The India U20 women's national football team has been drawn into Group D of the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup Thailand 2026 Qualifiers. The draw, which took place at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 28, 2025, pits India against Myanmar, Indonesia, and Turkmenistan.
Myanmar will act as the host for Group D, with all matches set to be played in a centralized single round-robin format between August 6 and August 10, 2025. This qualifying round is a crucial step for the Young Tigresses as they aim to secure a spot in the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup, which is scheduled to be held in Thailand from April 1 to 18, 2026.
A total of 33 teams have been divided into eight groups for the qualification stage. Group A consists of five teams, while the remaining seven groups each contain four teams. The winners of each group and the three best runners-up will advance to the final tournament, joining hosts Thailand.
Sixteen teams, including Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Mongolia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Timor Leste, and Turkmenistan, are aiming to make their first-ever appearance in the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup.
The expansion of the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup from an eight-team tournament until 2024 to a 12-team format from 2026 onwards adds another layer of excitement to the competition. Moreover, the top four teams in the final tournament will qualify for the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup 2026, providing a significant incentive for all participating teams.
The seedings for the draw were based on a points system derived from the teams' final rankings in the previous three editions of the tournament. India was placed in Pot 2.
The draw results for all the groups are as follows: * Group A: DPR Korea, Nepal, Bhutan (H), Mongolia, Saudi Arabia * Group B: Vietnam (H), Kyrgyz Republic, Hong Kong, China, Singapore * Group C: Australia, Chinese Taipei, Palestine, Tajikistan (H) * Group D: Myanmar (H), India, Indonesia, Turkmenistan * Group E: China PR (H), Lebanon, Cambodia, Syria * Group F: Japan, IR Iran, Malaysia (H), Guam * Group G: Uzbekistan (H), Jordan, Northern Mariana Islands, Bahrain * Group H: Korea Republic, Bangladesh, Laos (H), Timor Leste
With the qualifiers scheduled to take place in August, the India U20 women's team will be gearing up to face their opponents in Group D. The centralized single round-robin format means that every match will be crucial, and the team will need to be at their best to secure a spot in the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup Thailand 2026.
