AFC U-16 and U-19 Championships qualification draw held

The draw for the AFC Under-16 Championships 2014 qualifiers was held earlier today by the Asian Football Confederation at their headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The India Under-16 boys are in Group A and will face hosts Kuwait, Tajikistan, Lebanon and Bhutan in the qualifiers, while defending champions Uzbekistan will face Yemen, Palestine and the Maldives in Group B of the AFC U-16 Championship 2014 qualifiers.

Check out the table for Under-16 Championship below (click to enlarge):

The teams finishing in the top four will qualify to represent Asia in the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in Chile in 2015.

For the AFC U-19 Championship 2014 to be held in Myanmar, Korea Republic, who are a record 12-time champions, are pitted alongside Indonesia, Laos, Guam and the Philippines, while India will face Uzbekistan, Qatar, Turkmenistan and Nepal.

The qualifiers will be hosted by Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and China.

Check out the table for Under-19 Championship below (click to enlarge):

The AFC U-19 Championship will also serve as the qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, with the top-four sides of this championship booking a place each in the FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held in New Zealand in 2015.

India last played in the U-16 championship in 2012, where they managed draws with Syria and China and were beaten narrowly by eventual winners Uzbekistan. But India haven’t appeared in the U-19 meet since hosting it in 2006.