The 2010 AFC Challenge Cup was the third edition of the tournament which was held from 16–27 February 2010 in Sri Lanka. India, the defending champions, fielded their under-23 team for this tournament in preparation for the 2010 Asian Games later that year. The champions, North Korea, qualified for the 2011 Asian Cup.

Qualification

The finals saw three automatic qualifiers joined by five teams from the qualification phase. Qualification consisted of two sections.

Qualifiers

Qualifiers for the final tournament were: The draw for the final tournament was held on 30 November 2009 at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Venues

Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup.

Squads

Group stage

All times are Sri Lanka Time (SLT) – UTC+5:30

Tie-breaking criteria

Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:

Group A

Group B

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

Third place match

Final

Winner

Awards

Goalscorers