2002 AFC Youth Championship

The 2002 AFC Youth Championship was the 32nd edition of the AFC U-19 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-19 national teams of Asia. The tournament took place in Qatar, between 15 to 31 October 2002. A total of 12 teams played in the tournament which included Uzbekistan who was competing in their first AFC tournament.

2002 AFC Youth Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Qatar
Dates	15 – 31 October
Teams	12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	South Korea (10th title)
Runners-up	Japan
Third place	Saudi Arabia
Fourth place	Uzbekistan
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	94 (3.62 per match)

The 12 teams were separated into three groups of four teams with the top two teams and the best two of the third place teams qualifying through to the knockout-stage with the winners of the quarter-finals qualifying through to the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in United Arab Emirates. After they finished top of Group A with seven points, South Korea would go on to claim their tenth continental youth title with a 1–0 win over Japan. Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan also qualified for the 2003 World Youth Championship after they made it to the semi-finals defeating Syria and China in the quarter-finals.[1]

Qualification competition

40 teams entered qualifying for the 2002 edition of the youth championship with the qualifying phase being played from the 13 March to 23 July 2002 with the teams being separated into the east and west zone. Before the draw was announced, Afghanistan withdrew with Lebanon and North Korea withdrawing after the draw was announced which meant that their groups only had three teams competing.

The first qualifying match was played on the 13 March in Group 11 when Singapore took on Myanmar in Singapore with Myanmar winning the match 1-0. Four teams who competed in the previous edition didn't qualify for the 2002 edition with them being replaced by Syria, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and India. With the tournament expanding to 12 teams for the 2002 edition, Vietnam made their first appearance in the Asian competition since 1974 while Uzbekistan was making their debut in the tournament after finishing top of their group ahead of Turkmenistan and Nepal.

Bangladesh  China PR  India

Japan  South Korea  Saudi Arabia

Syria  Thailand  United Arab Emirates

Uzbekistan  Vietnam  Qatar (Host)

Group stage

Group A

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
South Korea	7	3	2	1	0	3	0	+3
Uzbekistan	6	3	2	0	1	9	6	+3
Qatar	3	3	1	0	2	7	8	-1
Thailand	1	3	0	1	2	2	7	-5

October 15

Qatar	0 - 1	South Korea

Uzbekistan	4 - 0	Thailand

October 18

Qatar	3 - 2	Thailand

South Korea	2 - 0	Uzbekistan

October 21

Qatar	4 - 5	Uzbekistan

Thailand	0 - 0	South Korea

Group B

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Japan	9	3	3	0	0	7	2	+5
Saudi Arabia	6	3	2	0	1	9	2	+7
India	3	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1
Bangladesh	0	3	0	0	3	0	13	-13

October 16

Japan	2 - 1	Saudi Arabia

India	6 - 0	Bangladesh

October 19

Saudi Arabia	4 - 0	Bangladesh

India	1 - 2	Japan

October 22

Bangladesh	0 - 3	Japan

Saudi Arabia	4 - 0	India

Group C

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Syria	7	3	2	1	0	9	4	+5
China PR	4	3	1	1	1	6	6	0
United Arab Emirates	4	3	1	1	1	3	3	0
Vietnam	1	3	0	1	2	3	8	-5

October 17

United Arab Emirates	2 - 0	Vietnam

China PR	2 - 4	Syria

October 20

United Arab Emirates	1 - 1	Syria

Vietnam	2 - 2	China PR

October 23

United Arab Emirates	0 - 2	China PR

Syria	4 - 1	Vietnam

Third-placed qualifiers

At the end of the first stage, a comparison was made between the third placed teams of each group. The two best third-placed teams advanced to the quarter-finals.

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
United Arab Emirates	4	3	1	1	1	3	3	0
India	3	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1
Qatar	3	3	1	0	2	7	8	-1

UAE (best third-place) and India (second best third-place) qualified for the quarter-finals.

Knockout stages

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	25 October
	Japan	3
					29 October
	United Arab Emirates	0
					Japan(p)	1 (4)
	25 October
					Uzbekistan	1 (2)
	Syria	0
									31 October
	Uzbekistan	4
									Japan	0
	26 October
									South Korea(a.e.t.)	1
	Saudi Arabia	4
					29 October
	China PR	1
					Saudi Arabia	1
	26 October
					South Korea	2
	South Korea	7
	India	0

Quarter-Finals

25 October 2002

Japan	3 – 0	United Arab Emirates

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25 October 2002

South Korea	7 – 0	India

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26 October 2002

Saudi Arabia	4 – 1	China PR

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26 October 2002

Syria	0 – 4	Uzbekistan

Semi finals

29 October 2002

Japan	1 – 1	Uzbekistan
Penalties
	4-2

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29 October 2002

South Korea	2 – 1	Saudi Arabia

Third place match

31 October 2002

Uzbekistan	0 – 4	Saudi Arabia

Final

31 October 2002

Japan	0 – 1 (a.e.t.)	South Korea

Winners

AFC Youth Championship 2002 Winners
South Korea Tenth title

Qualified teams for the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship

The following four teams from AFC qualified for the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Team	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA U-20 World Cup^1
Japan	25 October 2002	5 (1979, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001)
South Korea	25 October 2002	7 (1979, 1981, 1983, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999)
Saudi Arabia	26 October 2002	5 (1985, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1999)
Uzbekistan	26 October 2002	Debut

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

References

1. Díaz Rubio, Julián; Burkert, Sturmius (28 July 2003). "Asian U-20 Championship 2002". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 September 2020.