India Draws Group G in AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers

New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) — India has been drawn into Group G alongside Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan for the AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup China 2026 Qualifiers in Bishkek.

The draw took place at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. The Qualifiers feature 27 nations divided into eight groups — three groups of four teams and five groups of three teams. The single round-robin centralised league matches will occur from October 13 to 17.

India is set to compete against the Kyrgyz Republic on October 13 and Uzbekistan on October 17. The group winners will advance to the finals, joining four AFC representatives already qualified from the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup 2025: North Korea, Japan, South Korea, and China. This will form a 12-team tournament, an increase from the previous edition's size.

For the Qualifiers draw, the 27 participating teams were divided into four pots through a points system based on final rankings from the last three tournament editions. India held a spot in Pot 1. The AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup China 2026 is scheduled from April 30 to May 17, 2026, with the top four teams securing spots in the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup Morocco 2026.

India last appeared in the Asian Cup in 2005. This time, the Young Tigresses aspire to make history by qualifying through the qualifiers route for the first time.

Groupings
Group A: Philippines, Malaysia, Tajikistan (H), Syria
Group B: Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia (H)
Group C: Indonesia, Myanmar (H), Mongolia, Macau
Group D: Vietnam (H), Hong Kong, China, Guam
Group E: Australia, Singapore (H), Northern Mariana Islands
Group F: Thailand (H), Nepal, Turkmenistan
Group G: India, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic (H)
Group H: Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Jordan (H)

India's Schedule
- October 13: Kyrgyz Republic vs India
- October 17: India vs Uzbekistan

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