AFC U17 Asian Cup: India Drawn Against Powerful Opponents- Malaysia, Singapore & Palestine; Check Full Schedule

New Delhi, August 27: India's U17 men's football team will face Malaysia, Palestine, Singapore and Guam in Group E of the AFC U17 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2027 Qualifiers, following the draw conducted at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

India will travel to Malaysia, which will host the group, for the qualifying campaign. The matches will be played in a single round-robin format between November 11 and 20, 2026.

The Blue Colts will open their campaign against Singapore on November 11. They will then meet Guam on November 14, Palestine on November 17 and conclude the group stage against hosts Malaysia on November 20.

A total of 35 teams were divided into seven groups of five during the qualifying draw. The winner of each group will earn a place at the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2027 in Uzbekistan, scheduled to take place from May 12 to 29.

India will be looking to build on their appearance at the 2026 edition in Saudi Arabia, where they exited during the group stage. A successful qualifying campaign would give India consecutive appearances in the continental U17 tournament and mark their 11th participation in the competition.

For the Qualifiers draw, the teams were seeded into five pots and an additional hosts' pot based on a points system derived from their final rankings across the most recent three editions of the Finals. India were seeded in Pot 1.

The seven group winners will progress to the AFC U17 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2027, where they will join the nine AFC representatives from the FIFA U17 World Cup Qatar 2026 who have automatically qualified: Australia, China PR, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

AFC U17 Asian Cup: Groups

• Group A: Indonesia, Myanmar (H), Afghanistan, Philippines, Cambodia
• Group B: Thailand (H), Iraq, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei
• Group C: UAE (H), Bangladesh, Syria, Bhutan, Macau
• Group D: IR Iran, Laos (H), Jordan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
• Group E: India, Malaysia (H), Palestine, Singapore, Guam
• Group F: Yemen, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyz Republic (H), Mongolia, Northern Mariana Islands
• Group G: Oman (H), Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Brunei Darussalam

AFC U17 Asian Cup: India Schedule

• November 11: Singapore vs India
• November 14: India vs Guam
• November 17: Palestine vs India
• November 20: India vs Malaysia