AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 qualifiers

archak

AFC
U-16 Championship 2016 hosts India now know their qualifying opponents
after a draw at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday.

A total of 45 nations will
participate in the qualifiers with the draw seeding based on the
rankings from the last edition in 2014.

WEST ZONE
Group A: Uzbekistan, Yemen, Palestine (hosts), Maldives
Group B: Nepal, Oman, Kyrgyzstan (hosts), Jordan
Group C: Qatar (hosts), Tajikistan, Iraq, Turkmenistan
Group Saudi Arabia, UAE, Pakistan, Bangladesh (hosts)
Group E: Iran (hosts), Bahrain, India, Lebanon
Group F: Syria, Kuwait (hosts), Afghanistan, Sri Lanka

EAST ZONE
Group G: Malaysia, Laos, Philippines, Northern Mariana Islands, Timor-Leste
Group H: DPR Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia
Group I: Korea Republic, China, Chinese Taipei, Macau
Group J: Australia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Guam
Group K: Japan, Hong Kong, Brunei, Mongolia

Bhutan, who will not take part in the AFC U-16 Championship 2016
qualifiers, but participated in 2014, were removed from the seeding
table for the draw. Indonesia were also excluded from the seeding table
following FIFA’s suspension of the Football Association of Indonesia.

Bangladesh, Cambodia, Maldives, Mongolia and Timor-Leste, who will
participate in India 2016 qualifiers, but did not take part in the 2014
edition, were added in the table as non-ranked teams.

Eleven group winners and four best second-placed teams will qualify
for the finals, with hosts India receiving an automatic qualification
(total 16 teams).

In case India finish top of their qualifying group or among the four
best second-placed teams, the next (5th) second best placed nation will
qualify for the final competition.

The qualifying matches will be played from September 12 to 20.

Ronny

Am sure we will beat Bahrain and Lebanon

archak

A good set for fixture which should work as a decent exposure to international level before the main tournament and the WC

Ronny

I guess the BRICS cup would be there before the U-16 finals next year

shankar

I am glad we got a tough group... With qualification assured, it is better to try our team against better teams and try get result rather than having a easy fixture and not having enough exposure..

 

Lets hold iran and win the rest

Ronny

agree on that..If all goes well we may now witness the birth of our Indian golden generation..as the U-16's will play AFC finals follwed by U1-7 WC..If we win the bid for U-20 WC then the same team may play U-19 finals followed by U-20 WC..with such high level exposure they might just become the only Indian team capable of fighting out for the senior wc spot later..
A realistic dream if all goes well

mohammed_87hassan

This will be real test how our world cuo bound team is
I think they will trash Iran Bahrain and Lebanon easily

ArsenalFan700

We can beat Bahrain and Labanon but I doubt we will beat Iran.

archak

lets get real this batch has also started their training under AIFF after 13 years old so i don't expect huge difference in level. These exposure tournament will make them more aware of their levels and might be slightly better than the current generation of Senior national team players.

ArsenalFan700

I think they should be a couple levels better. The thing is though is that these qualifiers are in September and October and will be their important matches since the training even began!

I expect that after this tournament there will be some analysis done on where they can improve and to make the team better for the actual AFC U16 Championship and that other tournament. Same with before the FIFA U17 World Cup.

The expectation should be that by the time we get to the U17 World Cup we should be able to be confident with beating sides like Lebanon and Bahrain and perhaps maybe even Iran.

Mithil Gali

Guys after our team's debacle this year in WCQ this is the only tournament i look forward to this year