India’s U-23 Men’s Team has been placed alongside the United Arab Emirates, Maldives, and China in Group G of the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 Qualifiers in the official draw held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday.
The Group G teams for qualifiers will be hosted by China between 6 and 12 September this year. The draw saw 43 teams divided into 10 groups of four each and one group of three. Each group will play at a centralised venue in a single round-robin format, with the 11 group winners and four best second-placed teams qualifying for the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024. They will join Qatar, who have received automatic qualification as hosts, to form the final cast of 16 for the tournament, to be played between 15 April and 3 May, 2024.
The AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 will also serve as a qualifier for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024. The top three teams will directly qualify for the Olympic Games as AFC representatives, while the fourth-best team will play in the AFC-CAF playoff.
The AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 will be the competition’s sixth edition. India’s qualifying fixtures include India vs. the Maldives on 6 September, China vs. India on 9 September, and the United Arab Emirates vs. India on 12 September.