AFC U20 and U17: India set for qualifiers later this year

The draws for the qualifiers of the 2025 AFC Asian Cup U17 and U20 were held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday.

India has been placed in group D in the U17 category and in group G in the U20 category. 

The main event is scheduled to take place in 2025, with the U17 tournament set to be played out in Saudi Arabia while the U20 event will be hosted by China.

India has been placed alongside hosts Thailand, Brunei Darussalam and Turkmenistan in Group D of the FC U17 Asian Cup 2025 Qualifiers.

The qualification tournament is set to take place in Thailand between October 19-27 with a total of 43 teams competing. 

India has previously had good runs at the U17 Asian Cup, qualifying for the last three edition's finals.

Although they exited from the group stages the last time around, they have finished as finalists twice (2002 and 2018) and will be hoping they go one better this time.

In the U20 category, India has been pitted with Iran, Mongolia and hosts Laos in Group G. This tournament is set to take place in Laos, in September, between 21st-29th of the month, and has 45 teams competing for 15 spots in the finals. 

Unlike the U17 category, the India U20 squad has been going through a dry spell and haven't played in the finals since 2006, when they hosted the tournament. 

Their best result at the tournament was joint champions alongside Iran in 1974. 

The 2025 AFC U17 Asian Cup will take place between April 3-20, 2025, and the 2025 AFC U20 Asian Cup is scheduled to take place between February 6-23, 2025.