The third round of results of the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, the top 16 will be released, Saudi Arabia will start in January next year

On September 10, all 22 games in the third round of the 2026 U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers Group Stage ended. Let’s take a look at the specific situation. The four teams in Group A are Jordan, Turkmenistan, Taipei, and Bhutan. In this round, Bhutan defeated Taipei, China 3-1, and Jordan defeated Turkmenistan 2-1. Jordan won all three games and ranked first in the group with 9 points, and directly qualified. Although Turkmenistan won 2 wins and 1 loss and 6 points, it still failed to qualify. Bhutan and Taipei, China ranked third and fourth respectively. The four teams in Group B are Japan, Kuwait, Myanmar and Afghanistan. In this round, the Japanese team showed the strength that a strong team should have, defeating Kuwait 6-1, while Afghanistan defeated Myanmar 2-1.

The Japanese team won all three games and ranked first in the group with 9 points, directly qualifying, Kuwait scored 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss, 4 points, scored 2 goals and conceded 6 goals, failed to qualify, Afghanistan ranked third with 1 win, 2 losses, 3 points, and Myanmar ranked last in the group with 1 draw, 2 losses, 1 point. The four teams in Group C Group C are Vietnam, Yemen, Singapore and Bangladesh. Vietnam defeated Yemen 1-0 in this round, and Bangladesh defeated Singapore 4-1. Vietnam ranked first in the group with 9 points in three games, directly qualifying, Yemen won 2 wins, 1 loss, 6 points, 3 goals, conceded 2 goals, and ranked second in the group, but failed to qualify, Bangladesh and Singapore ranked third and fourth respectively.

Group D

The other three teams are Australia, East Timor and Northern Mariana Islands. In this round, the Chinese team tied 0-0 with Australia, and East Timor defeated the Northern Mariana Islands 6-0. Both the Chinese team and Australia team had 2 wins, 1 draw and 7 points. The Chinese team had 11 goals, which was less than Australia. However, this result made the Chinese team ranked first in the second in all groups. The Chinese team qualified with Australia, and East Timor and Northern Mariana Islands ranked third and fourth respectively. The four teams in Group E are Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Palestine and Sri Lanka. In this round, Uzbekistan defeated Palestine 2-1, and Kyrgyzstan defeated Sri Lanka 6-0. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan both had 2 wins, 1 draw and 7 points. Kyrgyzstan won the first place in the group with a goal difference advantage and directly qualified for qualifying. Uzbekistan ranked second in the group and also qualified for qualifying. Palestine ranked third in the group with 1 win and 1 loss and 3 points, and Sri Lanka ranked last in the group. The four teams in Group F are Lebanon, Thailand, Malaysia and Mongolia. In this round, Lebanon defeated Mongolia 3-0, and Thailand defeated Malaysia 2-1. In the end, Thailand ranked first in the group with 2 wins, 1 draw, 7 points, 10 goals, conceded 3 goals, and directly qualified for qualifying. Lebanon also ranked second in the group with 2 wins, 1 draw, 7 points, but ranked second in the group with 6 goals, and also ranked third in the group with qualifying. Malaysia ranked third in the group with 1 win and 2 losses, and Mongolia ranked last in the group with 3 consecutive losses. The four teams in Group G are Iraq, Cambodia, Oman and Pakistan. In this round, Iraq shook hands with Cambodia 0-0, and Oman defeated Pakistan 1-0. Iraq ranked first in the group with 2 wins, 1 draw and 7 points, directly qualifying, Cambodia ranked second in the group with 1 win, 2 draws, 1 goal and 0 goals, but failed to qualify, Oman team ranked third in the group with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, 4 points, and Pakistan lost to the bottom of the group in all three games. The four teams in Group H Group

H Group

H Group

H are Qatar, India, Bahrain and Brunei. In this round, Qatar defeated Bahrain 2-1, and India defeated Brunei 6-0. Qatar won three consecutive victories and won the first place in the group, directly qualifying, India won 2 wins, 1 loss, scored 9 goals, conceded 2 goals, ranked second in the group, failed to qualify, Bahrain and Brunei ranked third and fourth in the group. The four teams in Group I, Group I, are the UAE, Iran, Hong Kong, and Guam. In this round, Iran defeated the UAE 3-2, and Hong Kong, China, defeated Guam 1-0. Iran won three consecutive victories and won the first place in the group, directly qualifying, the UAE won 2 wins 1 loss, scored 17 goals, conceded 3 goals, ranked second in the group, this result ranked fourth in the second in all groups, the UAE was qualified to qualify (the second in the other three expenditure lines were 7 points), and Hong Kong and Guam, China ranked third and fourth in the group. The four teams in Group J are South Korea, Indonesia, Laos and Macau, China. In this round, South Korea beat Indonesia 1-0, and Laos defeated China and Macau 3-0. South Korea ranked first in the group with 9 points in three games, qualifying directly, Indonesia won 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss, 4 points, 5 goals, conceded 1 goal, and ranked second in the group, but failed to qualify. Laos also had 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss, and 4 points, but the goal difference -5 can only rank third in the group, and China and Macau lost three consecutive times, with the bottom of the group. The four teams in Group K Group

Group K are Syria, Tajikistan, the Philippines and Nepal. In this round, the Philippines defeated Nepal 4-0, Syria defeated Tajikistan 1-0, Syria won all three games and ranked first in the group with 9 points, directly qualifying, the Philippines won 2 wins and 1 loss, scored 6 points, conceded 2 goals, failed to qualify, Tajikistan and Nepal ranked third and fourth respectively, respectively..

So far, the 2026 U23 Asian Cup qualifiers have all ended, and all the top 16 are in the top 16:

Group champions (11 teams): Jordan (Group A), Japan (Group B), Vietnam (Group C), Australia (Group D), Kyrgyzstan (Group E), Thailand (Group F), Iraq (Group Group H), Iran (Group I), South Korea (Group J), Syria (Group K)

Group second top four: China (Group D, 7 points), Uzbekistan (Group E, 7 points), Lebanon (Group F, 7 points), UAE (Group I, 6 Points)

final round competition will start in Saudi Arabia from January 7 to 25, 2026, and the draw ceremony will be held on October 2, 2025.