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Asia’s future stars will learn of their opponents when the battle lines are determined for the 2024 AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup – Uzbekistan Qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday at 2pm.
Returning to the global stage for the first time since 2019, the age-group tournament is set to shift from its erstwhile identity of an U-19 competition and will be played in an U-20 format.
Round 1 of the Qualifiers is set to take place between March 4 and 12, with 31 Member Associations (MAs) being divided into seven groups of four teams and one group of three teams. The teams will play a one-round league format in the centralised venues of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Jordan, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Palestine, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The eight group winners will progress to Round 2, which will be played from June 3 to 11, 2023 where the four best sides will earn a spot in the Finals.
Joining them in the showpiece, which will take place from March 3 to 16, 2024 in Uzbekistan, are the three highest seeded teams from the 2019 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship in – Japan, North Korea, and Sotuh Korea – as well as host nation, Uzbekistan, against whom all matches in the Qualifiers will be deemed as friendlies.
The names of the contesting 31 MAs will be drawn from four seeding pots and one host pot, to ensure that each host is placed in a different group.
The sequence in which the teams will learn of their allocated group is listed below:
Pot 1 (teams ranked 4-11): Australia, China, Myanmar, Iran, Nepal, and Lebanon
Pot 2 (ranked 12-19): Chinese Taipei, India, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates
Pot 3 (Rank 20-25 and 2 teams from pot 4): Mongolia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Guam, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Bhutan
Pot 4 (ranked Rank 26 and below): Indonesia, Iraq, Northern Mariana Islands, Philippines, and Turkmenistan
Hosts Pot: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Jordan, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Palestine, Thailand and Vietnam
Watch the 2024 AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup – Uzbekistan Qualifiers Round 1 official draw ceremony here on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 2pm Kuala Lumpur time.
