2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup
The 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup was the 19th edition of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC U-16 Championship and AFC U-17 Championship), the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-17 national teams of Asia. This edition was the first since 2006 to be played as an under-17 tournament, as the AFC proposed to switch the tournament from under-16 to under-17 starting from 2023. Moreover, the tournament was also rebranded from the "AFC U-16 Championship" to the "AFC U-17 Asian Cup".
| ฟุตบอลชิงแชมป์เอเชีย รุ่นอายุไม่เกิน 17 ปี 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Thailand |
| Dates | 15 June – 2 July |
| Teams | 16 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Japan (4th title) |
| Runners-up | South Korea |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 99 (3.19 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Gaku Nawata (5 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Gaku Nawata |
| Best goalkeeper | Wataru Goto |
| Fair play award | Japan |
On 25 January 2021, the AFC announced that Bahrain would retain hosting rights for the 2023 edition after the cancellation of the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Bahrain decided to withdraw the rights to host the competition on 16 June 2022, requiring a new host to be chosen at a later date. On 23 December 2022, Thailand were chosen to host the tournament by the AFC Executive Committee.
A total of 16 teams played in the tournament. The top four teams of the tournament qualified for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia as the AFC representatives besides Indonesia who qualified automatically as the new host.
Japan were the title holders, having won the title in 2018, and managed to defend their title.