At 16:00 on May 24, 2023, a grand draw for the AFC Uzbekistan U20
Asian cup (e.g. soccer)
The qualifiers kicked off. With the completion of the group draws, the fixture maps for each group were revealed.
In the draw, a strong Chinese team was surprisingly placed in Group A along with hosts Saudi Arabia, with whom they were joined by Myanmar, Maldives and Uzbekistan, who will also play as hosts in the final stage.
According to the established schedule, the 2023 AFC Uzbekistan U20
Asian cup (e.g. soccer)
The qualifiers will kick off with a bang from September 10-18, 2022 at the Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Here is the exact schedule of the tournament:
Sept. 10: Myanmar vs. China, Uzbekistan vs. Maldives, Saudi Arabia's turn;
September 12: Maldives v Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan v Myanmar, China round;
Sept. 14: Saudi Arabia vs. Uzbekistan, China vs. Maldives, Myanmar round;
Sept. 16: China vs. Uzbekistan, Myanmar vs. Saudi Arabia, Maldives round;
Sept. 18: Maldives vs. Myanmar, Saudi Arabia vs. China, Uzbekistan round.
The top 10 teams and the five best second-placed teams will advance to the main round. Together with the hosts, a total of 16 teams will compete for the final stage of the tournament to be held in February 2023 in Uzbekistan. When comparing the second place finishers in a group, if five teams finish second in the group, the results of the fifth-placed team's matches will not be taken into account.
It is interesting to note that Uzbekistan, as the hosts of the final stage of the tournament, have automatically secured a place in the final round, so the results of the qualifying matches will have no material effect on them.
China's 2003 age group national youth team will participate in the competition, with Shao Jiayi as leader and Spaniard Antoni as head coach.
