New Delhi: The junior Indian football team will kickstart its Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-17 Asian Cup campaign against Vietnam on Saturday. The tournament starts on Thursday with a match between Yemen and Malaysia, as per Olympics.com.
This U-17 football event will be a 16-country affair hosted by Thailand from June 15 to July 2.
Korou Singh Thingujam, India’s attacking midfielder will captain the side during this event. India will be facing Uzbekistan on June 20.
For the Indian side mentored by head coach Bibiano Fernandes, the biggest test will be the match against the reigning champions Japan on June 23. They are also the most successful side in the tournament with three championship wins.
The AFC U-17 Asian Cup is the 19th edition of the tournament. India has qualified for this event nine times, with their quarterfinal runs in 2002 and 2018 among their best performances.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will earn a position in the quarterfinals while the semifinalists will qualify for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup 2023 in November. India has qualified only once for this junior FIFA event, when they hosted it back in 2017.
The AFC U-17 Asian Cup was supposed to be held in 2020 in Bahrain but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
India qualified for the event in October last year after they finished runners-up behind Saudi Arabia in Group D of the qualification round.
India’s group stage fixtures:
June 17, Saturday: India vs Vietnam – 5:30 PM
June 20, Tuesday: Uzbekistan vs India – 5:30 PM
June 23, Friday: Japan vs India – 5:30 PM
