With the participation of 4 Gulf teams, the AFC U-20 Youth Cup will start next Wednesday
The future stars of the continent of Asia are preparing for the start of the continental competition, through the AFC U-20 Youth Championship in Uzbekistan, whose matches will start from Wednesday 1 March.
The tournament will return with this new name, after it was previously called the AFC U-19 Championship, and it will qualify for the FIFA U-23 World Cup 2023 in Indonesia, which will be held from May 20 to June 11.
Throughout its history, this tournament witnessed the birth of many Asian football stars, including Japanese Shinji Kagawa, twice winner of the German League title, Iranian Mahdi Tarimi, and Qatari Hassan Al Haidos, winner of the 2019 Asian Cup.
The championship matches will last for 19 days, in the cities of Tashkent and Fergana, where 16 teams will compete to win the valuable continental title, as the final match will be held on March 18th.
The tournament matches begin on Wednesday, when Australia meets Vietnam at 3:00 pm at the Independence Stadium in Fergana, in the second group, while at 5:00 pm the meeting of two teams that previously won the championship, namely Indonesia and Iraq, at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent will meet within the first group.
On the same day, at 7:00 pm, the hosts, Uzbekistan, will meet Syria at Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent in the first group, and Qatar with Iran at the Independence Stadium in the second group.
The third group matches will start on Thursday, when the Oman national team will face South Korea, which won the tournament title 12 times, at 3:00 pm at Jar Stadium in Tashkent, followed by Tajikistan’s meeting with Jordan two hours later at Lokomotiv Stadium.
On Friday, the first round of the fourth group competitions will take place, where Japan will meet China at Jar Stadium at 3:00 pm, followed by Saudi Arabia’s match with Kyrgyzstan at Bunyodkor Stadium at five o’clock.
The championship returns after a five-year hiatus as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it witnesses the presence of eight teams that previously won the championship title.
It is expected that the championship will witness strong and exciting competition in order to win the valuable continental title, in addition to reserving a place to qualify for the Youth World Cup.