The India U-16 football team has been clubbed with hosts Uzbekistan, Bahrain and Turkmenistan in Group B of the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers to be held from September 18 to 22.
The winning team in each group will earn direct qualification while the four best second-placed sides will also advance to the 2020 Finals from the Qualifiers.
Should the host country for the finals finish either on top of their group or among the best four second-placed teams, the next (fifth) second-placed team in the ranking among all groups will qualify instead.
Elsewhere, the India U-19 football team has been clubbed with hosts Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan in Group F of the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers to be played between November 2 and 10.
In 2017, the India U-19 team was also drawn along with Saudi Arabia which hosted the group qualifiers.
Despite a 3-0 win over Turkmenistan and a 0-0 draw against Yemen, a 0-5 loss to Saudi Arabia dashed India’s hopes of progressing further from the qualifiers, as only one team from each group makes it through to the main Championship.
Head coach Floyd Pinto said, “It is a tough draw for us and we are aware of the strengths our opponents possess. But at the same time the boys have shown that they can fight against some of the best teams (in I-League) and we are hopeful of our qualification chances.”
“We will have to be on the top of our game if we are to qualify from this group,” he added.