Japan defeated Uzbekistan in the final to win the Men’s AFC U-23 Asian Cup for the second time. Japan had earlier won the tournament title in 2016.
In the final match played at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Japan won by a solitary goal and also qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics
The 6th edition of AFC U-23 was held in Qatar from 15 April -3 May 2024.
Japan won the gold medal with the solitary goal scored by substitute Yamada in injury time. The Japanese goalkeeper saved a penalty in the dying moments of the match to ensure the win for his team. He saved the penalty kick of Rahmonaliyev.
With this win, the Japanese team won the gold medal, while the silver medal was awarded to the Uzbekistan team.
In the semifinal, the Iraqi team defeated the Indonesian team 2-1 to clinch the bronze medal.
The 2024 Men’s AFC U23 Asian cup was also a qualification tournament for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. The top three teams of the 2024 men’s AFC U23 tournament were to automatically qualify for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
In the Olympics, football players under 23 years are allowed to participate. Japan has secured a spot in Group D of the Paris Olympics along with Mali, Israel and Paraguay.
Uzbekistan also qualified for the Paris Olympics and has been placed in group C along with Spain, Egypt and Dominican Republic.
Iraq has also qualified for the Paris Olympics.
Indonesia, which lost to Iraq in the semi-final, will now play Guinea to decide who will qualify for the Paris Olympics.