Check out the 16 "talents" who will participate in the 2020 AFC U23 Championship in Thailand

U23 Thailand did not have to pay a high price

After the qualifying round ended, because points were not counted against the bottom team, U23 Thailand only got 3 points against U23 Indonesia, which did not qualify for the final round.

However, the bitter defeat against U23 Vietnam in the final match of Group K of the qualifying round did not make the team from the Golden Temple country regret. U23 Thailand still got a place to participate thanks to the hosting position of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship taking place in this country early next year.

Check out the 16 "talents" who will participate in the 2020 AFC U23 Championship in Thailand.

The only obstacle is the problem of the team's strength and management team, which must change otherwise it will not be able to go further with the formidable opponents in the finals waiting.

Key striker Supachai Jaded, after receiving a red card in the match against U23 Vietnam, also had to sit out the first match of U23 Thailand at the finals.

11 excellent teams with top position after qualifying round

The 2020 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers are divided into 11 groups with two regions, East and West.

The 11 U23 teams at the top of the group include: Qatar (Group A winner), Bahrain (Group B winner), Iraq (Group C winner), UAE (Group D winner), Jordan (Group E winner), Uzbekistan (Group F winner) in the West Asia region; North Korea (Group G winner), South Korea (Group H winner), Japan (Group I winner), China (Group J winner) and U23 Vietnam with 3 wins and the absolute score to lead Group K in the East Asia and Southeast Asia regions, automatically winning a ticket to the final round.

Of the 11 teams that qualified for the finals, only U23 Vietnam and U23 Japan earned maximum points after finishing the qualifying round in their respective groups. The victory over U23 Thailand by coach Park Hang-seo and his team also dispelled doubts about the form and ability of this next generation of players after their unsatisfactory wins against U23 Brunei and U23 Indonesia.

4 best runners-up

The remaining four tickets are determined based on the results of the comparison between the best second-placed teams. Because Pakistan withdrew from the matches in Group F in the qualifying round, this group only has three teams. Therefore, the AFC decided to ignore the results of the second-placed teams and the bottom-placed teams, and only use the results of the second-placed teams and the first and third-placed teams as a measure to evaluate the four best second-placed teams.

Second-placed teams after the 2020 AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers.

Of the 10 runners-up (excluding Thailand), 7 teams have 4 points each. When tied on points, the first criterion considered is goal difference. Australia is the top team with a goal difference of +6, so they have qualified for the finals, while Malaysia and Oman are eliminated due to the lowest goal difference of +1.

In addition, there are 4 teams with the same goal difference of +3, so the second criterion considered is the number of goals scored. Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia all scored 3 goals and conceded 1 goal to get tickets to the final. Unfortunately for Tajikistan, because this team only scored 2 goals, they could not go on.

The 2020 AFC U23 Championship will take place from January 8 to 26, 2020 in Bangkok and Pathum Thani, Thailand. The group stage will be held at four venues: Rajamangala Stadium, National Stadium in Bangkok, Thammasat Stadium and Leo Stadium in Pathum Thani.

The results of the 2020 AFC U23 Championship finals will also be the basis for determining the teams representing Asia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In addition to the host team Japan, Asia will have 3 more spots for Olympic teams. In case Japan does not make it to the 2020 AFC U23 Championship semi-finals, the first, second, and third-placed teams will attend the Olympics. If Japan makes it to the semi-finals, all 4 teams in the semi-finals will attend the 2020 Olympics.