SPORTS REPORTER

Bangladesh have been placed in a strong Group H alongside hosts Jordan and Chinese Taipei in the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers, following the official draw held at the AFC headquarters in Malaysia on Thursday.

A total of 27 teams will compete in the qualification round, with the eight group winners advancing to the final tournament. They will join four automatic qualifiers -- DPR Korea, Japan, Korea Republic, and hosts China PR -- in the 12-team final round scheduled for April 30 to May 17, 2026, in China.

The Group H matches will take place from October 13 to 17, 2025.

The qualifiers will be in a single round-robin format, which could favour Bangladesh, considering their history with the format. They previously reached the final round of the competition twice (2017 and 2019 in single round-robin format) before crashing out in a double round-robin system in the 2023 edition.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s U-17 men’s team have been drawn with hosts China PR, Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Timor-Leste, and Sri Lanka in Group A of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

The men’s qualifiers, featuring 38 teams, will be held from November 22 to 30, 2025. Seven group winners will qualify for the finals, joining nine teams that secured their spots by qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar later this year.