All you need to know about India's campaign in AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers

Published at :October 1, 2022 at 11:29 PM

Modified at :December 13, 2023 at 7:31 AM

(Courtesy : AIFF Media)

The qualifying campaign for next year’s prestigious tournament is about to begin.

There is a lot of excitement for the upcoming 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers. The tournament will decide the participating nations in the next year’s grand event which does not have a host country yet after Bahrain's withdrawal.

Indian U-17 national team will be one of the 44 teams vying for places at the forthcoming 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup next year. The youngsters will hope to become one of the 16 teams that move on to the main part of the continental showpiece.

While there is an air of confidence in the Indian camp, the competition will be tough, to say the least. Here is all one needs to know about the AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers:

About the tournament

The 2023 U-17 AFC Asian Cup has been rebranded from AFC U-16 Championships. It will be the 20th edition of the tournament for the U-17 men’s national teams from Asia. This will also be the first time since 2006 that the tournament will take place in the U-17 age category, after amendments by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

A total of 16 teams will participate in the main stage of the U-17 Asian Cup in 2023 including the hosts. The top four teams from the 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup will qualify for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru.

Format

There are 44 countries participating in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers. They are further divided into four groups of five teams and six groups of four teams each. The group toppers from each group as well as the six best runner-up teams will qualify for the main tournament.

India was, for a short period of time, barred from participating in the tournament because of FIFA’s ban due to third-party influence in its governing body for football. However, the ban was quickly revoked and the Indian U-17 national team was free to participate. India’s best performance at the tournament came back in 2002 when it reached the quarters.

Teams

India are in Group D alongside hosts Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Maldives and Kuwait. Group D is one of the four groups that have five teams each. The other six groups have four teams each.

Each team will play the other once in a round-robin format. The top-ranked team in the group will automatically qualify for the main tournament, while the second-placed team must wait and see if it's among the six best runner-up teams to reach the final rounds.