2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup

The host country of the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup (Qatar) and the top eight teams of the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup (including hosts Saudi Arabia) qualified automatically, while the other seven teams were decided by qualification. There was one round of qualification matches, which was held between 22–30 November 2025. Qualified teams The following teams qualified for the tournament. Initially, North Korea also qualified, but withdrew due to concerns related to the 2026 Iran war, leaving the tournament at 15 teams. ==Venues==

The tournament is held in the following venues in Jeddah. ==Draw==

The draw took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 12 February 2026 at 15:00 MST (UTC+8). The 16 teams were placed into four groups of four teams, with seeding based on their performance in the previous three editions of the tournament (2018, 2023, and 2025). As hosts, Saudi Arabia were ranked as the top seeded team. ==Match officials==

The following referees and assistant referees were appointed for the tournament. ;Referees • Adam Kersey • Lothar D'hondt • Du Jianxin • Harish Kundu • Saud Al-Samhan • Veronika Bernatskaia • Yahya Al-Balushi • Abdullah Al-Shehri • Clarence Leow • Wiwat Jumpaoon • Sultan Al-Hammadi • Akobir Shukurullaev ;Assistant referees • Owen Goldrick • Bradley Wright • Romain Devillers • Tang Chao • Arun Pillai • Saud Al-Rashedi • Ramina Tsoi • Mohammed Al-Ghazali • Hamooh Al-Shuaibi • Omar Al-Jamal • Saad Al-Subaie • Andy Mint Land Tan • Pattarapong Kijsathit • Ali Rashid Al-Nuaimi • Islom Azimov • Alisher Usmanov ==Squads==

Players born between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team had to register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom must have been goalkeepers (Regulations Articles 21.3). == Group stage ==

The group winners and runners-up advanced to the quarter-finals and qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup. If Qatar (who automatically qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup as hosts) advance to the quarter-finals, the best third-placed team will also qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. ;Tiebreakers Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings: • Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; • Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; • Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; • If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; • Goal difference in all group matches; • Goals scored in all group matches; • Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group; • Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points); • Drawing of lots. All times are local, SAST (UTC+3). Group A ---- ---- Group B ---- ---- Group C ---- ---- Group D ---- ---- ==Knockout stage==

In the knockout stage, no extra time is played and a penalty shoot-out is used to decide the winner if necessary. Bracket Quarter-finals ---- ---- ---- Semi-finals ---- Final ==Goalscorers==

==Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup==

The following nine teams from AFC qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar; Qatar automatically qualified as the hosts. }-->TBD || 9–13 May 2026 || :1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year. ==Notes==