On April 29 was an AFC U23 Asian Cup 2024 semifinal game in Qatar, with Japan advancing to the final after defeating Iraq by 2-0. In the other semifinal match on May 25, Uzbekistan won against Indonesia 2-0, which means that the winners, Japan and Uzbekistan will clash for the championship. The final is scheduled for this Friday, May 3.
Japan had gained momentum by eliminating the host team, Qatar in the previous match. It was Hosoya and Araki who made victorious goals in the first half of the additional time, and in the end, they managed to finish the game without allowing Iraq to catch up.
In the non-age-restricted AFC Asian Cup from January 2024, Japan lost to Iraq in the group stage and eventually disappeared in the quarterfinals, despite being the favorite among Japanese bookmakers who offer odds on football. So in this U23 tournament, the young Samurai Blue succeeded in avenging their older fellows.
This AFC U23 Asian Cup 2024 also serves as the Asian qualifier for the men’s soccer team to the Paris Olympics to be held in July, with the top three teams (the two finalists and the winner of the third-place game) qualifying for the Paris Olympics. So for Uzbekistan, as the winner of the tournament in 2018, the final will be a battle to regain their championship. But more importantly, by reaching the final, the Uzbeks have already qualified for the Paris Olympics this summer. It will be their historical debut in the Olympics in soccer. Japan has also qualified for the Olympics as well, making this their eighth consecutive appearance.
Meanwhile, Indonesia, which lost against Uzbekistan in the semifinal will go on to the third-place match facing Iraq. As the third place will also qualify for Paris, the game will be extra important for Indonesia who attempt to make a comeback for the first time since the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. If they lose here and finish fourth, they will compete with the U-23 Guinea team, which finished fourth in the African qualifying round, for a spot in the Paris Olympics.
The sixth edition of the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2024 Qatar began on April 15 with a total of 16 countries participating divided into four groups. The top two teams from each group, including the aforementioned Japan and Iraq, for a total of eight countries would advance to the knockout stages. Looking at the history of past tournaments, Uzbekistan and Japan have each won the tournament once before, and the winner of this year’s tournament will be the single most successful team in the history of Asian Cup U23.
Men’s soccer for the Paris Olympics will be held between July 24 and August 9, 2024. With the event coming up only less than three months ahead, 14 out of the 16 slots have already been filled at this time. Soon another one will be taken by the winner between Indonesia and Iraq, as mentioned above. The last slot will be decided by a playoff between the fourth-place team and Guinea in an Asian-African playoff in May.
