The AFC U23 Championship, that began in 2014 as the AFC U-22 Championship, has been filled with fantastic fixtures and great games throughout the three editions of the tournament hosted so far in Oman, Qatar and China PR.

Here are five classics to enjoy and whet the appetite for the action to come at Thailand 2020.

Hao Wei, who replaced Guus Hiddink at the helm in September, picked seven Shandong Luneng players to complement his roster for Thailand 2020, which also serves as the qualifying tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The fourth edition of the Championship will be played across three cities - Bangkok, Buriram and Songkhla - with the tournament kicking off on January 8, and the final to be played on January 26.

Besides Continental glory, 15 of the 16 teams will also be competing for places in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where the top three sides will join hosts Japan as Asia's representatives next July.

Besides the prestigious regional title, the 15 teams will also be vying for three berths to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with Japan having already having qualified as hosts.

Part two of the-AFC.com’s countdown to the draw takes a look at how Australia, China PR, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Vietnam sealed their places in the 2020 Finals.

Besides the prestigious regional title, 15 of the 16 teams will also be vying for three berths to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with Japan having already qualified as hosts.

In Part One of our countdown to the draw, the-AFC.com takes a look at how Bahrain, DPR Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan navigated through qualifying last March.

Hosts Thailand, despite having gained an automatic slot, also competed.

Thailand will host 15 teams from January 8-26 and besides regional glory, the fourth edition of the Championship is also offering three spots in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The young War Elephants were drawn with 2013 champions Iraq, Australia and debutants Bahrain, who they will play their Group A opener against, in Thursday's official draw in Bangkok.

The Central Asians topped Group F with a convincing 3-0 victory against India and drawing 0-0 with Tajikistan while the runners-up in the 2018 final Vietnam topped Group K, ahead of Thailand, who had already qualified as host of the competition.

And the 2016 champions Japan were undefeated in Group I where they recorded stunning victories over Macau (8-0), Timor Leste (6-0) and host Myanmar (7-0).

There is extra significance for the AFC U-23 Championships, which will take place from January 8 to 26, 2020, as the top three teams qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July, although should Japan emerge as one of them, the fourth-placed side will advance.