Tashkent, Uzbekistan: Wednesday marks the beginning of the AFC U20 Asian CupTM Uzbekistan 2023. This competition, which was originally known as the AFC U19 Championship, is making its return after an absence of five years.
The tournament will also serve as the qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Indonesia 2023, which is scheduled to be held from May 20 to June 11.
Matches will be played in four stadiums across two cities – Milliy Stadium, JAR Stadium, Lokomotiv Stadium (all Tashkent) and Istiqlol Stadium (Fergana) where the young Qataris are set to play two group stage matches, before traveling to Tashkent for the final group stage match.
Qatar, who won the tournament in 2014, are drawn in the challenging group B alongside Australia, Iran and Vietnam.
The maroons qualified to the tournament in convincing fashion, blitzing through their opponents in the qualifying group held in Bahrain back in September. Winning all four matches and scoring a total of 14 goals, all while conceding a single goal.
Led by coach Iñaki Gonzalez Abadia, Qatar will take on Iran on March 1st in their opening match, before playing Vietnam on the 4th of the same month.
Qatar will wrap their group stage matches against Australia on March 7.
Source: Qatar Football Association