According to reporter Ma Dexing, the AFC will hold a group draw ceremony for the U23 Asian Cup preliminaries on May 25, and this year's U23 Asian Cup preliminaries will be divided into 11 groups, and the Chinese team will host the matches in its group. However, since the last U23 Asian Cup did not participate in the preliminary round, China 01 National Olympic Games will enter the draw as a four-tier team, plus the need for each group to host the competition, the Chinese team is likely to enter the group of death.
The 2024 U23 Asian Cup will also be the preliminary round of the Asian zone of the Paris Olympic Games, but if you want to compete for the Olympic competition, you first need to pass the preliminary round test of the U23 Asian Cup, and only by passing the preliminary round will you have a chance to continue.
Due to the previous U23 Asian Cup, the Chinese team gave up participating in the preliminary rounds, so this draw, Cheng Yaodong's 01 National Olympic Games will enter the group in the fourth gear.
Attached: U23 Asian Cup preliminary group draw slots
Seeded teams: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Japan, Australia, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, Jordan, UAE;
Second Pot Team: Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Tajikistan, Bahrain, Myanmar, Cambodia, Syria, India, Singapore, Indonesia;
Third team: Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Yemen, Timor-Leste, Chinese Taipei, Lebanon, Laos, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Maldives, Oman;
Fourth Pot Team: Mongolia, Philippines, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, North Korea, Guam, Macau, Pakistan, Qatar
Since Qatar, the host of the U23 Asian Cup, will also participate in the preliminary rounds, it is likely that the other four best teams in addition to group 1st will compete for the bottom of the group, which will be extremely unfavorable for the Chinese team, which will enter the draw in fourth bracket.
In addition, due to the different host countries of each group, according to the group principle, the Chinese team can only meet one of the five seeded teams of Japan, Australia, Iraq, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates, while the second tier team will only meet Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Syria, India and Singapore, so it is likely to enter the group of death.