India drawn with Uzbekistan, Australia and North Korea in 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup

India were drawn with Uzbekistan, Australia and North Korea in Group D of the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup in the final draw held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. The tournament will take place from May 5 to 22 in Saudi Arabia. India qualified for the AFC U17 Asian Cup for the 10th time in history after finishing ahead of Iran, Lebanon, Palestine and Chinese Taipei in the qualifiers. The Blue Colts will begin their campaign against Australia, followed by Uzbekistan and Korea. Uzbekistan are the defending champions, qualifying automatically for the tournament. Australia were knocked out in the group stage of the 2025 edition and qualified for the 2026 tournament after victories over Jordan, Bhutan and Philippines. Two-time former champions North Korea were semi-finalists in 2025, thus also qualifying automatically for the current edition. In Group A, hosts Saudi Arabia were drawn alongside Tajikistan, Thailand, and Myanmar. Group B contains Japan, Indonesia, China and Qatar. Group C has South Republic, Yemen, Vietnam and United Arab Emirates. The top two sides from each group will progress to the quarter-finals and also qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup Qatar 2026.