Kuala Lumpur, May 28 (IANS) India U20 men’s team has been drawn with Uzbekistan, Syria and Bangladesh in Group B of the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2027 Qualifiers after the draw was conducted at the AFC House here on Thursday.

Uzbekistan will host Group B in the capital city of Tashkent between August 25 and September 6, 2026, in a centralised single round-robin format. As per the new format of the AFC youth competitions announced earlier this year, a two-phase system featuring a promotion and relegation mechanism has been introduced in the AFC U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

In the Qualification Phase, 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four, with the group winners and the seven best second-placed teams advancing to the 43rd edition of the AFC U20 Asian Cup. At the same time, the bottom team of each group will be relegated to the Development Phase of the subsequent edition.

For the Development Phase in the upcoming Qualifiers, 12 teams are divided into three groups of four, with the three group winners and the three second-placed teams of each group to be promoted to the Qualification Phase of the next edition.

Seeding for the teams were based on the performances in the three most recent editions (2018, 2023, 2025) and the number of teams entering the competition. India, ranked 20th, were allocated Pot 3 in the Qualification Phase.

India will aim to qualify for the AFC U20 Asian Cup for the first time since 2006 when they hosted the tournament. Their best result at the tournament was joint champions alongside Iran in 1974.

In the previous edition (2025), the Blue Colts narrowly missed out on qualification on the basis of goal difference.

In Group A of the Qualification Phase, 12-time champions Korea Republic will face hosts Kyrgyz Republic, Philippines and Lebanon while standing in hosts Uzbekistan’s way in Group B will be Syria, India and Bangladesh.

Group C will see Islamic Republic of Iran being challenged by Vietnam (hosts), DPR Korea and Palestine for the automatic slot to the finals, while Jordan, Tajikistan, Bahrain (hosts) and Afghanistan are the Group D contestants.

Group E will see Saudi Arabia, Qatar (hosts), Oman and China doing battle, while Iraq, Thailand (hosts), United Arab Emirates and Turkmenistan will face off in Group F.

Group G is also set for exciting match-ups with Japan, Yemen, Cambodia (hosts) and Kuwait hoping to advance while defending champions Australia headline Group H with Indonesia, Malaysia and Laos (hosts) their challengers.

Group I of the Development Phase will see hosts Mongolia, Guam, Nepal and Northern Mariana Islands vying for the two promotion spots while Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Bhutan (hosts) and Macau are the Group J sides. Myanmar (hosts), Maldives, Brunei Darussalam and Sri Lanka were drawn in Group K.

India’s schedule in the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2027 Qualifiers:

Matchday 1: Syria vs India

Matchday 2: India vs Uzbekistan

Matchday 3: India vs Bangladesh

–IANS

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