KUALA LUMPUR: Iraq and India have qualified for the AFC Under-16 Championship alongside Central Asians Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, East Asian powerhouse Japan, Indonesia, Syria and Yemen.

Iraq and India emerged as the top two teams from strong Group C, which also featured Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Both Iraq and India scored identical 3-0 victory over Saudi Arabia. They finished with 13 points each with four victories and a 2-2 draw between them.

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan made it to the finals from Group D, which also included the UAE, Turkmenistan, Bangladesh and Palestine. Uzbekistan won four and drew one game with hosts the UAE 2-2. Tajikistan overcame the UAE 3-2 and finished second with 10 points, three less than Uzbekistan.

Japan, who won the last edition of AFC U-16 Championship in Singapore, won all their matches to top Group F. Indonesia and Laos finished with nine points each but the former qualified on the basis of their 1-0 victory over Laos.

Syria topped Group A winning all the five matches while Yemen finished second with 10 points, one more than strong Qatar.

Earlier, Iran, Bahrain, China, Singapore, DPR Korea, Australia and Korea Republic qualified for this tournament. These 15 teams will be joined by the host country, which has not been identified yet.

16 FINALISTS: Syria, Yemen, Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, DPR Korea, Australia, Korea Republic, host country (to be determined).