0 Lebanon
United Arab Emirates 0–2 Saudi Arabia

Semifinals

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Jordan 1–0 Syria
Bahrain 0–2 Oman

7th place match

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Lebanon 0–3 United Arab Emirates

5th place match

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Kuwait 0–2 Saudi Arabia

Third place match

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Syria 1–0 Bahrain

Final

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Jordan 1–3 Oman

Goalscorers

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References

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  1. ↑ "Oman will host the West Asian U-23 Championship next month". al-madina.com (in Arabic). Al-Madina. 17 February 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  2. ↑ Al-Nemr, Abdulrahman (16 February 2025). "Muscat will host the West Asian U-23 Championship". arriyadiyah.com (in Arabic). Riyadh. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  3. ↑ "Muscat is ready to host eight teams in the 6th U-23 Championship". the-waff.com (in Arabic). 14 March 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  4. ↑ Skair, Abdel-Aala (25 February 2025). "The draw for the West Asian U-23 Championship has been revealed". kooora.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  5. ↑ "Thrilling Clashes Await in the U-23 Championship – Oman 2025". the-waff.com (in Arabic). West Asian Football Federation. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
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