AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers, live streaming: Watch India vs Maldives in Group D - full schedule
India play Kuwait, Myanmar and Saudi Arabia on October 6, 7 and 9 respectively. Watch live.
The junior Indian men’s football team will start its AFC Under-17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers campaign against the Maldives in the wee hours of Tuesday. The India vs Maldives match will kick off at the Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium in Khobar, Saudi Arabia from 12:00 AM IST on October 4.
Drawn in Group D, India will be up against the Maldives, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Myanmar. The Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium will be the centralised venue for all the matches in the group. Watch live streaming of the matches.
India have qualified for the main draw of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup, previously known as the U-16 Asian Cup, eight times till date, including the last two editions in 2016 and 2018.
Coached by Bibiano Fernandes, the Indian Under-17 team will be hoping to make its third straight appearance at the AFC junior event. The 2023 championships will be hosted in May next year but AFC is yet to finalize the host nation.
India’s biggest threat in Group D will be two-time champions Saudi Arabia, who won the junior title in 1985 and 1988.
Kuwait, meanwhile, have qualified for the main event five times and made it to two quarterfinals (2004 and 2012). Myanmar have qualified four times but have never managed to make it past the group stage while the Maldives are yet to qualify for the main event.
India’s best results at the AFC U17 Asian Cup are quarter-final finishes in 2002 and 2018.
Overall 44 AFC nations are vying for the 16 available spots in the 2023 AFC U17 Asian Cup. For the qualifiers, the teams have been divided into 10 groups of five or six teams each.
Teams in each group play each other in a single-legged round robin format. After all the matches are over, the 10 group winners and six best runners up teams will qualify for next year’s showpiece event.
India are in good form heading into the qualifiers, having won the SAFF U-17 Championship in Sri Lanka last month. They also beat Oman 3-1 in a friendly in Muscat recently.
However, head coach Bibiano Fernandes played it down and said, “It’s going to be a tough proposition for all the teams in this group. I believe that all the five teams are very competitive. Past records do not matter. What matters is how well the teams are prepared for these four matches.”
AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers: India’s Group D schedule
All times are in Indian Standard Time (IST)
October 4, Tuesday
India vs Maldives - 12:00 AM IST
October 6, Thursday
India vs Kuwait - 12:00 AM IST
October 7, Friday
India vs Myanmar - 8:45 PM IST
October 9, Sunday
India vs Saudi Arabia - 11:30 PM IST
Where to watch AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers live in India
Live streaming of India’s AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers matches will be available on the subscription-based Shahid MBC streaming platform.
There’s no live telecast of the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers on any TV channel in India.