Before the final, Li Hao was one of the brightest candidates for this individual title when he had not conceded any goals.
However, according to the tournament's tradition, the title of Best Goalkeeper usually belongs to the goalkeeper of the champion team and has the lowest number of goals conceded.
The fact that U23 China lost heavily in the final match caused Li Hao to lose his advantage. The award belonged to Rui Araki of U23 Japan.
The goalkeeper born in 2007 only conceded one goal throughout the journey of U23 Japan at the tournament. Araki's only goal conceded came in the quarter-final match that drew U23 Jordan 1-1 after 120 minutes. In the penalty shootout afterwards, he successfully saved 2 shots, making a great contribution to helping his team win 4-2.
In terms of professional statistics, Li Hao left a deeper mark with 33 saves after 6 matches, the most among the goalkeepers participating in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals.
The goalkeeper born in 2004 continuously had excellent saves, especially in important victories against U23 Australia in the group stage and U23 Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Rui Araki only had 8 saves after 5 matches, because the U23 Japan defense played solidly and overwhelmed the opponent.
Although not facing many dangerous situations in the group stage, Rui Araki is still highly appreciated for his composure and stability in key matches.
The homepage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) commented that the confidence of this young goalkeeper is an important factor in helping U23 Japan overcome U23 Korea 1-0 in the semi-finals, before winning convincingly in the final.
At the age of 19, Rui Araki became the youngest goalkeeper to ever receive the title of Best U23 Asian Goalkeeper since this award was first awarded in 2020.
Previously, the owners of the title were all over 22 years old, showing the progress and great potential of the goalkeeper under contract with Gamba Osaka club.
