Stage set for inaugural AFC U-20 Futsal Championship

AFC – BANGKOK, Excitement continues to build in Bangkok as 21 teams prepare for the start of the Asian Football Confederation’s latest competition – the eagerly awaited AFC U-20 Futsal Championship.

With the action set to get underway on Tuesday, join the-AFC.com as we outline all you need to know about what promises to be a fascinating continental get-together.

Background
This will be the inaugural AFC U-20 Futsal Championship, a tournament first proposed by the AFC Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee in September 2015, and then ratified by the governing body’s Executive Committee later that same year. Its introduction is in line with other Confederations around the world – such as CONMEBOL – who already have similar competitions.

Teams
A total of 21 sides will be vying for glory in the Thai capital. They have been divided into four groups.

Group A: Thailand, Iraq, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Bahrain, Afghanistan

Group B: Vietnam, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Tajikistan, Indonesia

Group C: Uzbekistan, Qatar, Lebanon, Myanmar, Hong Kong

Group D: Islamic Republic of Iran, Kyrgyz Republic, China PR, Mongolia, United Arab Emirates

Format
The group winners and runners-up from each group, eight teams in total, will qualify for the quarter-finals. The four winners of the quarter-finals will qualify to the semi-finals, and subsequently the winners of the semi-finals will advance to the final, while the two losing teams will feature in a Play-off for third place.

What’s on offer
Apart from the honour of being crowned Asia’s first-ever U-20 Futsal champions, the AFC U-20 Futsal Championship will also serve as qualifying for the futsal tournament at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, with the winner and the runner-up qualifying for the boys’ tournament, where they will be represented by their U-18 representative teams.

Venues
There will be two venues used throughout the tournament – Bangkok Arena and the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium.