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 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, 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.

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.