Indonesia U-20 Avoids Vietnam and Thailand in Asian Cup Qualifiers Draw

Indonesia's U-20 national team has officially avoided being grouped with Vietnam and Thailand in the qualification stage for the 2027 AFC U-20 Asian Cup. The tournament itself is scheduled to take place in March 2027, while the qualification matches will be played between late August and early September 2026. A total of 32 countries will compete for 15 available spots in the final tournament, with China already qualified automatically as the host nation.

The draw for the qualifiers is set for May 28, 2026, and Indonesia has been placed in Pot 2 alongside Thailand, Vietnam, Syria, Qatar, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Yemen. Because teams from the same pot cannot meet during the qualification round, Indonesia is guaranteed to avoid several strong regional rivals in the group stage.

Indonesia will instead face one team from each of the other pots. Pot 1 contains some of Asia's strongest youth football nations, including Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Uzbekistan. This creates the possibility of Indonesia facing a major continental powerhouse early in the competition.

Meanwhile, Pot 3 includes North Korea, India, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, the Philippines, Bahrain, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Pot 4 consists of Lebanon, Kuwait, Turkmenistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Laos, and Palestine. These combinations could produce balanced and competitive groups once the official draw is completed.

The Asian Football Confederation has also selected eight countries to host the qualification matches, including Uzbekistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Bahrain, Cambodia, and Laos. In addition, several developing football nations will compete in a separate developmental phase connected to future qualification cycles, showing the AFC's broader effort to expand youth football across Asia.