Tricky test for India at AFC U-20 Womens Asian Cup

New Delhi: India were grouped with Japan, Australia and Chinese Taipei in the 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup to be held in Thailand.

The tournament will be held between April 1 and 18 for which the final draw was held in Bangkok on Monday by the Asian Football Confederation.

Japan are record six-time champions of the tournament apart from being the last edition's runners-up in 2024. They are also the U-20 World Cup champions in 2018 and runners-up in 2024.

Australia were third in the 2024 edition while Chinese Taipei couldn't progress beyond the group stage in Group C. Hosts Thailand are slotted in Group A alongsode China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

North Korea, South Korea, Uzbekistan and Jordan are in Group B. Matches of the tournament will be staged in three venues — Rajamangala National Stadium (Bangkok), Thammasat Stadium (Pathum Thani), and Pathum Thani Stadium (Pathum Thani).

Seedings of teams for pot allocations for the final draw were based on a points system derived from the teams’ final rankings across the previous three editions of the tournament.

Points from each edition weighted progressively as follows: 100% of ranking points for the latest edition (2024), 50% of ranking points for the second-last edition (2019) and 25% of ranking points for the third-last edition (2017).

As India last played in the tournament in 2006 and didn't qualify in each of the last three editions, they were placed in pot four.

The top two sides of each group and the two best third-placed teams will advance to the quarter-finals.

The four semi-finalists will book a spot at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland. North Korea are the current U-20 world champions.

Group A: Thailand, China PR, Vietnam, Bangladesh

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Group B: DPR Korea, Korea Republic, Uzbekistan, Jordan

Group C: Japan, Australia, Chinese Taipei, India