Iran Drawn with Saudi Arabia in AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers

Tasnim – TEHRAN, Iran has been placed in Group C along with Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Palestine, and Afghanistan in the AFC U-23 Championship 2016.

The draw held at the AFC House in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Ten group winners and five best-second placed teams from all groups (total 15 teams) will qualify for the final competition where host Qatar awaits.

The qualifiers will be held from March 23 to 31, 2015 while the tournament proper will be played in January 2016.

The AFC U-23 Championship 2016 will serve as the Olympic Games qualifiers in every alternate edition. The top three teams from the 2016 edition will represent Asia at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

Groups for the AFC U-23 Championship 2016 Qualifiers

Group A

Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Maldives

Group B

Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan

Group C

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nepal, Palestine, Afghanistan

Group D

UAE, Yemen, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka

Group E

Syria, Uzbekistan, India Bangladesh

Group F

Australia, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei

Group G

DPR Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines

Group H

Korea Republic, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Brunei Darussalam

Group I

Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Macau

Group J

China, Laos, Singapore, Mongolia