Reigning champions Qatar have found out their AFC U-19 Championship 2016 qualifying opponents following a draw at AFC House in the Malaysian capital city on Friday.
A total of 43 Member Associations including finals’ hosts Bahrain will compete in the qualifiers and they will be divided into two zones – the West Zone which has 25 teams and the East Zone with 18 teams.
Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams will qualify for the finals while hosts Bahrain received an automatic qualification (total 16 teams).
If Bahrain finish top of their qualifying group or one of the five second best-placed teams, the next (sixth) second placed team will qualify for the final competition.
Sri Lanka will be West Zone Group A hosts which will include Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan.
WEST ZONE
Group A: Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka (hosts), Bhutan
Group B: Yemen, Saudi Arabia (hosts), Turkmenistan, Syria
Group C: UAE, Palestine (hosts), India, Afghanistan
Group D: Qatar (hosts), Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan
Group E: Iran (hosts), Kuwait, Jordan, Nepal
Group F: Iraq, Bahrain, Maldives, Tajikistan (hosts)
EAST ZONE
Group G: Myanmar, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Brunei, Timor-Leste
Group H: Thailand, Korea Republic, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Northern Mariana Islands
Group I: DPR Korea, China, Malaysia, Macau
Group J: Japan, Australia, Philippines, Laos
The seeding for the draw was based on the rankings from the AFC U-19 Championship 2014 which was won by Qatar after they defeated DPR Korea 1-0.
Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Northern Mariana Islands, Sri Lanka, Syria and Timor-Leste, who will participate in the 2016 tournament qualifiers but did not take part in the 2014 edition, were added in the table as non-ranked teams.
Indonesia were also excluded from the seeding table following FIFA’s suspension of the Football Association of Indonesia.
The qualifiers will be held from September 28 to October 6, 2015.
