When and where will the 2026 AFC U23 Championship take place?

02/10/2025 16:25:00 TrophyTracker

The 2026 AFC U23 Championship will take place from January 7 to January 25 in Saudi Arabia, featuring 16 of the strongest U23 teams across Asia, including Vietnam’s U23 team.

Where will the 2026 AFC U23 Championship be held?

In July 2023, the AFC Competitions Committee declared that for tournaments other than Olympic qualifiers, the Asian Cup host nation would also host the AFC U23 Championship. Thus, Saudi Arabia, host of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, will also host the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.

The tournament will be held at four stadiums located in Jeddah and Riyadh. The largest is King Abdullah Sports City (also called Jeddah Stadium), which has a capacity of 62,345 seats and will host the final match. Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, with 25,000 seats, will be used for the group stage and quarterfinals. The other two venues are Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City (22,188 seats) and Al-Shabab Club (13,537 seats).

As the host of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, Saudi Arabia was given priority to organize the 2026 AFC U23 Championship to test its facilities. These stadiums have previously hosted the 2023 Club World Cup, the 2024 AFC Champions League, and other major events.

King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, the venue for the 2026 AFC U23 final

When will the AFC U23 Championship take place?

According to the schedule, the AFC U23 Championship will last 19 days, from January 7 to January 25, 2026. Specifically, the group stage runs from January 7 to 18, quarterfinals on January 20, semifinals on January 23, and the final on January 25. Matches will be played according to local time (UTC+3 in Saudi Arabia), typically in the evening (approximately 6 pm to 9 pm). Teams will compete in a round-robin format to select the top two teams from each group for the quarterfinals, followed by knockout rounds.

Draw results

According to the recently announced draw, Vietnam’s U23 team is in Group A along with Jordan U23, Kyrgyzstan U23, and host Saudi Arabia U23. Coach Kim Sang Sik’s team will open their campaign against Jordan U23 on January 7, followed by matches against Kyrgyzstan U23 (January 10) and Saudi Arabia U23 (January 13).

The other Southeast Asian representative, Thailand U23, is in Group D with Iraq U23, Australia U23, and China U23. They will face Australia U23 (January 9), Iraq U23 (January 12), and China U23 (January 15) respectively.

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