India face tough U17 AFC Asian Cup draw
India’s U17 national team were handed a challenging group at the AFC U17 Asian Cup draw held this week, setting up clashes against higher-ranked Asian rivals in the continental tournament.
The draw, conducted at the AFC headquarters, placed India alongside traditional powerhouses, increasing the difficulty of their path to the knockout stage. The tournament will see Asia’s top youth sides compete for continental glory and World Cup qualification.
“We respect our opponents, but we are not afraid,” the head coach said after the ceremony. “This is a great platform for our boys to prove themselves.” A team official added, “At this level there are no easy matches.”
India qualified after a solid campaign in the preliminaries and will now look to build on recent youth development progress when the competition kicks off later this year.