India U-16s pitted in Group B of AFC U-16 Championship 2020 Qualifiers

The Indian U-16 National Team has been drawn in Group B of the AFC U-16 Championship 2020 Qualifiers alongside hosts Uzbekistan, Bahrain and Turkmenistan for the qualifiers that are slated to kick-off from September 18-22, 2019.

The Indian U-16 National Team had grabbed eye balls in the AFC U-16 Championship 2018 and were one match away from securing qualification to the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2019, under Head Coach Bibiano Fernandes, but lost by a narrow margin of 1-0 against Korea Republic in the Quarter-finals.

The Indian U-16s had won 0-1 against Vietnam and played two goalless draws against Islamic Republic of Iran and Indonesia respectively in the group stage to set up the clash with Korea Republic.

Meanwhile, the top spot in the respective groups will earn direct qualification, while the four best second-placed teams will also advance to the 2020 Finals from the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers. Should the hosts for the Finals finish either top of their group or among the best four second-placed teams, the next (5th) second-placed team in the ranking among all groups will qualify instead.

AFC U-16 Championship 2020 Qualifiers

West Zone

Group A: Tajikistan, Jordan (H), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kuwait
Group B: India, Uzbekistan (H), Bahrain, Turkmenistan
Group C: IR Iran (H), Afghanistan, Palestine, Maldives
Group D: Oman, Saudi Arabia (H), Syria, Pakistan
Group E: Yemen, Bangladesh, Qatar (H), Bhutan
Group F: Iraq, Kyrgyz Republic (H), Lebanon, UAE

East Zone

Group G: Indonesia (H), China PR, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Northern Mariana Islands
Group H: Australia, Vietnam (H), Timor-Leste, Mongolia, Macau
Group I: DPR Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore (H), Guam
Group J: Japan, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos (H)
Group K: Korea Republic, Thailand, Myanmar (H), Chinese Taipei

*H = Hosts

(AIFF Media)