The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams of Asia that also serves as a qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The competition has been held since 1959. Between 1959 and 1978, the tournament was held annually (without qualification); since 1980, it has been held every two years. The 1980 AFC Youth Championship had a qualification stage for first time.
The tournament has been played in a number of different formats during its existence. Currently, it consists of two stages, similar to the AFC's other Asian Championship competitions. The qualifying stage is open to all AFC members and the final stage is contested between 16 teams. The most recent edition, the 42nd, was held in China. The AFC switched the tournament from under-19 to under-20 starting from 2023. Moreover, the tournament was also rebranded from the "AFC U-19 Championship" to the "AFC U-20 Asian Cup".
<div id="1"><sup>1</sup> Title shared.</div> <div id="2"><sup>2</sup> Third place shared.</div> <div id="3"><sup>3</sup> Final tournaments in round-robin format.</div> <div id="4"><sup>4</sup> No third place match played since 2008; losing semi-finalists are listed in alphabetical order.</div>
Notes:
In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.
<sup>1</sup> No AFC member currently. <br> <sup>2</sup> Represented South Vietnam from 1959 to 1974. <br> <sup>3</sup> Representing South Yemen in 1975 and North Yemen in 1978. <br> <sup>4</sup> Not an AFC member: participated in tournament as part of intercontinental play-off to qualify for the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship.