The 2012 AFC U-16 Championship was the 15th edition of the tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation.

[2] The top 4 teams qualified for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, hosted by the United Arab Emirates.

Per decision of the AFC Competitions Committee, the host nation should qualify for the final tournament.

[4] Iran North Korea Uzbekistan Australia Japan Syria Iraq Kuwait China Oman Saudi Arabia Yemen Thailand Laos South Korea India In the group stage the tie-breaking criteria are direct matches before goal difference.

[5] Iraq and Australia played a penalty shootout after their final group match to determine their ranking.