June 20 – There will be 31 teams in the draw for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2024 group stages this week at the AFC’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The draw will create eight groups – seven of four teams and one of three. Groups will be played at a centralised venue from October 7 to 11, 2023, with the eight group winners and seven best second-placed teams qualifying for the finals in 2024.
The qualifying 15 teams will join the host nation in the finals. The finals host has not yet been announced. Qualifying group hosts are Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Uzbekistan.
The 2024 finals will the 17th edition of the championship. Japan are the current title holders from 2022 when they picked up their fourth win. That was after an eight-year winning streak by Iran who have win the title 12 teams.
Draw seeding is be based on the Kuwait 2022 final ranking; teams that did not participate will be added as the lowest-ranked teams.
All matches involving the Host MA, if they play in the Qualifiers, will be considered as friendly matches and not be taken into account when calculating the group rankings.
The Qualifiers are being organised without the application of the zoning principle for the first time since 2008.
Rankings
1-8: Japan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Kuwait, Vietnam
9-16: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Turkmenistan, Lebanon, Korea Republic, Myanmar
17-24: Afghanistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Australia, Palestine, Hong Kong, China, Timor-Leste, Nepal
25-28 + 3 unranked: Cambodia, Maldives, Mongolia, Brunei Darussalam + China PR, India, Macau
Pots
Pot 1: Japan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kuwait, Vietnam
Pot 2: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Lebanon, Korea Republic, Myanmar
Pot 3: Afghanistan, Malaysia, Australia, Palestine, Hong Kong, China, Timor-Leste, Nepal
Pot 4: Cambodia, Maldives, Brunei Darussalam, China PR, India, Macau
Hosts Pot: Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan
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