MUSCAT: The Oman national under-17 football team is awaiting the results of the qualifiers draw for the AFC U17 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday. The 21st edition of the Asian qualifiers will feature 38 teams, who will be drawn into seven groups including three groups consisting of six teams and four groups consisting of five. The matches will be played in a single round-robin, centralised format and are scheduled to run from November 22 to 30.
The winners of each group will automatically advance to the AFC U17 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 finals. They will join nine teams who have already qualified through their participation in the Fifa U17 World Cup Qatar 2026 — namely: Qatar, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Tajikistan, the UAE and Indonesia.
The final tournament, scheduled for May 2026 in Saudi Arabia, will see the top eight teams earn their places to represent the Asian continent at the Fifa U17 World Cup 2026.
Thirteen teams are aiming to reach the finals for the first time including: Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Lebanon, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palestine, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
As part of the draw process, host nations will be placed in a separate Hosts Pot to ensure balanced distribution across the groups. Teams have been seeded into six pots based on their performance in the previous three editions of the tournament.
Oman has been placed in Pot 1 alongside other top-ranked teams such as Australia, Yemen, and Iran, reaffirming its position among the continent’s elite youth sides. Other pots include strong contenders like Iraq, Malaysia, Kuwait, and Syria, as well as emerging teams such as Bhutan, Maldives, and Palestine. The cast will be seeded into six pots based on a points system derived from their final rankings across the previous three editions of the finals.
In preparation for the qualifiers, the Oman Football Association (OFA) is expected to announce a new coaching team soon following the replacement of coach Anwar al Habsi, the former head coach. The announcement will be part of the OFA’s wider plan to enhance technical readiness and ensure optimal performance during the qualifiers.
Oman’s U17 squad delivered an inspiring performance earlier this year at the AFC U17 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2025, narrowly missing qualification to the Fifa U17 World Cup. Despite a tough 2-1 loss to Tajikistan in the opener, Oman bounced back with a stunning 2-1 victory over Iran and held North Korea to a 2-2 draw. Oman finished third in the group, with four points — just one point behind North Korea.
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