When Asia's upcoming football stars take the field on September 10, 2022, for the AFC U20 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2023 Qualifiers, it will be the continent's first major comeback to elite men's youth football since 2018.
With the U20 competition replacing the U19 competition and organized without the zoning principles, the Qualifiers mark the beginning of a new era for the AFC's age-group event. The group winners and the top five runner-up teams will join hosts Uzbekistan at the Finals next year.
At the National Stadium KM16 in Laos, Group C matches between Palestine and Yemen and the host nation's match against Guam will kick off the Qualifiers on Saturday at 4 p.m. Heavyweights Japan are also a part of the five-team group and play Laos two days after that.
Chinese Taipei will begin their campaign in Group D against Syria at the Applied Science University Stadium at 4.30 p.m. Turkmenistan and the Northern Mariana Islands will play each other at 9 p.m. On September 12, Jordan, the host nation, will play Turkmenistan.
In Bahrain, Group B qualifying matches between Bhutan and Nepal and Bangladesh are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at the Sheikh Ali Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium. On September 12, Qatar will play Nepal to begin their qualification campaign.
As the host nation, Uzbekistan has already qualified for the AFC U20 Asian CupTM 2023 and has been placed in Group A. However, all of their games will be regarded as friendlies and will not be factored into the group ranking.
At the Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, Maldives will give the Central Asians their first difficult test at 6:15 p.m., Myanmar will play China PR at 9:30 p.m., and two days later, 2018 champion Saudi Arabia will play Maldives at the start of their Qualifiers campaign.
Starting on September 14, the remaining groups will compete for a spot in the Finals, with hosts Mongolia facing Malaysia at 5 p.m. in Group E and Korea Republic taking on Sri Lanka at 12.30 p.m. at the MFF Stadium.
At the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium, Vietnam will face Hong Kong at 4 p.m., and Timor-Leste will play host to Indonesia at 8 p.m.
At the Al Saadah Sport Complex, Thailand will play Afghanistan at 5 o'clock in Group G, and the Philippines will play the hosts Oman at 8 o'clock.
The Group H matches, which were initially slated to take place in Basra, Iraq, and featured India, Iraq, and Kuwait, will now be shifted to a different location and date. Additional information will be finalized and provided in due course.
Group I matches in Dushanbe will take place at the Republican Central Stadium, with Cambodia taking on Lebanon at 5 p.m. and hosts Tajikistan playing Singapore at 8 p.m.
Staying in Central Asia, United Arab Emirates, the 2008 champions, will play Brunei Darussalam at 4 p.m., followed by the Kyrgyz Republic's match against IR Iran at 8.30 p.m., both games will be held at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in Bishkek.
Note: all times are local.