AFCU20 draw to unveil China 2025 showdowns

DOHA: The stage for the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2025 will be set for the 16 qualified teams on Thursday, November 7 when the official draw takes place at 3pm at the Grand Skylight International Guanlan in Shenzhen, China PR.

Set to take place from February 12 to March 1, 2025, the 42nd edition of the tournament features a final cast that comprises China PR – automatically qualified as hosts – and 15 sides that made it through the Qualifiers, which concluded last month.

Of the 16 previous champions, 12 are in contention to taste glory again, including record 12-time winners Korea Republic who will be aiming for their first title since 2012, and holders Uzbekistan, who won their first title in the previous edition in 2023 on home soil.

The top four finishers will also seal their berths at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025 in Chile and three teams – Thailand, Kyrgyz Republic and Yemen – will aim to do so for the first time.

The 16 sides have been seeded into four pots based on their final ranking from the 2023 edition, with China PR seeded first as the host association, as below:

Pot 1: China PR, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Japan
Pot 2: Korea Republic, Australia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan
Pot 3: Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Kyrgyz Republic
Pot 4: Qatar, Thailand, Yemen, DPR Korea