The draw for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers for the continental finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which will be hosted by the State of Qatar from April 15 until May 3, 2024.
The draw resulted in the Qatari national team falling into Group B, along with South Korea , Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan, and the matches of this group will be held in South Korea.
The Qatari team's participation in the qualifiers will be in a friendly match, and will not be taken into account when determining the group ranking, considering that it hosts the continental finals.
A total of 43 teams will participate in the qualifiers, as this will be the six edition in the history of the tournament, and the qualifiers will be held from Sep. 4-12.
The participating teams were divided into 11 groups, with 10 four-team groups, while the last group has only three teams.
The draw resulted in placing Saudi Arabia, the defending champions in Group J alongside Cambodia, Lebanon and Mongolia, while Uzbekistan the runners up came in Group E against Iran, Hong Kong, China and Afghanistan.
Group A brought together three teams from the West Asian region, which are Jordan, Syria and Oman, along with Brunei, while Group C included the teams of Vietnam, Singapore, Yemen and Guam.
Group B brought together two teams from the West region, namely: Palestine and Bahrain, against Japan and Pakistan, while Group F included Iraq and Kuwait from the West region, along with East Timor and Macau.
Group G included UAE, India, the Maldives and China , while Group H included Thailand , Malaysia, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
Group I included Australia, Tajikistan, Laos and North Korea, while Group K included Turkmenistan, Indonesia and Taipei. (MORE)
Source: Qatar News Agency