May 25
THE drawing-lots ceremony for the 2023 Asian Cup U-23 Qualifiers, in which the Myanmar team will compete, will be held today at 1:30 pm Myanmar Standard Time.
A total of 43 teams will compete in the qualifiers, divided into 11 groups.
Japan, Australia, Iran, Turkmenistan, and the UAE are placed in Pot1, while Myanmar is placed in Pot2 with Iran, Malaysia, Cambodia, Syria, India, and Singapore.
Laos is placed in Pot3 with Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Yemen, Timor Leste, Chinese Taipei, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, China, Maldives, and Oman.
The Philippines is in Pot4 with Mongolia, Afghanistan, Brunei, North Korea, Guam, Macau, Pakistan, and Qatar.
Three ASEAN powerhouses Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam are in Host Pot with Bahrain, Jordan, South Korea, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan.
Qatar, which will host the final stage of the 2024 AFC U-23 tournament, will compete in the qualifiers, but will not count towards qualifying.
The group matches of the qualifiers will be held from 4 to 12 September.
According to the qualifying format, the top 11 teams from the 11 groups plus the best four second-placed teams totalling 15 teams will qualify for the next stage.
The Myanmar team participated in the qualifiers in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022, but only succeeded in qualifying once in 2014.
Team Myanmar will use semifinalists of the XXXII SEA Games Men’s Football Event and will be handled by Germany’s Michael Feichtenbeiner as the head coach. — Ko Nyi Lay/KZL
