U-23 Asian Cup Preliminary: China, Australia, East Timor and Northern Mali in the same group, no worries to advance

At 3:00 p.m. on May 29, the 2026 Saudi U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the headquarters of the AFC. North Korea and Maldives did not register for this qualifier, and the other 44 teams participating were divided into 4 levels. According to the total points of the past three U-23 Asian Cup, China ranked 18th and was assigned to the second level.

All 44 teams will be divided into 11 groups, each with 4 teams, including Vietnam, Qatar, Thailand, Jordan, Tajikistan, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Indonesia, China, and Cambodia, the third grade; Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan, the third grade, have won the right to host the various qualifiers. Therefore, as the second-level Chinese U-23 men's football team, they will only encounter the first-level non-host team, namely one of the top five in Uz, Japan, Iraq, South Korea and Australia, and these five teams are also ranked in the top six in Asia.

The final group draw results are as follows. The numbers in brackets represent the ranking of the total points of the three sessions. H represents the host:

Group A: Jordan (10, H), Turkmenistan (16), Taipei (32), Bhutan (46);

Group B: Japan (2), Kuwait (14), Myanmar (24, H), Afghanistan (35);

Group C: Vietnam (6, H), Yemen (22), Singapore (26), Bangladesh (36);

Group D: Australia (7), China (18, H), East Timor (31), Northern Mariana Islands (47);

Group E: Uzbekistan (1), Palestine (20), Kyrgyzstan (27, H), Sri Lanka (45)

Group F: Thailand (9, H), Malaysia (17), Lebanon (29), Mongolia (37);

Group G: Iraq (3), Cambodia (23, H), Oman (25), Pakistan (41);

Group H: Qatar (8, H), Bahrain (19), India (28), Brunei (44);

Group I: UAE (12, H), Iran (15), Hong Kong (34), Guam (39);

Group J: South Korea (5), Indonesia (13, H), Laos (30), Macau (42);

Group J: South Korea (5), Indonesia (13, H), Laos (30), Macau (42);

Group K: Tajikistan (11, H), Syria (21), Philippines (33), Nepal (43);

Quotes for each group will be held from September 1 to 9 this year, with 11 groups, each team will have three rounds. In the end, each group will be ranked first and second in the 4 best-scoring groups, with a total of 15 teams, and together with the host of the main competition [Saudi], the main competition will be won next year's U-23 Asian Cup, from January 7 to January 25, 2026.

The Chinese team in Group D, even if they lose to Australia and cannot win the first place in the group, they can still become the second in the group to advance to the main match in the two games against East Timor and Northern Mariana Islands. It can be said that they can perform normally and advance without worries. This group of competitions will be held in Xi'an, Shaanxi, from September 3-9.

In order to prepare for the Asian qualifiers, the Chinese U-22 men's football team coached by Antonio had already participated in the Yancheng Four-National Championship in March, facing three first-class teams, achieving an unbeaten record of 1 win and 2 draws, including a 0-0 draw against the No. 1 Uz U-22 men's football team in Asia, 1-0 defeating the No. 5 South Korean U-22 men's football team in Asia, and a 1-1 draw against the No. 6 in Asia. At present, the team has gathered in Dalian on the 23rd of this month, and plans to play two warm-up matches with the Myanmar U-22 Men's Football Team (24th, third-level) on June 1 and 4th. They will then go to Belarus to play a high-quality friendly match with the Belarusian National Youth Team around June 8th, and return to China after the training camp on June 10th. After that, the players will return to the club to prepare for the league.