Twenty-one AFC Futsal U-20 Championship Thailand 2017 hopefuls learned their opponents on Thursday when the official draw for the inaugural competition took place in the capital of Thailand.
The 21 teams were drawn into one group of six teams and three groups of five teams.
Football Association of Thailand Vice President Thanasak Suraprasert welcomed the audience and said “We are delighted and honoured to be hosts of this new competition, and we welcome the new competition at u-20 level as an important step to support the development of futsal in Thailand.”
The tournament will take place in the Thai capital from May 16 to 26, 2017 at the Bangkok Arena and the Huamark Indoor Stadium.
The group winners and runners-up from each group, eight teams in total, will qualify for the knockout stage (quarter-finals).
The four winners of the quarter-finals will qualify to the semi-finals, and subsequently the winners of the semi-finals will advance to the final, while the two losing teams will play in the third place Play-off match.
Group A A1 Thailand (hosts) A2 Iraq A3 Malaysia A4 Brunei Darussalam A5 Bahrain A6 Afghanistan
Group B B1 Vietnam B2 Japan B3 Chinese Taipei B4 Tajikistan B5 Indonesia
Group C C1 Uzbekistan C2 Qatar C3 Lebanon C4 Myanmar C5 Hong Kong
Group D D1 Islamic Republic of Iran D2 Kyrgyz Republic D3 China PR D4 Mongolia D5 United Arab Emirates
Matchday One May 16, 2017, Tuesday
Bangkok Arena Lebanon v Qatar Kick-off: 1100hrs
Hong Kong v Myanmar Kick-off: 1300hrs
Iraq v Bahrain Kick-off: 1500hrs
Brunei v Afghanistan Kick-off: 1700hrs
Malaysia v Thailand Kick-off: 1900hrs
Huamark Indoor Stadium China v Kyrgyz Republic Kick-off: 1100hrs
UAE v Mongolia Kick-off: 1300hrs
Chinese Taipei v Japan Kick-off: 1500hrs
Indonesia v Tajikistan Kick-off: 1700hrs
