2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

The 2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup will be the 21st edition of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC U-17 Championship and AFC U-16 Championship), the annual international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-17 national teams of Asia. It will be the second of four consecutive AFC U-17 Asian Cup held in Saudi Arabia, succeeding the (/wiki/2025AFCU-17AsianCup) preceding the (/wiki/2027AFCU-17AsianCup?action=edit&redlink=1) and (/wiki/2028AFCU-17AsianCup?action=edit&redlink=1).

Source: Wikipedia

Article

2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

The top eight teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar as the AFC representatives. Uzbekistan are the defending champions.

Qualification

2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

The host country of the 2026 U-17 World Cup (Qatar) and the top eight teams of the previous tournament in 2025 (including host Saudi Arabia) qualified automatically, while the other seven teams were decided by qualification. There was one round of qualification matches, which was held between 22–30 November 2025.

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the tournament:

<table><thead><tr><th>Team</th><th>Qualification method</th><th>Date of qualification</th><th>Appearance(s)</th><th>Previous best performance</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Total</td><td>First</td><td>Last</td></tr><tr><td> Saudi Arabia</td><td>Hosts</td><td>24 May 2024</td><td>13th</td><td>1985</td><td>2025</td><td>Champions (1985, 1988)</td></tr><tr><td> Indonesia</td><td>AFC teams at the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup</td><td>5 August 2025</td><td>8th</td><td>1986</td><td>Fourth place (1990)</td></tr><tr><td> Japan</td><td>18th</td><td>1985</td><td>Champions (1994, 2006, 2018, 2023)</td></tr><tr><td> North Korea</td><td>13th</td><td>1986</td><td>Champions (2010, 2014)</td></tr><tr><td> Qatar</td><td>12th</td><td>1985</td><td>2023</td><td>Champions (1990)</td></tr><tr><td> South Korea</td><td>17th</td><td>1986</td><td>2025</td><td>Champions (1986, 2002)</td></tr><tr><td> Tajikistan</td><td>6th</td><td>2006</td><td>Runners-up (2018)</td></tr><tr><td> United Arab Emirates</td><td>9th</td><td>1990</td><td>Runners-up (1990)</td></tr><tr><td> Uzbekistan</td><td>12th</td><td>1994</td><td>Champions (2012, 2025)</td></tr><tr><td> China</td><td>Group A winners</td><td>30 November 2025</td><td>17th</td><td>1985</td><td>Champions (1992, 2004)</td></tr><tr><td> Yemen</td><td>Group B winners</td><td>9th</td><td>2002</td><td>Runners-up (2002)</td></tr><tr><td> Vietnam</td><td>Group C winners</td><td>10th</td><td>2000</td><td>Fourth place (2000)</td></tr><tr><td> India</td><td>Group D winners</td><td>10th</td><td>1990</td><td>2023</td><td>Quarter-finalists (2002, 2018)</td></tr><tr><td> Australia</td><td>Group E winners</td><td>9th</td><td>2008</td><td>2025</td><td>Semi-finalists (2010, 2014, 2018)</td></tr><tr><td> Thailand</td><td>Group F winners</td><td>14th</td><td>1985</td><td>Champions (1998)</td></tr><tr><td> Myanmar</td><td>Group G winners</td><td>5th</td><td>1986</td><td>2006</td><td>Group stage (1986, 2000, 2002, 2006)</td></tr></tbody></table>

Venues

2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

The tournament will be held in the following venues in Jeddah.

<table><thead><tr><th>Jeddah</th><th>Jeddahclass=notpageimage| Location of the host cities of the 2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium</td><td>King Abdullah Sports City Training Stadium (Pitch A)</td></tr><tr><td>Capacity: 3,853</td><td>Capacity: TBC</td></tr><tr><td>King Abdullah Sports City Training Stadium (Pitch B)</td><td>King Abdullah Sports City Training Stadium (Pitch C)</td></tr><tr><td>Capacity: TBC</td><td>Capacity: TBC</td></tr></tbody></table>

Draw

2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

The draw took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 12 February 2026 at 15:00 MST (UTC+8).

The 16 teams were placed into four groups of four teams, with seeding based on their performance in the previous three editions of the tournament ((/wiki/2018AFCU-16Championship), (/wiki/2023AFCU-17AsianCup), and (/wiki/2025AFCU-17AsianCup)). As hosts, Saudi Arabia were ranked as the top seeded team.

Group stage

2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

The group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup. If Qatar (who automatically qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup as hosts) advance to the quarter-finals, the best third-placed team will also qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

• Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; • Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; • Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; • If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; • Goal difference in all group matches; • Goals scored in all group matches; • Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group; • Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points); • Drawing of lots.

All times are local, SAST (UTC+3).

Group A

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Team</th><th>Pld</th><th>W</th><th>D</th><th>L</th><th>GF</th><th>GA</th><th>GD</th><th>Pts</th><th>Qualification</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td> Saudi Arabia (H)</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>Knockout stage and FIFA U-17 World Cup</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td> Tajikistan</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td> Thailand</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td> Myanmar</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr></tbody></table>

Group B

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Team</th><th>Pld</th><th>W</th><th>D</th><th>L</th><th>GF</th><th>GA</th><th>GD</th><th>Pts</th><th>Qualification</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td> Japan</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>Knockout stage and FIFA U-17 World Cup</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td> Indonesia</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td> China</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td> Qatar</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr></tbody></table>

Group C

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Team</th><th>Pld</th><th>W</th><th>D</th><th>L</th><th>GF</th><th>GA</th><th>GD</th><th>Pts</th><th>Qualification</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td> South Korea</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>Knockout stage and FIFA U-17 World Cup</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td> Yemen</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td> Vietnam</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td> United Arab Emirates</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr></tbody></table>

Group D

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Team</th><th>Pld</th><th>W</th><th>D</th><th>L</th><th>GF</th><th>GA</th><th>GD</th><th>Pts</th><th>Qualification</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td> Uzbekistan</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>Knockout stage and FIFA U-17 World Cup</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td> Australia</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td> India</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td> North Korea</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr></tbody></table>

Knockout stage

2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.

Bracket

<table><thead><tr><th> </th><th>Quarter-finals</th><th></th><th>Semi-finals</th><th></th><th>Final</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>15 May – Jeddah</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Group A winner</td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>19 May – Jeddah</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Group B runner-up</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Quarter-final 1 winner</td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>15 May – Jeddah</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td></td><td>Quarter-final 3 winner</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Group C winner</td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td></td><td>22 May – Jeddah</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Group D runner-up</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Semi-final 1 winner</td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>16 May – Jeddah</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td></td><td>Semi-final 2 winner</td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Group B winner</td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>19 May – Jeddah</td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Group A runner-up</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Quarter-final 2 winner</td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>16 May – Jeddah</td></tr><tr><td> </td><td></td><td>Quarter-final 4 winner</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Group D winner</td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>Group C runner-up</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td> </td></tr></tbody></table>

Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

The following nine teams from AFC qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar; Qatar automatically qualified as the hosts.

<table><thead><tr><th>Team</th><th>Qualified on</th><th>Previous appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td> Qatar</td><td>14 March 2024</td><td>7 (1985, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2005, 2025)</td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td><td>2026</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td><td>2026</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td><td>2026</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td><td>2026</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td><td>2026</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td><td>2026</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td><td>2026</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>TBD</td><td>2026</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.