AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup - Hopefuls learn Road to China 2026 pathways

The sides were divided into eight groups - three of four teams each and five of three — to contest a single round-robin centralised league format from October 13 to 17, 2025.

The eight group winners will progress to the 10th edition of the Finals, where they will be joined by the four AFC representatives from the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2025 who have automatically qualified, namely DPR Korea, Japan, Korea Republic and China PR, to form a 12-strong line-up — four more than the previous edition.

The Official Draw at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia saw the teams divided into seven groups — three of six teams each and four of five.

All group winners will progress to the 21st edition of the Finals, where they will join the nine AFC representatives from the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025 who have automatically qualified, namely Qatar, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Korea Republic, DPR Korea, Japan, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.

The Qualifiers will be contested in a single round-robin centralised league format from November 22 to 30, 2025.

Six-time winners Japan kicked off their Group F campaign with a 5-0 win over Guam while defending champions DPR Korea were unstoppable in a 15-0 triumph against Saudi Arabia in Group A.

Korea Republic, champions in 2003 and 2013, defeated Timor-Leste 9-0 while China PR, who lifted the trophy in 2006, opened their Group E challenge with a 6-0 win against Syria.

The teams will be back in action on Friday with the eight group winners and the overall three best runners-up to join hosts Thailand at next year's Finals.

Stay updated on all the thrills and spills with the-AFC.com.