AFC U17 Asian Cup 2025 draw: Who will Saudi Arabia play as host?

For the first time in 30 years, the AFC U17 Asian Cup is being hosted by Saudi Arabia in April, with the continent’s next generation of football stars set to be showcased in the prestigious youth tournament. It is a qualifying event for the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar this November, with all eight quarter-finalists earning a place.

The U17 Asian Cup was last held in the Kingdom back in 1992, when Saudi Arabia finished third place in a tournament won by China. This time, 16 national teams will be vying for the trophy, including record four-time winner – and reigning champion – Japan.

On Thursday, the draw was made for the group stage of the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2025 at the Asian Football Confederation’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Saudi Arabia discovered it will play against China, Thailand and Uzbekistan.

Saudi Arabia

The host nation will be gunning for its third triumph in the competition, though it has not lifted the trophy since 1988. Saudi Arabia was actually the inaugural winner of the U17 Asian Cup in 1985, claiming the silverware again in the third edition before a 37-year drought that has lasted until today. At the last tournament in 2023, Saudi Arabia made it to the quarter-finals before losing to Uzbekistan.

The 2023 U17 Asian Cup saw captain Farhah al-Shamrani and striker Talal Haji emerge as stars for the Saudi side, with both players going on to play for the Al Ittihad first team. Haji also went on to become the youngest ever player for the Green Falcons senior team and the Saudi Pro League’s youngest ever goalscorer.

This U17 Asian Cup is of particular importance to Saudi Arabia, given that the players participating this April will be approaching the peak of their careers when the FIFA World Cup comes to the Kingdom in 2034. Their development is being closely monitored by the Saudi Football Federation (SAFF) as it tries to build a team capable of being competitive in that historic tournament on home soil.

China

The opening match of the U17 Asian Cup 2025 will see Saudi Arabia take on China in a repeat of the 1992 semi-final in the Kingdom, which the latter won 4-1 on its way to the first of two successes in the competition. The second came in 2004 but since then China has only once made it to the knockout stage and twice failed to qualify for the tournament at all in 2016 and 2018. As with its senior side, China’s youth teams have regularly underachieved for a nation of its size.

China’s U17 Asian Cup squad for 2025 is set to be packed with academy players from the country’s biggest clubs, including AFC Champions League Elite competitors Shandong Taishan and reigning Chinese Super League champion Shanghai Port. Saudi Arabia and China met in the group stage at the last tournament in 2023, with Saudi Arabia winning 3-0 on its way to topping the table, while China finished bottom after only taking one point from its three matches.

Uzbekistan

The Central Asian nation made global headlines this week as defender Abdukodir Khusanov was signed by Manchester City, becoming the first Uzbek player to join an English Premier League club. Khusanov, now 20, was due to play for Uzbekistan in the 2020 U17 Asian Cup but the competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, he played at U17, U19, U20 and U23 level for Uzbekistan before making his senior debut in 2023.

Uzbekistan made it to the semi-finals last time out, beating Saudi Arabia thanks to two late goals in the quarter-finals before narrowly losing to South Korea in the last four. The Uzbek team also reached the FIFA U17 World Cup quarter-finals in 2023 – demonstrating its depth of talent. The country has won the U17 Asian Cup once previously, beating Japan on penalties in the 2012 final. One of the scorers in the shootout that day was Otabek Shukurov, who now plays in the Saudi Pro League for Al Fayha and has made nearly 70 appearances for the Uzbekistan national team.

Thailand

The Group A line-up is completed by Thailand, whose senior team held Saudi Arabia to an impressive draw in the group stage of last year’s 2Asian Cup in Qatar. Thailand sealed its place at the U17 Asian Cup 2025 after finishing top of a qualifying group including India, Turkmenistan and Brunei in October. It won all three games, the highlight of which was a remarkable 19-0 victory over Brunei.

Thailand has won the U17 Asian Cup once – claiming the title in 1998 thanks to a penalty shootout victory over host nation Qatar. Thailand had suffered the same fate itself two years earlier, losing to Oman in the final in Bangkok. Since then, Thailand has struggled to be competitive at the tournament, but did make it to the quarter-finals – ending a run of six straight group stage eliminations – when it hosted the U17 Asian Cup in 2023. The team is led by experienced Thai coach Jadet Meelarp, a former senior national team assistant who won the Thai Premier League in 2007 and Thai FA Cup in 2010 with Chonburi.