The junior Indian men’s football team will start its AFC Under-20 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers campaign in Group H against five-time champions Iraq at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City on Friday. The India vs Iraq match will start at 7.00 PM IST [Indian
Standard Time]. Watch the AFC Under-20 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers on live streaming in India. The junior AFC event was previously known as the AFC U-19 Asian Cup but has been rebranded as the AFC U-20 Asian Cup, the finals of which will be held in Uzbekistan from March 1 to 18 next year. After playing Iraq, India’s next Group H matches will be against the AFC U-19 Asian Cup 2010 runners-up Australia and hosts Kuwait on October 16 and 18, respectively. All the Group H matches will be
played at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. India, led by one of their most prolific goal scorers Shabbir Ali, won the tournament jointly with Iran in 1974 but haven’t qualified for the continental showpiece since hosting the tournament in 2006. The Group H matches of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers were initially slated to be held in Basra, Iraq last month, but were postponed and moved to Kuwait later. All matches in the other nine groups were played in September. The 10 group winners qualify for the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023 main draw along with the five best runners-up across qualifying groups. Hosts Uzbekistan automatically qualified for the 16-team tournament as hosts. Live streaming of India’s AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers matches will be available on the official Facebook page of the Indian Football Team and the Kuwait Football Association’s official
YouTube channel. There’s no live telecast of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers on any TV channel in India. All times are in Indian Standard Time [IST] October 14, Friday India vs Iraq - 7:00 PM ISTAFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers: Schedule for Indian football team
October 16, Sunday
India vs Australia - 7:00 PM IST
October 18, Tuesday
India vs Kuwait - 10:00 PM IST
AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers: India squad
Goalkeepers: Zahid Hussain Bukhari, Som Kumar, Dipesh Chauhan
Defenders: Leewan Castanha, Amandeep, Abhishek Singh Tekcham, Sajad Hussain Parray, Halen Nongtdu, Brijesh Giri, Bikash Yumnam, Raj Basfore
Midfielders: Vibin Mohanan, Taison Singh Loitongbam, Harsh Shailesh Patre, Sibajit Leimapokpam, Vinay Harji, Shreyas Ketkar, Maheson Singh Tongbram, Aphaoba Singh.
Forwards: Macarton Louis Nickson, Himanshu Jangra, Gurkirat Singh, Suhail Ahmad Bhat
GO OLYMPIC. GET ALL THIS.
Free live sport events. Unlimited access to series. Unrivalled Olympic news & highlights.
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 [Reuters] - Qatar will stage the next Asian Cup in place of original hosts China, the Asian Confederation [AFC] announced on Monday, with the tournament likely to be moved from mid-2023 to early 2024 to avoid the heat of the Gulf summer.
The continental championships were awarded to China in 2019 but the world's most populous country relinquished the rights this year as it pursued a zero-COVID policy.
The AFC reopened the bidding process and Qatar, which will host the World Cup finals from next month, was preferred to bids from South Korea and Indonesia at an executive committee meeting on Monday.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
"Qatar's capabilities and track record in hosting major international sporting events and their meticulous attention to detail are well admired throughout the globe," AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement.
"With their existing world-class infrastructure and unrivalled hosting capabilities, we are confident that Qatar will stage a worthy spectacle befitting the prestige and stature of Asia's crown jewel."
The Qatar Football Association [QFA] has proposed that the 24-team tournament be shifted from its original dates in June and July next year to run for a month from Jan. 24, 2024, its spokesman, Ali Al Salat, told Reuters.
The Gulf Arab state has staged the Asian Cup twice before, in 1988 and 2011, and it won the last tournament, in the United Arab Emirates, in 2019. The Asian Cup is held every four years.
The gas-rich nation has built seven stadiums and upgraded another around the capital Doha to host the 32-team World Cup finals in November and December. The QFA is proposing all eight be used for the Asian Cup, Al Salat said.
The Asian Football Confederation [AFC] President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and President of Qatar Football Association [QFA] Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani pose during an announcement ceremony of 2023 Asian Cup at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia October 17, 2022. Asian Football Confederation/Kamarul Akhir/Handout via REUTERS
South Korea had been favourites to be awarded the hosting rights as the country had not staged the finals since 1960, when they won the second of their two Asian titles.
The Korean Football Association [KFA] apologised for the failure of its bid and suggested the financial muscle of the Gulf nation had been decisive.
"We thought that we had no problem in hosting the event," the KFA said in a statement.
"But we had to face fierce competition as Qatar jumped into the race with rich financial, human and material resources."
Indonesia had been considered outsiders because of its lack of stadium infrastructure, even more so after more than 130 people were killed in a stampede at a match at Kanjuruhan stadium in East Java province on Oct. 1.
The AFC said the executive meeting had opened with the offer of "heartfelt condolences" to the Indonesian FA "as well as the families and loved ones of the precious lives lost".
Qatar was also one of three nations bidding to stage the 2027 edition of the Asian Cup after Iran and Uzbekistan withdrew expressions of interest.
The AFC executive committee on Monday shortlisted the bids from India and Saudi Arabia for that tournament with a final decision to be made at their next meeting in February.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, additional reporting by Andrew Mills in Doha, Joori Roh in Seoul and Michael Church in Singapore, editing by Peter Rutherford
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.