2021 WAFF U-18 Championship, also called 2021 EarthLink WAFF U-18 Championship due to sponsorship by EarthLink Telecommunications, was the second edition of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF)'s under-18 championship. It took place between 20 November and 1 December 2021 in Iraq.

The tournament featured nine teams divided into a two groups of four and five. Hosts Iraq won the tournament, beating Lebanon on penalty shoot-outs in the final.

Teams Participants TeamAppearanceLast appearance Previous best performance 2nd 2019 Group stage (2019) 2nd 2019 Champions (2019) 2nd 2019 Third place (2019)1st1st 2nd 2019 Fourth place (2019)1st 2nd 2019 Runners-up (2019)1st

Format Two groups of nine teams; the host country Iraq were in Group A, which contained five teams, while Group B contained four teams. Unlike the previous edition, only the group winners advance directly to the final.

Squads A total of nine teams played in the tournament, with players born on or after 1 January 2003 eligible to participate. Each team had to register a squad of up to 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers.

Officials

Referees Mohamad Juma (Bahrain) Wathiq Abdullah (Iraq) Mohamad Arafah (Jordan) Mohamad Mofeed Ghabayen (Jordan) Saad Khalifa (Kuwait) Maher Al Ali (Lebanon) Sheikh Ahmad Alaeddin (Lebanon) Braa Abu Aishah (Palestine) Mohamad Kanah (Syria) Waleed Khaloofa (Yemen)

Assistant referees Faisal Al-Alawi (Bahrain) Maytham Khammat (Iraq) Hamza Saadeh (Jordan) Mahmoud Abu Thaher (Jordan) Saoud Al-Shemali (Kuwait) Ahmad Al Hussaini (Lebanon) Mohamad Al Hajje (Lebanon) Ashraf Abu Zubaida (Palestine) Mohamad Al-Sayed Ali (Syria) Omar Haddad (Yemen)

Venue Basra Baghdad Erbil Basra International Stadium Al-Madina Stadium Franso Hariri Stadium Capacity: 65,227 Capacity: 32,000 Capacity: 25,000

Groups stage Group A

Group B

Final

Champion

Player awards The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Top GoalscorerBest playerBest Goalkeeper Ashar Ali Ali El Fadl Hussein Hassan

Goalscorers

References

External links WAFF official website