Teams from Yemen, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and the Northern Mariana Islands were drawn against the Turkmenistan U17 team following the draw for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifying tournament held at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The qualification will involve 35 teams, divided into seven groups of five teams each.
Turkmenistan and its opponents formed Group «F», the matches in which will be held in a single round from 8th to 20th of November, 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The Turkmen footballers will play their first match on November 8 against the tournament hosts, Kyrgyzstan. In the second round on the 14th of November, they will play against their peers from Mongolia. In the third match on the 17th of November, our compatriots will meet with opponents from the Northern Mariana Islands. The qualifying tournament will conclude on the 20th of November with a game against Yemen.
Composition of the remaining groups:
«A»: Indonesia, Myanmar (host), Afghanistan, Philippines, Cambodia
«B»: Thailand (host), Iraq, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Maldives
«C»: UAE (host), Bangladesh, Syria, Bhutan, Macau, China
«D»: Iran, Laos (host), Jordan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
«E»: India, Malaysia (host), Palestine, Singapore, Guam
«F»: Yemen, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyz Republic (host), Mongolia, Northern Mariana Islands
«G»: Oman (host), Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Brunei.
The seven group winners will qualify for the final stage of the Asian Youth Cup (U17), which will be held from 12th to 29th of May 2027 in Uzbekistan. In the final stage of the competition, they will join nine teams that automatically qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar: Australia, China, Japan (the current champions), the Republic of Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The coaching staff, led by Azat Muhadov, is preparing the Turkmenistan U17 national team for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying tournament. Under his leadership, our team took fourth place among five participants in the Central Asian Football Association Championship (CAFA-2026) in Uzbekistan in April of this year.
