2002 WAFF Championship

2002 WAFF Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Syria
Dates	30 August – 7 September
Teams	6 (from 1 confederation)
Venue	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Iraq (1st title)
Runners-up	Jordan
Third place	Iran
Fourth place	Syria
Tournament statistics
Matches played	10
Goals scored	22 (2.2 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Alireza Nikbakht Razzaq Farhan Muayad Salim Anas Sari (2 goals each)
← 2000 2004 →

The 2002 West Asian Football Federation Championship (Arabic: 2002 بطولة اتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم), was the second international association football championship for national teams from West Asia organised by the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF). Hosted by Syria, the competition ran from 30 August to 7 September 2002 and was contested by the national teams of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.

The tournament began with the first matches of the group stage on 30 August 2002 and ended with the final match on 7 September 2002. The final was contested by Iraq and Jordan. After a 2–2 draw, Haidar Mahmoud scored the golden goal in extra time as Iraq won the competition for the first time.

Background

The first edition of the biennial West Asian Football Federation Championship was held in Amman, Jordan in 2000. Iran were the defending champions after defeating Syria in the final.

Format

Six teams took part in the competition. They were drawn into two single round robin groups of three teams. The group winners and runners-up would contest the semi-finals which would decide the teams contesting the final and the third-placed play-off.

Venue

All matches were played at the Abbasiyyin Stadium in Damascus.

Damascus	Damascus
	Abbasiyyin Stadium
	Capacity: 30,000

Group stage

Group A

Jordan and Iran advanced to the semi-finals.

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Jordan	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	6	Advance to the semi-finals
Iran	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1	3
Lebanon	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3	0

Source:

Matches

30 August 2002

Jordan	1–0	Iran
Salim 11'

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

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1 September 2002

Lebanon	0–1	Jordan
		Shelbaieh 4'

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

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3 September 2002

Iran	2–0	Lebanon
Nikbakht 24' Karimi 90+2'

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

Group B

Iraq and Syria advanced to the semi-finals.

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Iraq	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3	6	Advance to the semi-finals
Syria	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
Palestine	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0

Source:

Matches

30 August 2002

Syria	2–1	Palestine
Ibrahim 21' Haj Moustafa 37'		Lafi 39'

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

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1 September 2002

Palestine	0–2	Iraq
		Wahaib 47' Farhan 69'

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

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3 September 2002

Iraq	1–0	Syria
Kadhim 43'

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

Semi-finals

Anas Al-Zboun scored the golden goal in extra time as Jordan defeated Syria and, after a goalless draw, Iraq defeated Iran 6–5 on penalties.

5 September 2002

Jordan	2–1 (a.s.d.e.t.)	Syria
Salim 38' Al-Zboun 118'		Shehadeh 54'

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

5 September 2002

Iraq	0–0 (a.s.d.e.t.)	Iran
Penalties
Abdul-Jabar Abu Al-Hail Abdul-Jabar Mohammed Kadhim Akram Abbas	6–5	Nekounam Bakhtiarizadeh Navidkia Nosrati Nikbakht Bayatinia Azizzadeh

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

Third-place play-off

After a 2–2 draw, Iran defeated Syria 4–2 on penalties to finish third.

7 September 2002

Iran	2–2 (a.s.d.e.t.)	Syria
Kameli Mofrad 59' Nikbakht 88'		Sari 15', 89'
Penalties
Nekounam Bakhtiarizadeh Navidkia Kazemian	4–2	Haj Moustafa Ibrahim Jabban

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

Final

Haidar Mahmoud scored the golden goal in extra time as Iraq defeated Jordan 3–2 to win the competition.

7 September 2002

Iraq	3–2 (a.s.d.e.t.)	Jordan
Farhan 32' Y. Mahmoud 89' H. Mahmoud 103'		Shehdeh 2' Amer Deeb 30'

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

Goalscorers

There have been 23 goals scored in 10 matches, for an average of 2.3 goals per match.

2 goals

1 goal

Source:

References