2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification

Age restricted continental qualification competition

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The 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification was an international men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.

A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Saudi Arabia who qualified automatically as host country.

Draw

Of the 47 AFC member associations, a total of 45 teams entered the competition.

A draw was held on 29 May 2025, at 15:00 (UTC+8) on the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The teams were seeded based on a points system derived from their final rankings across the previous three editions of the Finals (2020, 2022, and 2024). Teams that indicated their intention to serve as qualification group hosts before the draw were placed in separate groups. Saudi Arabia automatically qualified for the final tournament as hosts, thus the remaining 44 teams entered the qualification.

Eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 2003 were eligible to participate, in accordance with the age criteria set by the Asian Football Confederation.

Format

The 44 teams were divided into eleven groups of four teams each. In each group, teams played each other once at a centralized venue. The eleven group winners and the four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.

In each group, teams played each other once at a centralized venue. The eleven group winners and the four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group;
Lower disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
Drawing of lots.

Groups

All matches were played between 3 and 9 September 2025.

Group A

All matches were held in Jordan.
Times listed are UTC+3.

Group B

All matches were held in Myanmar.
Times listed are UTC+6:30.

Group C

All matches were held in Vietnam.
Times listed are UTC+7.

Group D

All matches were held in China.
Times listed are UTC+8.

Group E

All matches were held in Kyrgyzstan.
Times listed are UTC+6.

Group F

All matches were held in Pathum Thani, Thailand, at Thammasat Stadium, as there were problems with the pitch at the originally scheduled True BG Stadium.
Times listed are UTC+7.

Group G

All matches were held in Cambodia.
Times listed are UTC+7.

Group H

All matches were held in Qatar.
Times listed are UTC+3.

Group I

All matches were held in United Arab Emirates.
Times listed are UTC+4.

Group J

All matches were held in Indonesia.
Times listed are UTC+7.

Group K

All matches were held in Tajikistan.
Times listed are UTC+5.

Ranking of second-placed teams

The four best-ranked runners-up also qualified for the final tournament.

Goalscorers

There were 271 goals scored in 66 matches, for an average of 4.11 goals per match.

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified for the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.

Notes

Notes

References

External links

AFC U-23 Asian Cup, the-AFC.com

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