February 24 – Mongolia, who have never qualified for the AFC Asian Cup, and are hosting a qualifying group for the first time, will face Palestine, Philippines and Yemen in Group B qualifying for the China 2023 edition. All their opponents played at the Asian Cup in 2019.
The draw for the final qualifying round for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 was held earlier today in Kuala Lumpur at AFC headquarters. Teams were drawn into six groups with 11 places to be won for the China 2023 finals.
Groups will be played across three match days – June 8, 11 and 14. The China finals kick off 14 June 2023.
The AFC’s flagship men’s national team competition was successfully expanded in 2019 to 24 teams. 13 teams, including hosts China, have already qualified from the first round of Asian qualifiers that also served as first round qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
The final Group Stages will be played in held in June in centralised venues across all five AFC zones in six host nations – India, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.
The six group winners and five best runners up will qualify for China 2023, and will join hosts China PR, Australia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Japan, Korea Republic, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and United Arab Emirates and Vietnam in the Finals.
Kuwait, the only former Asian Cup winners in the final qualifying draw, will host Group A with Jordan, Indonesia and Nepal for company.
Uzbekistan, who have qualified for every edition of the AFC Asian Cup since 1996, will host Group C with Thailand, Maldives and Sri Lanka their opponents.
India, bidding to qualify for their second successive finals, will host Group D with Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Cambodia.
Group E hosts Malaysia, who have not played at the finals since co-hosting in 2007, will face Bahrain, Turkmenistan and Bangladesh.
Kyrgyz Republic, who qualified for their inaugural AFC Asian Cup in 2019, will host Group F with Tajikistan, Myanmar and Singapore.
AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ Qualifiers Final Round
Group A: Jordan, Kuwait (H), Indonesia, Nepal
Group B: Palestine, Philippines, Yemen, Mongolia (H)
Group C: Uzbekistan (H), Thailand, Maldives, Sri Lanka
Group D: India (H), Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Cambodia
Group E: Bahrain, Turkmenistan, Malaysia (H), Bangladesh
Group F: Kyrgyz Republic (H), Tajikistan, Myanmar, Singapore
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