TEHRAN – Iran will play Pakistan in their opening match of the AFC U17 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2027 qualifiers.

The young Persians are drawn in Group D along with Laos, Jordan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Iran will face Pakistan at the New Laos National Stadium in Vientiane, Laos on Nov. 11.  Armaghan Ahmadi’s side will also play Sri Lanka on Nov. 14, before facing Jordan and Laos, slated for Nov. 17 and 20, respectively.

The winner of the group will qualify for the AFC U17 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2027.

The mission to reach the AFC U17 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2027 gets underway on Nov. 8 for the 35 teams in the 22nd edition of the Qualifiers.

The cast has been split evenly into seven groups to contest a single round-robin centralized league format until November 20, with only the winners advancing to the 22nd edition of the Finals in May 2027.

There, they join the nine AFC representatives from the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2026 who have automatically qualified: Australia, China, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Among the hopefuls, 13 are aiming to qualify for the first time: Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Lebanon, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palestine, Philippines, Sri Lanka.