The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that the official draw for the AFC U23 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 Qualifiers will take place on Thursday, May 29, at 3:00 PM local time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the AFC House.
A total of 44 national teams will be included in the draw. These teams will be placed into 11 groups and will compete in the qualifiers between September 1 and 9, 2025.
There are 15 spots available for the final tournament, which will be held in January 2026 in Saudi Arabia. As the host country, Saudi Arabia has already qualified. They will be joined by the 11 group winners and the four best second-placed teams from the qualifiers.
Each group will play in one location, and the matches will follow a league format. Teams will be placed into five pots based on their performance in the last three editions of the tournament.
The countries that will host the group matches are placed in a separate “Hosts Pot” to make sure each host ends up in a different group. These host countries are United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Qatar, Thailand, Jordan, Tajikistan, Indonesia, China, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Kyrgyzstan.
This event is an important step for young football players across Asia as they try to qualify for one of the top tournaments in the region.
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