AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup

The AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup is an association football tournament for women's national teams under the age of 20, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) every two years, and serves as a qualifying competition for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. It was first played in 2002 as the AFC U-19 Women's Championship with an upper age limit of 19. Starting from the 2022 edition, the age limit was raised to 20.[1] Moreover, the tournament was rebranded from the "AFC U-19 Women's Championship" to the "AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup".[2]

AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup
Organiser(s)AFC
Founded2002; 24 years ago (2002)
RegionAsia
Teams12
Current champions Japan (7th title)
Most championships Japan (7 titles)
2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup

The current champion is Japan, which won the 2026 final 1–0 against North Korea. Japan is also the most successful team in the tournament, having won seven titles.

Format

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In 2002 and 2004 no qualifying round was played, with all teams directly participating in the group stage. Qualifying rounds were introduced starting from the 2006 edition, with eight teams qualifying to the final tournament. The eight teams were divided into two groups of four, with the top two teams qualifying to the semi-finals. In 2011 and 2013 the teams were reduced to six, which all played a single round-robin tournament. In 2015, the pre-2011 format was reinstated.

In 2026, the tournament was expanded from 8 to 12 teams.[3]

History

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Results

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Tournament names
  • 2002–2019: AFC U-19 Women's Championship
  • 2022–present: AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup
Edition Year Hosts Final Third place match[a]
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1 2002 India
Japan
2–1
Chinese Taipei

China
4–1
North Korea
2 2004 China
South Korea
3–0
China

North Korea
4–0
Thailand
3 2006 Malaysia
China
1–0
North Korea

Australia
3–2
Japan
4 2007 China
North Korea
1–0
Japan

China
1–0
South Korea
5 2009 China
Japan
2–1
South Korea

North Korea
1–0
China
6 2011 Vietnam
Japan
round-robin
North Korea

China
round-robin
South Korea
7 2013 China
South Korea
round-robin
North Korea

China
round-robin
Japan
8 2015 China
Japan
0–0 (a.e.t.)
(4–2 p)

North Korea

South Korea
4–0
China
9 2017 China
Japan
1–0
North Korea

China
3–0
Australia
10 2019 Thailand
Japan
2–1
North Korea

South Korea
9–1
Australia
2022 Uzbekistan Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[5]
11 2024 Uzbekistan
North Korea
2–1
Japan

Australia
1–0
South Korea
12 2026 Thailand
Japan
1–0
North Korea
 China and  South Korea
13 2028 China
14 2030 China

Teams reaching the top four

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Nation Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
 Japan7 (2002, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2026)2 (2007, 2024)2 (2006, 2013)
 North Korea2 (2007, 2024)7 (2006, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2026)2 (2004, 2009)1 (2002)
 South Korea2 (2004, 2013)1 (2009)2 (2015, 2019)3 (2007, 2011, 2024)
 China1 (2006)1 (2004)5 (2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2017)2 (2009, 2015)
 Chinese Taipei1 (2002)
 Australia2 (2006, 2024)2 (2017, 2019)
 Thailand1 (2004)

Overall team records

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In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.

As of 2024 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup.
RankTeamPartMWDLGFGAGDPoints
1 North Korea1156435820232+170134
2 Japan1153379718931+158120
3 South Korea11502941715854+10491
4 China11522591815759+9884
5 Australia939171217780–352
6 Chinese Taipei72461173173−4219
8 India310307958−499
9 Vietnam62030173084−549
10 Myanmar4142012958−496
11 Uzbekistan5151113777−704
12 Philippines1310248−43
13 Jordan13102217−153
14 Singapore26105242−403
15 Hong Kong26105445−413
16   Nepal13003229−270
17 Iran13003129−280
18 Guam26003054−540
19 Malaysia25005181−800

Comprehensive team results

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Legend:
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • SF – Semi-finals
  • QF – Quarter-finals
  • GS – Group stage
  •    – Did not qualify
  •  ×  – Did not enter / Withdrew
  • XX – Country did not exist or national team was inactive
  •    – Hosts
  • q – Qualified for upcoming tournament

For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Team 2002
India
(12)
2004
China
(15)
2006
Malaysia
(8)
2007
China
(8)
2009
China
(8)
2011
Vietnam
(6)
2013
China
(6)
2015
China
(8)
2017
China
(8)
2019
Thailand
(8)
2024
Uzbekistan
(8)
2026
Thailand
(12)
Total
 Australia OFC member3rdGSGS5th5thGS4th4th3rdQF10
 Bangladesh ××××××GS1
 China 3rd2nd1st3rd4th3rd3rd4th3rdGSGSSF12
 Chinese Taipei 2ndQFGSGSGSGS6
 Guam GSGS××××××2
 Hong Kong GSGS××2
 India GSQFGSGS4
 Iran ××××GS1
 Japan 1stQF4th2nd1st1st4th1st1st1st2nd1st12
 Jordan ××GSGS2
 Malaysia ×GSGS××××××2
 Myanmar GS×GS6thGS4
   Nepal ×GS1
 North Korea 4th3rd2nd1st3rd2nd2nd2nd2nd2nd1st2nd12
 Philippines ×GS××××××1
 Singapore GSGS×××2
 South Korea GS1stGS4th2nd4th1st3rdGS3rd4thSF12
 Thailand GS4thGSGSGSGSGS QF8
 Uzbekistan GSGS××GSGSGSQF6
 Vietnam ×QF×GS6thGSGSGSQF7

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup results

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Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • QF – Quarter-finals
  • R2 – Round 2 (since 2024: knockout round of 16)
  • GS – Group stage
  •    – Hosts
  • q – Qualified for upcoming tournament

For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Team 2002
Canada
(12)
2004
Thailand
(12)
2006
Russia
(16)
2008
Chile
(16)
2010
Germany
(16)
2012
Japan
(16)
2014
Canada
(16)
2016
Papua New Guinea
(16)
2018
France
(16)
2022
Costa Rica
(16)
2024
Colombia
(24)
2026
Poland
(24)
Total
 Australia[b] QFQFGSGSGS 5
 China 2nd2ndGSGSGSGSq 7
 Chinese Taipei GS 1
 Japan QFQFGS3rd3rd1st2nd2ndq 9
 North Korea GSQFQFQFGSGS1stq 8
 South Korea R13rdQFQFGSGSR2q 7
 Thailand GS 1

Awards

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See also

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Notes

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  1. No third place play-off has been played since 2026.[4]
  2. Australia represented OFC before 2006.

References

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  1. "AFC Women's Football Committee approves AFC Women's Club Championship". Asian Football Confederation. 27 September 2019.
  2. "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". Asian Football Confederation. 2 October 2020.
  3. "AFC unveils breakthrough reforms to strengthen Women's National Team Competitions". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  4. "AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup 2026 Competition Regulations" (PDF). the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 15 May 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  5. "Latest update on the AFC National Team Competitions in 2021 and 2022". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 5 July 2021.
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