KATHMANDU, May 10: Nepal U-16 football team has been drawn in the Group A of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Championship’s western zone qualifiers to be held in Jordan on September 14.
In a draw held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka and Kuwait will accompany Nepal and host team Jordan.
Nepal to host AFC U-16 qualifiers
The groups with five teams, Group A, G and H, will start their matches on September 14. The other eight groups feature four teams each starting their matches on September 18 and ends on 22.
A total of 47 nations participate in the qualifying events spanning into two zones, western and eastern. And, 25 teams have been divided in western whereas 22 compromise eastern leg of the Asian championship.
The winner of the tournament and four best placed runner-ups (from any group based on points tally) will qualify for the AFC Championship to be held in 2020. The top four teams of the championship will qualify in the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Japan is the defending champions winning their third AFC title last October defeating Tajikistan 1-0 in the final match. The event was first inaugurated in 1985 and Nepal had earlier participated in 2000, 2006 and 2014.