2023 AFC U17 Asian Cup: How did India qualify despite defeat to hosts Saudi Arabia?

Indian men’s football team earned qualification for 2023 AFC U17 Asian Cup on Sunday, despite losing to hosts Saudi Arabia by 2-1 in last qualifiers game. Facing hosts in Group D match at Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stium in Al Khobar, India conceded first goal in 22nd minute, after Haji scored in bottom corner of net. Haji doubled le in 58th minute as Thanglalsoun Gangte scored solitary goal for India in 95th minute.

India qualifies for AFC U17 Asian Cup despite defeat

While match concluded 2-1 in Saudi Arabia’s favour, India managed to qualify for next year’s continental showpiece as one of six best runner-ups across all groups. Heing into Group D match, India and Saudi Arabia has three wins to ir name, and winner of Sunday’s game was guaranteed automatic qualification to tournament. While India finished second in Group D points table with nine points in four games, two-time U-17 Asian champions Saudi Arabia topped table with 12 points.

In points table for runners-up, India found mselves placed fourth behind South Korea, China, and Afghanistan. Thailand and Laos were or two runners-up who earned qualification. As groups h varying number of teams, a special formula was used to determine best runners-up. 

India qualified for main draw for a third consecutive time

As per Olympic.com, results against fourth-placed team in groups that h only four teams and results against fourth and fifth-placed teams in groups having five teams were not considered for final runners-up rankings. This is ninth overall and third consecutive time main draw of AFC U-17 Asian Cup will feature Indian team. best results for India in coveted tournament is quarter-final finishes in 2002 and 2022. 

Meanwhile, upcoming edition of AFC U-17 Asian Cup was earlier scheduled to be held in Bahrain in May 2023. However, after Bahrain pulled out of tournament as hosts, AFC is yet to confirm new venue. It is pertinent to mention that 2023 AFC U-17 Asian Cup will be 20th edition of tournament. Having said that, here’s complete list of teams who have qualified for AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023.

List of teams to earn qualification for AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023

• Japan
• Malaysia
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Yemen
• Vietnam
• Australia
• Tajikistan
• Iran
• Uzbekistan
• South Korea
• China
• Afghanistan
• India
• Thailand
• Laos