The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship will be the third edition of the
AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted
football championship organized by the Asian Football Confederation
(AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. A total of 16
teams will compete in the tournament. It is scheduled to take place 9–27
January 2018. China has been recommended as the hosts by the AFC
Competitions Committee.
Of the 47 AFC member associations, a total of 42 teams entered the competition. They are divided into two zones
- West: 22 teams, to be drawn into five groups: two groups of five teams and three groups of four teams.
- East: 20 teams, to be drawn into four groups: five groups of four teams.
The final tournament hosts China will participate in qualification
despite having automatically qualified for the final tournament.
The draw will be held on 17 March 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The
teams are seeded according to their performance in the previous season
in 2016.
Qualifiers to be played from July 15-23 July, 2017.
West Asia :Pot 1 - Iraq, Qatar, UAE, Iran & Jordan.
Pot 2 - Uzbekistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait & Oman.'
Pot 3 - Tajikistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Bahrain &
India.
Pot 4 - Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka.
Pot 5 - Nepal & Turkmenistan
East Asia :
Pot 1 - Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia & Thailand.
Pot 2 - China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar & Laos.
Pot 3 - Malaysia, Cambodia, Timor-Leste , Chinese Taipei & Singapore.
Pot 4 - Mongolia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Brunei & Macau.
Pot 5 - Guam
Player Eligibility :Players born on or after 1 January 1995 are eligible to compete in the tournament.